Does high mileage on a diesel concern you?

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Everyone I've talked with says that a diesel engine can go 500,000 miles..
And the NADA ( National Automobiles Dealer Association) doesn't even factor miles into the value on diesels.... just condition and equipment...

Do you find that Class B's in general are used more and consequently have much more miles on the clock?

Since we purchased our rig last year with 26,000 miles... admittedly low for a 2012....we now have 41,000 and it still seems low mileage for the year..

[booster]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

Everyone I've talked with says that a diesel engine can go 500,000 miles..
And the NADA ( National Automobiles Dealer Association) doesn't even factor miles into the value on diesels.... just condition and equipment...

Do you find that Class B's in general are used more and consequently have much more miles on the clock?

Since we purchased our rig last year with 26,000 miles... admittedly low for a 2012....we now have 41,000 and it still seems low mileage for the year..

IMO, many of the ideas of diesels lasting extremely long times compared to gas are based on over the road trucks, trains, permanent gensets, etc, not necessarily the consumer markets.


OTR engines are often called million mile engines, but usually with a rebuild in there someplace, so 500K is a reasonable estimation.


I am a die hard watcher of Craigslist autos and trucks listings, and have been for many years. It is a very good place to get a feel for all the different makes, models, and years of vehicles in regards to life expectancy and what kind of issues they may have. A good example is the very large amount of Subarus that have had head gasket replacements around 100K, for instance. When GM had all the Dexcool intake manifold failures, it was very obvious.



I have watched the bigger vans for a decade since we got our Roadtrek, and can say that, without compiling lists and number crunching, the 3/4 and 1 ton vans all seem to be quite reliable and none stand out as substantially better or worse. I have always been mindful of the pickups so much longer history there.



I have seen Sprinters, Fords, and Chevies all that had made it to 300K, although it is not particularly common. 200K is starting to get to be much more likely for all of them. I have also seen quite a few that had engines replaced by 150K, probably as many, or more, as made it to 200K on the original.


The newest diesels with all the emissions stuff haven't been around long enough for much of a good idea yet, I think, but it will be interesting to see if there is a noticeable difference over time. Same is true about the direct injection gas engines.



There do seem to be a lot of repairs at around 100K to the pickup truck diesels, not total engine replacements, in the area of injectors, pumps, etc


My guess is that with good care, nearly any of the gas or diesel engines will last as long as most of the rest of the class b does, unless you are putting on 30K or more a year and pile the miles on quickly. Of course, there always will be some random failures among even the best maintained engines, as that is just the way it goes sometimes.

[Doneworking]

High mileage on any RV concerns me. Diesel or gas, the entire chassis and all the RV goodies have been subjected to more use, abuse, shaking, wind, rain, hail, sun etc. on a higher mileage vehicle. That, too me anyway, just seems logical. I understand, of course, about maintenance, storage, and so on being important factors in RV lifespan.

I just think we need to remember that an A, B or C is a house going down the road and a lot of the roads are pretty tough on anything.

[Davydd]

Diesels are assumed to last longer than gas engines just for the block itself. But as Booster says 100,000 miles is about the turning point in maintenance with all engines. I experienced it with our two Subaru gas engines. As for the Sprinter, the engine including emissions are warranted for 100,000 miles and/or 5 years. I am unconcerned because I don't plan to keep a Class B for that long. It is kind of an academic exercise for me. I expect many other things have to be attended to over 100,000 miles and I care not to deal with it because of reliability issues on the road. At home I can deal with my 2003 Subaru Baja which just turned 100,000 miles and needed major work.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Diesels are assumed to last longer than gas engines just for the block itself. But as Booster says 100,000 miles is about the turning point in maintenance with all engines. I experienced it with our two Subaru gas engines. As for the Sprinter, the engine including emissions are warranted for 100,000 miles and/or 5 years. I am unconcerned because I don't plan to keep a Class B for that long. It is kind of an academic exercise for me. I expect many other things have to be attended to over 100,000 miles and I care not to deal with it because of reliability issues on the road. At home I can deal with my 2003 Subaru Baja which just turned 100,000 miles and needed major work.

