Used FedEx 2011 Mercedes Sprinter 2500 Diesel govenor & keys

Perhaps the two-and-a-half bazillion miles on the odometer may have a bit to do with the problems.

Whatever possessed the guy to buy that driveway decoration? If it was still a serviceable vehicle, FedEx would still be using it...

What do you know about how to find and remove the governor? And where did you last get your set of Mercedes ignition & door key blanks?

I don't know anything about Mercedes but I do know how to Google:

Guess you called in sick the day they were issuing a sense of humor ;-)

You think wasting everyone's time is funny? You know nothing about the subject. Yet you felt compelled to prove you are a retard?

I'm trying to solve a problem here. You're just trying to prove you are a retard.

Moving onward, I found that the Mercedes Sprinter needs special software to change the governor to the 82 mph that is supposedly the factory default.

If anyone has a link to where to get that software and cabling, please let me know so I can solve that problem.

On the motor oil, it seems that these engines may eat oil due to the way Mercedes breaks in the piston rings.

And on the keys, if people know of a good online supplier for Mercedes blanks for me to recommend, please do - but only if you've already used Mercedes' ignition key and/or door key blanks before as the wrong blank does nobody any good.

Thanks in advance of the kind help. If you can't help, please don't waste everyon'e time proving to be a retard.

Me the 'tard? Cripes, you're the one posting a serious question on a Usenet group and expecting a helpful, civil response-- then getting his knickers in a knot when he doesn't get one.

If you want useful help and advice, try posting on one of the many dedicated serious MB forums where some knowledgeable, experienced wrench-turners hang out. Hell, you'd probably even do better on one of the fanboy websites.

Pull the stick out harry-boy...

Send him to

It's a software change. Take it to a legitimate independent Mercedes mechanic who will have the correct tool to shut it off permanently. There are various silly workarounds out there, but do it right because if it is accelerating poorly they should definitely be looking at the engine parameters to see why.

No, they wouldn't, but it wouldn't do them any good anyway because they can't program the fob. A real locksmith may have the tools, as will a Mercedes or Freightliner shop.

Definitely not, this is the sign of big trouble.

He's not mechanically inclined and he bought a used fleet vehicle without having a mechanic check it out first?

Your friend needs to find a local independent Mercedes mechanic and google will probably help him with that.

--scott

The engine is probably quite tired.

That's a lot of oil. Back in the good old days half a quart of oil consumption per thousand miles was considered normal. There has been nothing stated from the OP concerning just how many miles that POS will do in a week currently. Does he do 100 miles a week, a 1,000???

Big expensive trouble that will exceed the residual value of the vehicle.

Yes, I thought that quite inane too.

I somehow think he is beyond any reasonable help.

He's looking for a solution so I'll take a look there first, as he just wants answers so I'll see if I can ask the related questions there. Thanks.

Given it's a software change, he won't be doing it himself since he's not technical. Thanks for the answer which is that only a "real" German mechanic will have the skills necessary to change the 62mph (or whatever it's set to) to the 84mph (or whatever is the default).

While I knew the most common answer is a "real locksmith" can do anything, I was hoping for an Internet source for the blanks at least.

I don't know what "Freightliner" means. I googled it.

I've heard that it's quite normal and then I've heard that it's not quite normal so for now since it's not literally leaking, I don't think there's anything he can do. The truck only has 270K miles so that's low mileage for such a vehicle but I don't know anything about how diesels consume oil.

Everyone on the planet needs to find a local indy mechanic, but he asked me to look up the information for him on the Internet which is all that I can do for him since I know nothing about diesels and even less about Mercedes.

Thanks for the advice which I do very much appreciate. What I think I'll do on the keys are: a. Contact freightliner to see if we can get a replacement set. b. Or buy a door key blank on Amazon and cut it myself (that's easy). c. The ignition key is "routered" so I will have to find someone to cut it

For the oil, he bought five cases of oil so I'll just help him pour it in (the Mercedes dip stick is in the dumbest place possible by the way). It's BEHIND a one-inch hose that gets in the way. Whoever designed that should be shot.

For the pickup, I'll keep an eye on when it loses its acceleration which may implicate the impellers not spinning on the turbo which, again, I know nothing about as I consider turbos a dumb idea myself (except in a fighter jet which costs so much anyway that maintenance is not an issue).

I do appreciate the advice and I am feeding him all of it, but the advice to "get a mechanic" isn't useful as everyone needs a mechanic in their closet which isn't advice at all in the end. I may as well take the "advice" of Wade Garrett if I wanted a useless aphorism from Usenet.

The engine had I thought 250K but I looked and it's 270K but I've run vehicles well beyond that myself (not turbos, and not diesels though) and if it was properly maintained, that should be about the half life of an engine, shouldn't it be?

I'm assuming FedEx maintained their engines well.

I don't know if the fob is electronic on the 2011 because certainly the back door key is not electronic. The ignition key swings out of the fob but I don't know if the fob is electronic other than it has buttons for opening and locking the doors.

Do you know for sure that the 2011 has a chip in the key fob?

I had said this multiple times but I'll repeat it since you're trying to help. He is in remodeling. He's a single-man shop. He uses the truck to get to the daily jobs. Every job will be a different distance. The current job is 17 miles away from his home which he says is about average.

With errands, that comes to roughly about 50 to 75 miles a day which we can say then is about 250 to 375 miles a week or so.

It always amazes me when people care so much about "residual value" of a vehicle? Who cares about that? It's like buying a nail to use on a construction job and worrying about the residual value of the leftovers.

