Jumper Cables, duh. I actually didn’t have jumper cables for a really long time and made the ‘You need this or you might die’ purchase only about 6 months ago. If you don’t know how to use jumper cables, its easy! If your van is dead, clip the red part of the jumper cable onto the positive terminal on your batter, then clip the black part on the negative terminal. Then do that same process on your friends van with both vans turned off. Once you’ve got them clipped together you just turn on the car that starts and wait for a few minutes. With the cars still connected, try starting your van and tada! You should be able to drive again.
Flat head screw driver. This may seem obvious, but I had to go hunting for one when I first tried to replace my upper intercooler hose on my van. All the hose clamps in the sprinter use a flathead screw driver to tighten them down.
Star Allen key set: The T1N sprinters have many many different size and shape fasteners. Which can be really tricky, I was SOL when trying to fix my van about 8 months ago and had to order these on amazon. You definitely need these to do any sort of work on your van.
Star socket set: The inverse of the Allen keys! Not much to say about these but you need them.
Socket Set/ Socket Wrench: In order to use all of the many cool socket sets you will now own, you need something to use wield them with. I recommend a 3/4 inch drive.
Allen key: And of course, a regular Allen key set. Because why not?
Oil Filter Wrench: If you want to change your oil, you will need one of these! That being said you will also need
Bucket: A good old bucket. You can probably put all of your tools in the bucket and store them inside the van, that’s what I do.
Multi Meter: This hasn’t happened to me specifically, but friends have borrowed my multimeter in the past to check their batteries state of charge or to see if their alternator is all fucked up.
Fluids: I keep oil and anti freeze in the van at all times just in case you know?
Other/Misc: This will include rubber gloves and shop towels. Keeping grease off your hands isn’t easy, but it IS easier when you have gloves.
Ok! That is everything I currently have inside my van for working on my T1N Sprinter Van. If I missed anything or you think there should be a few other things on this list please let me know down in the comments.
You can get all of these things at a local autoparts store OR you can purchase them in the links above.