MB Medic Mercedes-Benz Repair Guides, Service, How To DIY
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In this guide (5 sections)
In this guide, you will find instructions on how to set the clock on a Mercedes Sprinter Cargo Van, 2500, 3500 model years 2007-2016. Â Both methods below use the steering wheel buttons, because that is how the clock is set on these vans. The first is the full settings menu route and the second is a shortcut that works on many of them, so if one sequence does not match what your cluster shows, try the other. The same applies to Dodge Sprinters of the same generation, which share the cluster. If the clock will not STAY set rather than refusing to be set, skip to the section further down, because that is a different problem with a different cause.
Method one, through the settings menu
This is the long way round and it works on every Sprinter in this range.
- Press the menu button on the left side of the steering wheel until you see the Settings menu in the instrument cluster display.
- Press the Up arrow button on the steering wheel to enter the sub-menu.
- Scroll with the plus and minus buttons on the steering wheel until you see the Clock menu.
- Press the up arrow on the steering wheel to enter the Clock/Date menu.
- Next, select the Set Clock.
- Change the hour and minutes with the plus or minus.
Method two, the shortcut
Faster, and it works on many of these clusters. If the clock does not start flashing after a few presses of the menu button, use method one instead.
- Turn the ignition to position II.
- Press the menu button several times. You should see the clock start to flash.
- Press your steering wheel’s Plus or Minus buttons to change the clock.
- Next, press the reset button once, and the minutes should flash.
- Press the plus or minus buttons to change the minutes, then press the reset button once more to store it.
If the clock will not stay set
This is the version of the question that actually costs people money, and it is worth separating from the one above. Setting the clock is a menu. A clock that goes back to a default time every morning, or every time the van sits for a few days, is telling you something else entirely.
The instrument cluster keeps time from a permanent power feed that stays live with the ignition off. That is the only way it can count the hours while the van is parked. So when the clock resets, that feed is being interrupted, and the clock is simply the one thing on the dashboard that visibly notices.
The usual culprits, cheapest first:
- A tired main battery. A battery that still cranks can drop low enough overnight for the cluster to lose its memory. If the clock resets and the radio presets have also gone, stop looking anywhere else and test the battery and its state of charge.
- A poor ground or a loose battery terminal. Intermittent rather than dead, which is exactly why the fault comes and goes.
- The fuse on the cluster’s permanent supply. It is not the same fuse as the one that powers the cluster with the key on, which is why the display works normally while you are driving and still forgets everything overnight.
- Corrosion at the cluster connector. Common on vans that have had a water leak, and it produces exactly this kind of comes and goes behavior.
It is tempting to shrug at a wrong clock. Two reasons not to.
First, the same permanent feed does more than the clock. The cluster also holds the service counter, which counts elapsed TIME as well as mileage, so a cluster that keeps losing its memory can muddle the service interval too. If your van is also showing odd service distances, the two symptoms have one cause. We cover that counter in the Sprinter service reminder guide.
Second, if the cause is a weak battery, that is the beginning of a longer list rather than the end of one. Low voltage on a Mercedes produces warning lights and odd behavior across unrelated systems, which is how a cheap battery turns into an expensive diagnosis.
If it does turn out to be the cluster itself, with a dim or missing display or a reset button that no longer works, that is a repair rather than a replacement. Module Medics rebuild Mercedes instrument clusters at board level and return your own unit, so the mileage and the coding stay with the van. A replacement cluster has to be programmed to match, which is where the cost goes.
Does setting the clock need any diagnostics?
No. It is a menu on the dashboard and there is nothing to read, reset or code, and it is worth saying that rather than selling you something for a two minute job.
Where a YOUCANIC UCAN-II Pro earns its place on a Sprinter is the section above: reading the actual battery voltage the cluster is seeing, and checking whether other control units have logged undervoltage faults from the same interruption. That turns a guess about the battery into a number. It covers nearly everything Xentry does apart from online VIN coding. Useful on the van, not needed for the clock.
Related reading
Before you buy parts, scan every control module, not just the engine. It shows the root fault behind the warning lights and tells you whether the problem is still active. See how to do a full health check.
