2019 Sprinter - Cruise Control Failure

rprochnow · 06-17-2021, 04:10 PM

Our 2021 View 24D is built on a 2019 Sprinter chassis.

Prior to our 20K Sprinter service, we had several periods when the adaptive cruise control would deactivate (which also disables the active brake assist), likely because of issues with the front-facing radar located underneath the grille above the bumper step.

Mercedes service looked at the issue and "recalibrated" the sensors.

On our current 2800 mile road trip, we didn't have problems during the first 2/3 of the trip. But when we started the drive south from Colorado to Big Bend, the cruise control was disabled while we were driving in 105 degree temps - and it came back in less than an hour. The next day, the same thing happened while driving in 105 degree temps - and this time, the cruise control didn't come back - the next day we drove, in less than an hour, the cruise control reactivated and we were able to drive for several hours through Big Bend National Park without any problems.

Then today, as we left the park, starting our drive back to Houston, without outside temp around 85 degrees - the cruise control went offline again - and again didn't come back for the rest of today's drive.

I checked with our Mercedes service - and they confirmed there isn't any way to fallback to standard cruise control (which woulnd't require the radar).

Has anyone else experienced this issue with their 2019/2020 Sprinter-based RV?

We'll drop our View off at our local Sprinter service next week. But because this problem is intermittent, unless they can find something in the vehicle logs, by inspection, or testing - they could "recalibrate" again - and have it go out on us on our next long trip (Houston to Yellowstone).

We've had adaptive cruise control on our cars - and never experienced this issue with any of them.

Is this a problem with our View? Or is this a general problem with Mercedes Sprinters?

crah · 06-17-2021, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rprochnow

Our 2021 View 24D is built on a 2019 Sprinter chassis.

Prior to our 20K Sprinter service, we had several periods when the adaptive cruise control would deactivate (which also disables the active brake assist), likely because of issues with the front-facing radar located underneath the grille above the bumper step.

Mercedes service looked at the issue and "recalibrated" the sensors.

On our current 2800 mile road trip, we didn't have problems during the first 2/3 of the trip. But when we started the drive south from Colorado to Big Bend, the cruise control was disabled while we were driving in 105 degree temps - and it came back in less than an hour. The next day, the same thing happened while driving in 105 degree temps - and this time, the cruise control didn't come back - the next day we drove, in less than an hour, the cruise control reactivated and we were able to drive for several hours through Big Bend National Park without any problems.

Then today, as we left the park, starting our drive back to Houston, without outside temp around 85 degrees - the cruise control went offline again - and again didn't come back for the rest of today's drive.

I checked with our Mercedes service - and they confirmed there isn't any way to fallback to standard cruise control (which woulnd't require the radar).

Has anyone else experienced this issue with their 2019/2020 Sprinter-based RV?

We'll drop our View off at our local Sprinter service next week. But because this problem is intermittent, unless they can find something in the vehicle logs, by inspection, or testing - they could "recalibrate" again - and have it go out on us on our next long trip (Houston to Yellowstone).

We've had adaptive cruise control on our cars - and never experienced this issue with any of them.

Is this a problem with our View? Or is this a general problem with Mercedes Sprinters?

I've seen this problem on all forums on the new generation VS30 2019 Sprinter Chassis (2020+motorhome with Sprinter Chassis). I've had my radar recalibrated, and also replaced, and still had intermittent returns. The weather has nothing to do with it and seems almost software related.

My latest solution with over 3,000 miles added since I've done it, is to turn off the traffic sign assist and the attention assist as well as turn on the software automatic download. Who knows if that did it or not, but I haven't had the problem return in 3,000 miles. Wished there was something definitive on exactly what the problem is/was. Can you do an manual software/firmware download from the MBUX? I've never tried it, but noticed that I've had several updates since I turned on the auto download function.

rprochnow · 06-17-2021, 06:30 PM

Doesn't appear to be any way to do a manual software update.

You can do manual map updates - and I've just turned off the automatic update for any maps - since it appears the automatic update of Texas maps wasn't loading the correct speed limits.

We hit the road for the last leg of our trip tomorrow AM. Will try disabling the traffic sign and attention assist - though I doubt these have anything to do with cruise control/active braking.

it really appears to be a problem with the radar - sending out-of-band data, causing the system to go down.

And because we're driving less travelled roads in west Texas, if the system needs traffic ahead to recalibrate the radar - we may not get it back until we're back on an Interstate with a lot more traffic...