Actually, the emissions warranty is for 8 years or 80,000 miles whichever comes first... I just had a complete replacement and update of my emissions system on my 2012 RS ... which is actually a 2011 Mercedes Sprinter 3500... they always use the previous year's model for the conversion.

[tex4judy]

Worked with diesels on ships and boats for a long time. One experiment we did involved generators - comparing the number of hours between rebuilds with generators that were cycled on and off every 24 hours versus running one for 7 days and then changing the oil. The lesson - most of the wear and tear on a diesel engine running at relatively continuous rpm is when you first start it up and bring it to operating temperature. The ideal environment for a big low rpm diesel engine is on a cross Pacific tug boat.

So, if most of the driving is highway miles, and doesn't involve sudden acceleration to pass other vehicles, and maintenance - especially oil and filter changes - is regular, it would not be unreasonable to expect reasonably long life.

I agree with the concerns about the chassis and the house equipment. But my personal experience with marine and auto diesels is that they are durable. Look at the compression and temperatures they have to handle - they have to be built strong.

Before we elected to purchase a new Sprinter cargo van to convert, we looked long and hard at the used market. A lot of the units being sold were city delivery vans with 600,000+ miles. I was a little dubious of an engine with that much start and stop, delivery wear and tear, but they were selling running units.

We're not in heaven yet, and nothing is perfect, but those are my observations.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by tex4judy

Worked with diesels on ships and boats for a long time. One experiment we did involved generators - comparing the number of hours between rebuilds with generators that were cycled on and off every 24 hours versus running one for 7 days and then changing the oil. The lesson - most of the wear and tear on a diesel engine running at relatively continuous rpm is when you first start it up and bring it to operating temperature. The ideal environment for a big low rpm diesel engine is on a cross Pacific tug boat.

So, if most of the driving is highway miles, and doesn't involve sudden acceleration to pass other vehicles, and maintenance - especially oil and filter changes - is regular, it would not be unreasonable to expect reasonably long life.

I agree with the concerns about the chassis and the house equipment. But my personal experience with marine and auto diesels is that they are durable. Look at the compression and temperatures they have to handle - they have to be built strong.

Before we elected to purchase a new Sprinter cargo van to convert, we looked long and hard at the used market. A lot of the units being sold were city delivery vans with 600,000+ miles. I was a little dubious of an engine with that much start and stop, delivery wear and tear, but they were selling running units.

We're not in heaven yet, and nothing is perfect, but those are my observations.

I was extremely lucky to have found my 2012 RS Adventurous one year ago... purchased May 2017... It had 26,000 miles..and last fall we took a 3 month trip across the USA... many long distance road miles... what can I say...it's a Roadtrek.. got a steady 18 + MPG... some flat ground distances 19 + MPG..

Now have 41,000 miles.so, we're using it and having a lot of adventures.

Along the way..we met someone who had a Sprinter with 500,000 miles.a 2006..he said it ran fine....

Here's the profile of the vehicle I purchased,

https://www.conejowholesaleauto.com/...beffb59e9eb708

And a current picture below,

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by tex4judy

Worked with diesels on ships and boats for a long time. One experiment we did involved generators - comparing the number of hours between rebuilds with generators that were cycled on and off every 24 hours versus running one for 7 days and then changing the oil. The lesson - most of the wear and tear on a diesel engine running at relatively continuous rpm is when you first start it up and bring it to operating temperature. The ideal environment for a big low rpm diesel engine is on a cross Pacific tug boat.

So, if most of the driving is highway miles, and doesn't involve sudden acceleration to pass other vehicles, and maintenance - especially oil and filter changes - is regular, it would not be unreasonable to expect reasonably long life.

I agree with the concerns about the chassis and the house equipment. But my personal experience with marine and auto diesels is that they are durable. Look at the compression and temperatures they have to handle - they have to be built strong.

Before we elected to purchase a new Sprinter cargo van to convert, we looked long and hard at the used market. A lot of the units being sold were city delivery vans with 600,000+ miles. I was a little dubious of an engine with that much start and stop, delivery wear and tear, but they were selling running units.

We're not in heaven yet, and nothing is perfect, but those are my observations.

I think the issues with modern diesels are pretty much centered around the emission control systems. The long life for the mechanical parts are still there, the question is how many times during that long life you will have to deal with emission system problems.

