can anybody help me with any advice on this one?
My 04 sprinter 2500 has been acting weird for a while , it starts shaking (feels like driving over a grooved pavement) only when I get off the freeway or when slowing for the traffic lights, and only from approx 1500 rpm down to 1000 rpm. It is not doing it all the time, but when it does it is really shaking the whole van. My wild guess is that torque converter is acting weird,any idea how can this be fixed and at what cost?

 

Sounds like a common problem over there,described by many as "rumble strip noise",i think its a tranny problem and DC don't or wont acnowledge the problem,even heard that a couple of dealers have sited rainwater contamination of the fluid as a cause (very unlikely).just check your transmition fluid level,check for leaks especially around the wire plug on the right side of the tranny,and if in doubt flush and replace the fluid.http://www.sprintervan@yahoogroups.com is the place to be for any tech. questions and advice,and welcome to DF.

 

I had the same symptoms as you - Service put in new torgue convertor and fly wheel at the tune of $2600. My van is an 04 3500 with 115k miles. They stated that this is a problem occuring with a number of sprinters with this many miles on it. Don't know if there is any recourse at this point or not as I am out of warranty. Hope yours isn't the same thing. Good luck!

 

thanks a lot guys for replying .
I have 203 k miles on my sprinter now , I had it in at the Dodge Dealer Service Shop twice already for transmission flush (at 80k.and at 175 k ) .This time I 've done it myself , I released the old fluid which was almost black(after 25 k miles since the last change!!!!!!)
released the fluid from torque converter , and then bled the circuit until the fluid coming out was exactly as the one poured in. I did not feel any difference in the frts 40-50 miles driven, but after about 200 miles transmission is behaving way way better, the shaking is gone. Let's see for how long.
That hepled me realize that I was paying those guys from dealership way too much money and all they did was actually a pan service which only replaces 30-40% of the fluid.

 

by the way...this van being new for the US market, from my first encounters with the dealerships mechanics I had the feeling that they are actually learning NOW what is happening under those hoods...and most of the times ---on our expense.

 

Mine would shutter like that (at around 2500 rpm) only when the tranny fluid needed changing. Usually at about 60,000 - 70,000 mi. When I got the tranny serviced, problem solved. I'm on my 2nd tranny service (at 150k now) and same sympton occured when it was due for the tranny service.