DEF

[Rob & Cathy]

A few months ago on the way to the ocean I noticed the DEF was showing LESS THAN HALF FULL so on the way back home I stopped at a Ford dealer and picked up a 2.5 gallon jug. Once home I filled the DEF tank and found out that the tank would not take the entire 2.5 gallons. I decide the next time I would wait for the 800 MILES TO EMPTY message.

On this trip I noticed the LESS THAN HALF FULL message last week while in Idaho. On Wednesday, just before we got to our current location 23 miles east of St Louis, I got the 800 MILES TO EMPTY message on the information center and it would not go away until I acknowledged the message by pressing OK on the steering wheel. Today on our way to spend the day in St Louis I again stopped at a Ford dealer and bought another jug of DEF. I also found out that once the 800 message comes up you'll get XXX MILES TO EMPTY every time you start the truck and it won't go away until you acknowledge the message. You certainly can't say you were never warned if you let it run empty. Anyway this time it took the whole 2.5 gallons and now shows DEF FLUID OK.

So from now on I'm not refilling until i get the 800 mile message.

Rob

[Chief409]

Thanks Rob. I got the "Less then 1/2 tank" message a week or so ago. And, I'm still waiting for the "service required" message for a oil change at 5500 miles on the clock.

Jeff

[Travelers]

Rob, I wouldn't trust that "800 miles" statement. Mine came on at 999 miles and 125 miles later it put me in the 55 mph limit. Had to go to the dealer to get it reset.

[Mike Clay]

John have you seen it go to 66% on your edge yet

[Travelers]

John have you seen it go to 66% on your edge yet

I'll turn that pid on when I get in the truck today.
Going off to one of your favorites today.

[Rob & Cathy]

Thanks John, I'll keep that in mind. The last message I had was 641 MILES TO EMPTY and I don't believe I put on 160 miles since the 800 mile message. I know the consumption is variable depending on driving conditions.

I had my oil changed early Jeff, about month before our trip, as I estimate we'll put on 6000 miles or so before we get home.

Rob

[Mike Clay]

Oh man you going to go see Uncle Jack? Tell him he should be sending me Christmas Cards

[WVcampers]

Rob, I never got the 800 miles message, only the less that 1/2. I knew it had been a while since I added DEF. I have 10,100 miles on the truck and had added a total of 5 gal. So I stopped at a Loves and used their DEF pump. The truck took 3.5 gallons. I am not sure that it is filled to to the max. The pump would only allow a trickle to go in without kicking off. I am thinking that it is because the tank is not vented. The cost of 3.5 gallons was $9.00 But I think it took me 10 minutes to pump it.

[Chief409]

The cost of 3.5 gallons was $9.00

That beats the heck out of the price buying DEF by the can. I'd head to Love's today, but the closest one is in Tehachapi, and when I checked the weather this morning, the airport there was reporting moderate snow, winds around 25 to 30 mph. So, I think I'll wait.

Jeff

[Rob & Cathy]

The cost of 3.5 gallons was $9.00 But I think it took me 10 minutes to pump it.

That's a good price Randy. I paid $15 at the Ford dealer. I stopped at a Pilot on the way back to the campground and they had DEF at the truck pumps. If I hadn't already bought a jug that morning I would have filled up at the pump. I had to go inside to get a receipt so I checked on their jug price and their 2.5 gallon jug was $15 too.

Rob

[Mike Clay]

Good price I pay 9.00 for two gallons at my dealer.

[bfast54]

Flying J, Pilot is running $2.68-$2.89 at the DEF pump.

[LuvRving]

I have a new 2012 GMC 3500HD. It only has about 3500 km on it and so far I haven't had a message. I keep topping it up when I get 1500 to 2000 km done. It says not to overfilled and I am wondering how not to do that. There is no way to see how much is the tank until it comes up in the the fill tube. Then there is no way to siphon it out. I fill until I hear the sound changing and then I stop. It would be great if there was a see through reservoir like the coolant tank. We've had lots of frosty nights lately but no damage that I know of.

[Mike Clay]

That is how they want you to do it, don't keep adding until it comes out the top. Only need to worry about this in the winter months to give a little room for the tank to expand. You should be using about a gallon every 1,000 (miles) or around 1610 km

[Chief409]

Decided I needed to try the new GPS yesterday so I went to the Love's in Tehachapi for fuel and DEF. I ended up buying 2 bottles of DEF because I couldn't get the DEF to flow at the pump. It must have a magnetic valve. When I got home I added 2.3 gallons of at a guess, it wasn't quite a full bottle. And now I have a spare 2.5 gallons of DEF.

Anyone heard of a metal collar to put on the DEF filler, so the magnetic valve in the nozzle will open? Or has anyone tried placing a 2" pipe union on the DEF fill and then trying to fill up. I'd try it myself, but Tehachapi is a 70 mile round trip, up the mountain and back down to the valley, kinda far to run just to try an experiment.

Jeff