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My 2008 Sprinter will not start. The electrical system seems to work - lights, windows, etc. It was running perfectly, turned it off at a store, came back after a few minutes and it won't start. Spent the night in the parking lot. When the key is turned in the ignition -the motor malfunction light is on. There is no sound of the starting motor or clicking.any ideas?
Country: United StatesMake: DodgeModel: Sprinter 2500Year: 2008 Already Tried: everything indicated in the manual. Tried jump starting, but the the starting motor doesn't appear to engage.
Hello, My name isXXXXX am a Certified Auto Technician with 25+ years experience. I will do my best to assist you. I don't know your automotive experience level, so I may have to ask questions of you before I can answer. I only know as much about your concern as you have stated in your post, so please feel free to add as much detailed information as possible.
How many miles on your Sprinter? Did you use heavy duty cables when you tried jump starting? Do you have access to a multimeter? (Volt/Ohm Meter)
Hello Robert,
Is this a Sprinter Cargo Van, or Conversion? Is there a battery under the hood? If there is one there, did you try jump starting to that battery?
There is No Circuit breaker for the battery, but there is a fuse link from the alternator over to the battery, usually when the fuse link breaks, the alternator doesn't charge, and the check engine light will come on while driving...so i'm thinking this is Not it....
It's a cargo van w/ a wheelchair lift (Rincon) installed. The battery is under the hood. Not sure what a fuse link is - how can i verify if the link is broken - is it something like a regular fuse? The van was operating perfectly while running. The problem occurred after the van was parked, engine shut off. I returned and the lift was dead and the engine wouldn't start. But again, the lights, windows and dash light operate - but the engine malfunction light stays on on the dash. Could it be some kind of anti theft feature that has been activated?
The fuse link is in the main charging wire from the alternator to the starter, then over to the battery, the actual fuse is inline and is mounted underneath the engine oil pan....The only way to verify if it is bad is to check the voltage drop across the fuse...Kind of hard to do without lifting the vehicle on a hoist....
Actually I think I know why you were not able to get it jump started... The Underhood battery is NOT the starting battery, it is the Auxilary battery so if you tried jump starting at that battery, it will not work. You must jump start at the jump start terminals that are under the hood or directly on the starting battery that is located in a compartment underneath the drivers floor mat... Here is a pic demonstrating the jump start terminals...
Here is the jump start procedure from the owner's manual ...
The lights and windows likely still operated because the battery is not totally dead, but there is not enough current to operate the starter, sometimes when this happens you don't even get a click...
As for anti theft feature, if that system activated itself, you would not have been able to even turn the key.... when your vehicle detects an incorrect key, it won't even allow the key to rotate in the ignition, and if it does happen to rotate, the cluster will display "Start Error" on the odometer display....
So try jump starting it one more time using either the jump start terminals or directly at the battery under the driver's floor area and be sure to use a set of HD jumper cables and let it charge a few minutes before attempting to start it....
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Robert
Experience: Chrysler Certified, Dodge Sprinter Certified