Mercedes advertises this system is part of the Sprinter chassis being sold to RV manufacturers.

The RV manufacturers advertise the adaptive cruise control as a feature in their new Sprinter-based RVs.

And yet, the system appears to be very poorly designed - haven't had this issue with any other vehicle we've owned with adaptive cruise control...

ZimBob · 06-17-2021, 08:58 PM

Check your wheel speed sensors. The previous generation Sprinter chassis had wheel speed sensors that notoriously failed to the point that MB was forced to extend the warranty on them.

**creativepart** · 06-18-2021, 10:00 AM

For any problem on Sprinter Chassis Winnebagos I always suggest to post here, but also on www.sprinter-source.com.

You'll see a lot more Sprinter specific info on that forum.

Bobbit · 06-19-2021, 08:09 PM

I have a 2021 View on a 2020 Sprinter. I just drove from Az to Iowa about 1800 miles traveling 400 plus miles per day. After about 100 miles each day my adaptive cruise control would become inoperative and would not become active again for 3 hours and we were driving on heavily traveled roads.
There is for sure a problem of some kind with there system.
I have an appointment with a Mercedes dealer to look over the system along with the traffic sign assist feature which never goes over 55 mph.
I’m not optimistic about a fix as I was told that I should just drive on as the cruise control was just recalibrating.
I think it is a bunch of BS and my right leg gets tired of holding the gas peddle down in this day and age.
I have, as well as many of you I am sure, other vehicles which have cruise control which works all the time!!

rprochnow · 06-20-2021, 10:12 AM

Forums tend to highlight issues that may be seen by only a very small percentage of owners.

Would be interesting to see what % of Sprinter-based RV owners are having problems with the bumper-mounted radar, causing loss of adaptive cruise control and the adaptive braking...

Is this affecting enough owners to get MB to do something about this to fix the problem, such as a recall?

Bobbit · 06-20-2021, 11:45 AM

That would be nice!

rprochnow · 06-20-2021, 01:31 PM

Taking our View to local Sprinter service tomorrow to get the radar/cruise control checked (again)...

I asked if they could replace the radar or any other sensors that may be causing this problem - and was told they have to do an inspection first before they can make any decisions on the repairs.

Hopefully they can also do the brake recall while they have our View...

Bobbit · 06-20-2021, 02:51 PM

Haven’t heard about the brake recall.
What is that all about?

rprochnow · 06-20-2021, 08:27 PM

On some Sprinters, a retaining washer for the brakes could come loose, causing the brake tail lights to stay on all of the time.

The recall notice doesn't indicate this will prevent the brakes from operating correctly, only impacting the tail lights - and posing a potential safety issue because vehicles behind won't be able to tell when your brake lights are on.

Assuming MB has your address, if your Sprinter is covered by the recall, you should have received multiple notices about this recall.

Though you can also check MB's recall website to see if there are any recalls for your Sprinter, based on your VIN.

rprochnow · 06-23-2021, 04:53 PM

Sprinter service has had our View for 3 days now - and no update on resolving the cruise control problem.

Saw in another post that MB may be getting ready to issue a recall on 2019/2020 Sprinter wheel sensors - which could impact cruise control. Mentioned this to our Sprinter service manager and haven't had any response yet.

crah · 06-23-2021, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rprochnow

Sprinter service has had our View for 3 days now - and no update on resolving the cruise control problem.

Saw in another post that MB may be getting ready to issue a recall on 2019/2020 Sprinter wheel sensors - which could impact cruise control. Mentioned this to our Sprinter service manager and haven't had any response yet.

I just talked to someone with a 2021 Thor on a Sprinter. They've had the same cruise control issue. They assumed it was a normal safety feature due to hitting road bumps and wind, and their process was to pull over and shut it off for a while and restart.

Vnorvi · 06-23-2021, 06:22 PM

Hi
I have a sprinter and it has not failed.... yet

But I have an S class from the same time frame. It has the same intermittent failures. I know you will think this is crazy, but when it failed, the problem was found to be the wheel alignment!!! Apparently there is some failure monitoring system where if the alignment is out by too much the auto cruise control deactivates. I had gotten the car aligned at a non mercedes dealer, and they did not apparently know how to deal with the sensors. You might suggest to the dealer a well alignment.

