After 18 days, 7 states and 3,600 miles I was on my way home from Nevada today and right at the bottom of Donner pass near Rocklin my 2006 refused to go over 65, accelerated very sluggishly, would not downshift going up steep hill like it has alway done before, but would cruise at 65 on the flat. No warning lights ever came on.I got home but just barely.
Any bright ideas before I turn it over to the high priced mechanics.
I'm kind of painting this from my own experience, but how steep is Donner pass? I've been going up what seemed like a rather gentle slope only to wonder where the power'd all gone and it turns out it was 7 or 8%. What you described sounds a lot like that.
After some internet research last night I have come to the conclusion (I think) that it is a faulty turbo resonator which I'll replace with an aluminum one.
Everything I read about faulty resonators point to that as the culprit. All the exact symptoms of how my Sprinter was acting.
By the way, My Sportsmobile conversion performed flawlessly. Everything worked perfectly and after 18 days in the van we never once thought of going to a motel like we always have with our other campers.
Thank you Sportsmobile and Jon in particular.
If you visit sprinter-source.com you'll find a treasure trove of information about various issues with the Sprinter including the 'beloved' turbo resonator. I'm glad to hear that you like your Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion as we are thinking about getting one.
Keith:
I'll post as soon as it's done. I found a Mercedes shop over here in San Rafael that seems to know what they are doing. Not that many shops familiar with the Sprinter. Greg