Sprinter and the Limp Mode
On this last trip which started in California and went to Kentucky and many points between before we made it back to California, my 2018 Thor Siesta 24SS which is built on a 2017 Mercedes Benz 3500 Chassis gave me some issues along our way. On a steep grade towing our car, the outside temp in Arizona hit 117. We were not over heating, but during that climb the engine went into limp mode slowing us down to about 20 mph. Once I got to the top and started down hill, everything went back to normal. Fast forward a couple of weeks and a couple of 1,000 miles, while in Arkansas once again climbing a grade and it was above 100 outside we went back into limp mode. I discovered that if I pulled over and shut the engine off and restarted, it would clear up and go back to normal. This happened another 8 more times on our return trip. During three of those moments, I got a check engine light on the dash. Each time the dash light would reset either after we stopped for the night or while driving. Once I got home, I pulled out my OBD11 scanner and got code P2428. That code states that the exhaust gas temperature is high. It was recommended that the exhaust temp sensor before the turbo as well as the one after be tested and replaced as necessary. I made an appointment with my local MB dealership and took it to them the following week. They scanned the system and told me they needed to keep it overnight to test it when the engine is cold so I left it. 2 days later they called and said that they could not locate the issue except that their check should two codes(temp sensor and boost code). They were going to conduct a test drive to watch the system as they drove it on some hill climbs and it once again went into limp mode. They decided to keep it and talk to one of the Mercedes Engineers to try and determine the cause of these issues. This has been the only issue I have had with this chassis and hopefully the engineer can direct them to the problem soon. We have another trip scheduled for 08/07/21. Our back up plan is to take the car if the motor home is still out of commission.
Paul
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