Yes, I know it's crazy. I didn't believe them either. But it worked.

https://rts.i-car.com/collision-repa...t-on-adas.html

QUOTE=rprochnow;3898676]Our 2021 View 24D is built on a 2019 Sprinter chassis.

Prior to our 20K Sprinter service, we had several periods when the adaptive cruise control would deactivate (which also disables the active brake assist), likely because of issues with the front-facing radar located underneath the grille above the bumper step.

Mercedes service looked at the issue and "recalibrated" the sensors.

On our current 2800 mile road trip, we didn't have problems during the first 2/3 of the trip. But when we started the drive south from Colorado to Big Bend, the cruise control was disabled while we were driving in 105 degree temps - and it came back in less than an hour. The next day, the same thing happened while driving in 105 degree temps - and this time, the cruise control didn't come back - the next day we drove, in less than an hour, the cruise control reactivated and we were able to drive for several hours through Big Bend National Park without any problems.

Then today, as we left the park, starting our drive back to Houston, without outside temp around 85 degrees - the cruise control went offline again - and again didn't come back for the rest of today's drive.

I checked with our Mercedes service - and they confirmed there isn't any way to fallback to standard cruise control (which woulnd't require the radar).

Has anyone else experienced this issue with their 2019/2020 Sprinter-based RV?

We'll drop our View off at our local Sprinter service next week. But because this problem is intermittent, unless they can find something in the vehicle logs, by inspection, or testing - they could "recalibrate" again - and have it go out on us on our next long trip (Houston to Yellowstone).

We've had adaptive cruise control on our cars - and never experienced this issue with any of them.

Is this a problem with our View? Or is this a general problem with Mercedes Sprinters?[/QUOTE]

rprochnow · 06-23-2021, 07:41 PM

When the cruise control and active brake assist features are deactivated, there isn't any way to turn them on or off.

Turning off the engine and MBUX system doesn't have any impact - if the features are disabled before stopping the engine, they'll be disabled when restarting the engine - even if the Sprinter is parked overnight or for several days.

The features appears to come back on after some random interval and likely after the sensors have recalibrated by having the radar detect vehicles ahead and then calibrate the radar measurements with the other sensors (front facing camera and possibly the wheel sensors).

We have had the system disabled during heavy rain and a snow storm (causing snow & ice to build up on the front bumper over the radar) - and that's understandable.

But the last 3 times it was disabled on our last trip, the skies were clear - temps were around 105 two times and around 85 the 3rd time. So it's not obvious why the system keeps going offline...

crah · 06-23-2021, 07:52 PM

I agree shutting off the engine has no impact and how it turns back on is at random intervals. However I have had 2 specific incidence where I turned off the engine, restart and all was OK. It was only twice reset in restarts, but I could not duplicate that ever again. I have no idea why it does this, but I bet many people shut off and restart when these type of gremlins happen when we don't know what the solution is. On 2 incidents ago, this happened and I made an appointment at the sprinter shop. However on the morning of my appointment, the problem was gone so I canceled my appointment because I felt it was a waste of time at the shop considering I made several prior shop time and they couldn't find anything wrong (after radar replacement)

Ontario Don · 06-24-2021, 06:46 PM

Hi - I'm a bit hesitant to join in for fear of de-railing the discussion, but I thought I would let you know the issues I had with losing some of the "highway tech" on our '21 View last fall, and what the solution was. Not sure if my issues were similar to what is being experienced out there, but it sounds like they could be... some of this you guys likely already know.

Last fall, shortly after taking delivery of our View, we started getting on-screen failure messages associated with the adaptive cruise control, and another feature I can't quite recall. We'd lose the cruise control for a bit, but then it would return and function normally. And, there were times when it was not available at the end of the trip, but then be Ok next time we drove the vehicle. We only drove the View for a short time before I had to winterize it and put it away for winter. Late this past winter, when I got it up and running for a new season, none of the highway tech was operative as evidenced by the familiar failure messages - but this time there was a new message - "Aux Battery Malfunction".

I researched this new message and found out that Mercedes added this auxiliary battery because of the new electric control of the transmission in the VS30 chassis. This battery allows the transmission to be put in neutral, should the chassis battery be dead and the Sprinter needs to be towed. That makes good sense to me, but what doesn't make sense is - I discovered that the "highway tech" is powered, or controlled, by this 12 volt auxiliary battery as well. Not sure why they did this, maybe to ensure that we take it to the dealer because of the large inconvenience this failure ultimately delivers...

