Copied from the Sprinter list at Yahoo. Thought people might be interested:

To: sprintervan@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2003 6:05 PM
Subject: [sprintervan] blown engines



There are about 15 Sprinters leased to the expedited freight company
that I am with. In the past 6 months two of them broke their timing
chains resulting in blown engines. One has been replaced so far at a
cost of $13,000.00.
Dallas Freightliner had a UPS Sprinter with a blown engine in its
lot this past spring. The same thing happened, the timing chain
broke.
Every one of us that owns a Sprinter at my company are scared the
same thing could happen to them. We don't make alot of money
expediting so a $13,000 repair bill would put most of us out of
business.
I am especially concerned because my van has never ran right. I have
been averaging 18 MPG since the van was new. Freightliner has not
found any reason for this, so they said they would help me get into
another van. I have waited 9 months for this to happen but nothing
yet. I have been having a difficult time getting a call back from
them.
I hope they do what they promised before my van is the next to have
a blown engine.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Thank you for posting that.

From all the articles I've read on the Internet, in magazines, etc., I thought that the engine in the Sprinter was damn near bullet proof.

What does this say about Mercedes-Benz quality issues throughout the entire product line? I was pretty sure the consumer products were cursed for the foreseeable future, but now the professional/industrial applications? Yikes...

This is the first I've heard about engine failures in the Sprinters. Fedex and UPS both have them running around everywhere.