[Scottie409]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

I think the issues with modern diesels are pretty much centered around the emission control systems. The long life for the mechanical parts are still there, the question is how many times during that long life you will have to deal with emission system problems.

When the accessories for engines and emissions need repair you are usually looking at big bucks on diesels and older low mileage units can also be an issue as turbos need to be worked hard and idled down to prevent coking up.
As a mechanic I have seen lots of people cry when they get the bill for repairs to their motorhomes that sit for 6-8 months a year and then get the bag run off them for a week or two. Additionally newer diesels with DPF's and DEF will cost you in the long run as they are prone to issues, even new vehicles have problems with these systems. Just sayin"

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

I think the issues with modern diesels are pretty much centered around the emission control systems. The long life for the mechanical parts are still there, the question is how many times during that long life you will have to deal with emission system problems.

We may be letting the Mercedes sit idle without starting for about 6 weeks this year.... do you think that would be a problem??

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Scottie409

When the accessories for engines and emissions need repair you are usually looking at big bucks on diesels and older low mileage units can also be an issue as turbos need to be worked hard and idled down to prevent coking up.
As a mechanic I have seen lots of people cry when they get the bill for repairs to their motorhomes that sit for 6-8 months a year and then get the bag run off them for a week or two. Additionally newer diesels with DPF's and DEF will cost you in the long run as they are prone to issues, even new vehicles have problems with these systems. Just sayin"

I have to say that this is probably the only thing that concerns me... we took the Mercedes across the USA last year... and put almost 11,000 miles on the trip.. Never used any oil or at least it didn't register to add any ... robust engine, plenty of power.

We had a small problem on the last leg of the trip and I noticed all the way along the 11,000 mile journey it seemed to drink DEF...

Finally got home and took it in for service... they determined that the entire emissions system had to be replaced and updated to the newest version.. would have cost over $4,000... they covered it under the 8 year, 80,000 mile federal warranty. I was relieved.

Who knows about the next time... yeah, I agree with you, the base engine and transmission seem rock solid... its the rest of the parts that concern me ... but, that's how I'm able to get the performance of the small RV to work so well and 18 plus MPG is very nice.

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

We may be letting the Mercedes sit idle without starting for about 6 weeks this year.... do you think that would be a problem??

Shouldn’t be a problem. Use the chassis battery disconnect next to the accelerator pedal to avoid draining the chassis battery when it is sitting.

If you have the lithium batteries Roadtrek has a recommended state of charge for storage but I don’t recall what it is. Somewhere between 50% and 70% maybe. Give them a call or look in the Ecotrek instructions, it might be there.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

Shouldn’t be a problem. Use the chassis battery disconnect next to the accelerator pedal to avoid draining the chassis battery when it is sitting.

If you have the lithium batteries Roadtrek has a recommended state of charge for storage but I don’t recall what it is. Somewhere between 50% and 70% maybe. Give them a call or look in the Ecotrek instructions, it might be there.

The E-TREK is exactly like my RS except no propane, no generator, a lot more solar and lithium batteries. And, while I cannot compete with that.. I do have a solar panel and the batteries are fully charged almost every day full sun or not.

I'm not worried about the batteries going dead... I was more concerned about anything with just not exercising the system, engine, etc. and any filters.

If the batteries are still charging do I really have to be concerned about the disconnect??

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

The E-TREK is exactly like my RS except no propane, no generator, a lot more solar and lithium batteries. And, while I cannot compete with that.. I do have a solar panel and the batteries are fully charged almost every day full sun or not.

I'm not worried about the batteries going dead... I was more concerned about anything with just not exercising the system, engine, etc. and any filters.

If the batteries are still charging do I really have to be concerned about the disconnect??

If you don’t have Ecotrek batteries and have solar then the battery separator under the hood should allow the solar to keep the house and chassis batteries charged while in storage.

If you have Ecotrek batteries you need a Trik L Start to allow the solar to keep your chassis battery charged or use the Sprinter battery disconnect to keep it from discharging. The solar will keep the auxiliary AGM charged with the Ecotreks turned off but you need the Trik L Start installed under the hood to get the connection to the chassis battery. No need to keep the Ecotreks online during storage unless you want to keep the refrigerator running.

Not running the engine for 6 weeks is not an issue...