The good news was the auxiliary battery is very small, and is easily accessed. It is located under the driver's seat, at the back outboard corner. You can lift up the Styrofoam dust cover and see it sitting there. I was able to put a meter on it and determine that it was significantly less than 12 volts. You can get your hand in there to remove the leads, and release the clip to allow removal. The other good news was that there are a number of after-market replacement batteries out there, and all very inexpensive. I opted to order one and install it myself, instead of taking the View to a Mercedes dealer. The cost to me, including shipping, was 26.50 Canadian - I'm thinking that down there these things just might be free. After installing, all of my problems disappeared, and we have been trouble free now for over 7000 miles.

I wonder if the battery was having problems at the time of delivery, and then due to my ignorance by unknowingly leaving it in the Sprinter over the winter up here, four months of sub-zero temperatures sent it over the edge. But, the one thing I do know is that my highway tech issues were fixed by a replacement battery.

The battery part number is:

N000000004039

That part number should bring up a number of after market options if you want to try to troubleshoot yourself, or just might be worth mentioning to the dealer if they have not investigated this connection to your highway tech issues.

Hope that helps somewhat, Cheers.

Ontario Don · 06-24-2021, 06:59 PM

Here is the auxiliary battery that was at the root of my problems:

crah · 06-24-2021, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ontario Don

Hi - I'm a bit hesitant to join in for fear of de-railing the discussion, but I thought I would let you know the issues I had with losing some of the "highway tech" on our '21 View last fall, and what the solution was. Not sure if my issues were similar to what is being experienced out there, but it sounds like they could be... some of this you guys likely already know.

Last fall, shortly after taking delivery of our View, we started getting on-screen failure messages associated with the adaptive cruise control, and another feature I can't quite recall. We'd lose the cruise control for a bit, but then it would return and function normally. And, there were times when it was not available at the end of the trip, but then be Ok next time we drove the vehicle. We only drove the View for a short time before I had to winterize it and put it away for winter. Late this past winter, when I got it up and running for a new season, none of the highway tech was operative as evidenced by the familiar failure messages - but this time there was a new message - "Aux Battery Malfunction".

I researched this new message and found out that Mercedes added this auxiliary battery because of the new electric control of the transmission in the VS30 chassis. This battery allows the transmission to be put in neutral, should the chassis battery be dead and the Sprinter needs to be towed. That makes good sense to me, but what doesn't make sense is - I discovered that the "highway tech" is powered, or controlled, by this 12 volt auxiliary battery as well. Not sure why they did this, maybe to ensure that we take it to the dealer because of the large inconvenience this failure ultimately delivers...

The good news was the auxiliary battery is very small, and is easily accessed. It is located under the driver's seat, at the back outboard corner. You can lift up the Styrofoam dust cover and see it sitting there. I was able to put a meter on it and determine that it was significantly less than 12 volts. You can get your hand in there to remove the leads, and release the clip to allow removal. The other good news was that there are a number of after-market replacement batteries out there, and all very inexpensive. I opted to order one and install it myself, instead of taking the View to a Mercedes dealer. The cost to me, including shipping, was 26.50 Canadian - I'm thinking that down there these things just might be free. After installing, all of my problems disappeared, and we have been trouble free now for over 7000 miles.

I wonder if the battery was having problems at the time of delivery, and then due to my ignorance by unknowingly leaving it in the Sprinter over the winter up here, four months of sub-zero temperatures sent it over the edge. But, the one thing I do know is that my highway tech issues were fixed by a replacement battery.

The battery part number is:

N000000004039

That part number should bring up a number of after market options if you want to try to troubleshoot yourself, or just might be worth mentioning to the dealer if they have not investigated this connection to your highway tech issues.

Hope that helps somewhat, Cheers.

Don, thanks for the information and I have read about the aux battery giving other problems with the 4x4 sprinter getting lots of trouble flashes on the dash. It does sound like your problem is/was similar. The actual error you get is active distance assist inoperative, and active break assist limited. These will both flash and the cruise control will not work. I typically take my RV out every other extended weekend. The cruise just quits working with no type of pattern. I will definitely check out the voltage on that aux battery as I always carry a multi meter with me. Thanks for the info, and hope it's something that simple.

rprochnow · 06-24-2021, 08:45 PM

Sprinter service has our RV - I'll send them a note about the auxiliary battery.