Sprinter Diesels NOT holding up...Atleast at UPS

[Motorhead]

I have been retired from UPS now almost 4 years. (THANK GOD!!!!! ) (Worked 30 yrs there!)
The mechanic and I are friends so I stopped by the depot to see how he was doing. I see TWO, 2. 7 Sprinter (MBZ) engines on the shop floor. One had a rod through the side! He told me that the engines were only lasting about 100K-125K miles! The trannies weren't doing much better.

He told me that UPS's cost on the engines was $8 grand and $4 grand for the trannies, plus labor to install.
I drove them when I worked there and they were nice but a short fuse on the engines.....

Yeah, UPS torture tests equipment. When people used to remark how fast UPS trucks are always going I tell them,

"There are only TWO positions on the throttle of a UPS truck... . IDLE and WIDE OPEN!" :--)

 

[Skydiver]

I agree UPS is tough on engines. My BIL works for UPS. His truck radiator started leaking and it was running hot. He called his supervisor for a wrecker. His supervisor said " drive it on in to the shop".

 

[Motorhead]

Their MOTTO was "Spend a DOLLAR to save a DIME"

 

[Regcabguy]

You lasted a long time. I don't see many route drivers over 45 around here. I've seen them in the work comp places with blown out backs,knees and shoulders. The deal now is that they have to shut the truck off everytime they stop. Must go through a lot of starters. The beer haulers have my sympathy also.

 

[Motorhead]

I had ONE L-4, L-5 back surgery and BOTH knees operated on. My shoulder that I thought I was going to have to have operated on got better after about a year of being away from them. AND I got out of there at 53yrs old!!!
Shutting off the engine was ALWAYS a mandated issue but alot of us didn't do it. BUT... If some S. O. B. jumped in your truck and you had left the keys in it or left it running, You kissed your $75,000 a year job good bye!

 

[Regcabguy]

I had ONE L-4, L-5 back surgery and BOTH knees operated on. My shoulder that I thought I was going to have to have operated on got better after about a year of being away from them. AND I got out of there at 53yrs old!!!

Shutting off the engine was ALWAYS a mandated issue but alot of us didn't do it. BUT... If some S. O. B. jumped in your truck and you had left the keys in it or left it running, You kissed your $75,000 a year job good bye!

You guys earned every dime of that too. I just retired from driving a truck locally here and escaped with only one knee operation,one shoulder and a 28% permanent disability rating on my back which didn't pay diddly here. I made half as much,but didn't have to keep up that grind they put you guys through. Enjoy.

 

[JUeckert]

i have often wondered how well those little sprinter engines would hold up in such a large application. from what i have been told they were good engines, just used in the wrong application.

 

[Motorhead]

i have often wondered how well those little sprinter engines would hold up in such a large application. from what i have been told they were good engines, just used in the wrong application.

They weren't used in the boxy regular package cars. We had long wheel base SRW Sprinter vans and a few DRW sprinter cab and chassis with a cube box on it.
Some of the regular package cars have a Mercedes Truck 4 cylinder engine in them. Don't know the cubes of the engine but it was bigger than the 2. 7 sprinter MBZ engine.

 

[TFucili]

Well, that's not very impressive longevity. Years ago, a friend of mine who had a rebuild shop was approached by UPS to do engines for them. My friend didn't like some of their requirements, and took a pass, but when we were talking to the rep he said that the I-6 Ford 300 gasser was averaging 150-160K miles, and the I-6 GM 292 gassers were generally getting closer to 180K between overhauls. Other than having generally a manual transmission behind them, I am sure those old gassers got the same torture treatment as they do now. I'm sure a 300 Ford wouldn't be $8K, even today.

 

[JUeckert]

They weren't used in the boxy regular package cars. We had long wheel base SRW Sprinter vans and a few DRW sprinter cab and chassis with a cube box on it.

Some of the regular package cars have a Mercedes Truck 4 cylinder engine in them. Don't know the cubes of the engine but it was bigger than the 2. 7 sprinter MBZ engine.

yea but even the smaller units are really to big for the engines being used in them in my opinion. between the weight and the windrag, thats quite a bit of stress for those smaller engines. a good friend of mine was pretty high up the ladder at the local ups terminal. he said getting a lot of miles out of the big vans with the 7. 3 and 5. 9 engines wasnt a problem, yet he was hearing about issues on the sprinters. to be honest, the folks i knew that did fritolay and bread routes were not to pleased with the 4bt cummins they use to run. one guy told me they were having longer life spans out of the vans with 6. 2 gm diesels. i have and have seen 4bt's with well over 6 and 7,000 hrs on them with no issues in some app's. seem's most of the fritolay trucks i have come across with 4bt's had remaned engines in them. kinda supports what the one guy was telling me. again in my opinion, too much truck, too little engine.

 

[Motorhead]

Well, that's not very impressive longevity. Years ago, a friend of mine who had a rebuild shop was approached by UPS to do engines for them. My friend didn't like some of their requirements, and took a pass, but when we were talking to the rep he said that the I-6 Ford 300 gasser was averaging 150-160K miles, and the I-6 GM 292 gassers were generally getting closer to 180K between overhauls. Other than having generally a manual transmission behind them, I am sure those old gassers got the same torture treatment as they do now. I'm sure a 300 Ford wouldn't be $8K, even today.

Your friend made a very wise decision to bow out. I drove ALOT of the old 300 FORD 6's... . What an engine!
UPS had nothing but issues with most rebuilds. Usually rods coming apart. They eventually special ordered the 300's from Ford NEW. We had one Econoline run 424,000mi on the origional engine.
The downfall of the little 6's was over-reving. Most of the drivers got them on the freeway and planted their right foot to the floor and left it there.

 

[crobertson1]

I always see this one UPS driver, driving the crap out of his truck- I don't know what brand, but's it's a very common one. Anyway, I see him driving from one car dealer to another and it sounds like he keeps the throttle pinned in about one or two gears too low. It sounds awful!

 

[GWDiesel]

Are we talking about the 5 cyl or V6 Diesel engines ? I was thinking about trading in my 03/2500,on a sprinter (new) maybe not so soon. Jerry

 

[Doubleclutch]

Lots of improvements on the V6. I've got about 35K miles on a 2008 2500 and am loving it! Uh, more correctly, the WIFE is loving it! While not UPS rated, we had no power issues traipsing cross country over mountains on cruise control at 70+. There's a sprinter forum at Sprinter-Forum.com

Greg

PS Hi Chris- long time no see.