A truck like that is a tool. Nobody sensible cares about the residual value of their tools, do they? Why would anyone make any decision based on residual value? Are they that greedy that selling all their tools is all that they care about?

I'm sorry for going off on you on that so please just take it as a given that I've heard this residual value stuff for five decades and I just don't understand how a person thinks when they care about something that is so meaningless that I have to wonder what their brains are doing.

If, for example, you need a roof rack or a hitch or a brighter headlight or a set of tires or a shock absorber, etc., you need it. You don't buy a "better one" just for "residual value". Do you?

It's inane to you because you must have infinite money. If you don't have infinite money, then you buy a used vehicle.

That's unduly harsh. He is a business man who owns his own business. He doesn't have infinite money like you do. So he buys a used vehicle instead of a new one.

The blanks won't do you any good because after you cut them, you won't be able to start the car without programming the fob. Specific programming hardware is needed. If you just cut the key, you'll get something that will open the door but not start the vehicle.

Freightliner sells big trucks. You may see their name on the front of many trucks on the highway. For many years, they also resold the Sprinter, as did Chrysler. So you can see Sprinters out there which have any one of those three names on the front.

The Mercedes and Freightliner versions are slightly different. But a truck shop that handles newer Freightliner trucks should be able to program those keys.

There's plenty he can do, and it starts with checking basic engine parameters with the scanning tool. He might have leaking rings, but he might also have crankcase ventilation issues or a gasket problem somewhere. A competent diesel mechanic _who has the Mercedes-compatible scan tool that can view engine parameters_ should be able to give him a basic overview.

So look up the name of an independent Mercedes diesel mechanic.

--scott

Never, never, never assume that! Also, never assume that the driver(s) treated the vehicle with respect. If the vehicle was company owned, and had multiple drivers, the plague would be a more preferable option. Ask me how I know! I used to do vehicle fleet maintenance in my past employment - cars, trucks, buses, earthmoving - the lot, I've seen it all.

If it has an immobiliser, it will likely have a chip in the fob. I'm pretty sure immobilisers have been in vogue since the 2000ish.

If he's running a business, why does he not buy a new or newer more reliable vehicle rather than one that has had the life beaten out of in a *commercial endeavour*?? All the people I know who run a business put a *reliable* vehicle above a *cheap* vehicle. It is why the Toyota Hilux is the most popular ute out there in *industry*. As a business, you're not earning money when your vehicle is off the road getting fixed. The older and more clapped out that vehicle is, the more downtime you accrue

- and the more *customers* lose faith in you. I thought this was a common sense thing but it appears common sense might not be as common as I thought.

There are times when you need concern yourself with the concept of throwing good money after bad. If you're running a business, ROI is a critical aspect.

You are displaying a clear ignorance of *residual value* so pointless discussing this particular issue further with you.

If the better one will suit your needs better, then, yes, I would. But it wouldn't be fitted to something that wasn't going to last the distance - and that is my point - throwing good money after bad.

If you don't have infinite money, and you need a *reliable* vehicle for a business, then you *borrow* the money for the purchase and claim the repayments against your tax. That's the way all the business people operate that I know, to the extent they *lease* their vehicles.

The back door key does not seem to be a chipped key so the blank for that will work just fine (as far as I can tell anyway).

The front door key is routered so there's no way I can cut it myself. If it's also chipped, then that's two strikes against me doing it for him.

But programming a fob isn't hard for the cars that I've done it (Toyota) in the past. You punch a few buttons with the old and new ones and that's it.

Are you saying the Mercedes 2011 ignition key is chipped and also that you can't program it yourself like you can with a Toyota chipped key?

Thanks for patiently explaining what Freightliner can do.

It seems like his best bet is to get them to program the ignition key. I'm still not convinced there is any evidence it's chipped, but if it is chipped, and if it can't be programmed by the owner like we can do with a Toyota, then that's what he'll have to do.

What would I look for in his truck to know if it has an immobilizer? I've driven it myself. a. You unlock the doors with the fob. b. You start the ignition with the ignition key.

Where's the immobilizer coming into play? How do I know if it's coming into play?

You say the vehicle is unreliable. I asked him how many times it has broken down in the past few months he has had it and he said a tire blew out once.

That's it. How unreliable is that?

For decades I've heard people making decisions that are just not sensible such as doing something so that a vehicle when sold has extra value.

It's a depreciating asset. It makes no sense to do anything to a depreciating asset simply for the purpose of maintaining it's resale value in my humblest of opinions.

At least that is what I was taught when I last took economics decades ago.

Maybe. But it's a used vehicle. A used vehicle is cheaper BECAUSE it's used. You take some risk when you buy a used vehicle.

That's how it works. You can lecture me all you want about how you would have bought a brand new vehicle but that doesn't help to answer the questions posed.

There is no evidence the vehicle isn't reliable enough for his needs. If you have infinite money, I get it that you'd buy a new vehicle. But he doesn't have infinite money. He's barely breaking even.

Anyway, lectures don't help solve the questions asked, do they?

I'm hoping the key isn't chipped (as I don't see evidence that it is). I'm also hoping that if it is chipped, that programming can be done by the individual like it is with many cars (I've done it for a Toyota).

I've even removed the immobilizer for a toyota (which was as simple as pulling out the ignition relay and replacing it with the stock relay).

But I don't see any overt evidence that it even has an immobilizer. How would I know?

Usually a flashing light on the dash somewhere when engine off, key out and away from the ignition key socket. The immobiliser chip is proximity sensitive.