Bought DEF at the pump, great price, but a few issues...

[jsffd]

I bought some DEF at the local Loves truck stop. Less than $2.50 a gallon. But had to ground the nozzle with an adaptor. It took awhile, and was a bit messy. Has anyone tried this? Or any better ideas?

 

[RikDavis]

I have only bought at the pump once, Pilot station. I had no issues, just stuffed it in the hole and pulled the trigger. Did splash a little but it wipes up easily enough

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

I had no problem at Flying J but the nozzle was crusted with urea from sloppy truckers spilling the DEF.

 

[gsbrockman]

I bought some DEF at the local Loves truck stop. Less than $2.50 a gallon. But had to ground the nozzle with an adaptor. It took awhile, and was a bit messy. Has anyone tried this? Or any better ideas?

Apparently the particular pump utilized at your place of purchase required the DEF magnet. It's labeled as a MFPD (mis-fill prevention device) and will only allow full flow if the DEF tank on larger trucks already has the magnet within the filler neck; otherwise, the magnet must be slipped over the nozzle for full DEF dispensing.

http://www.opwglobal.com/Product.aspx?pid=472

I've purchased DEF bulk at 14 or more places and have only encountered one place that required the magnet.

 

[jsffd]

Yep that's what it was. Thanks. How about price? How cheap can it be bought in the jugs? It was pretty expensive in the store.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

I have seen mostly $2.79 at the pump and the cheapest 2.5 gallon jug of Blue DEF I have seen is at Walmart, $11.97.

 

[gsbrockman]

Buying it bulk at the pumps is always your best value. A 2.5 gallon jug currently at my local TSC sells for $12.99 plus tax ($13.77 out the door) That's $5.51 per gallon...... it's quite easy to do the math on this deal.

 

[Boomer II]

Apparently the particular pump utilized at your place of purchase required the DEF magnet. It's labeled as a MFPD (mis-fill prevention device) and will only allow full flow if the DEF tank on larger trucks already has the magnet within the filler neck; otherwise, the magnet must be slipped over the nozzle for full DEF dispensing.

http://www.opwglobal.com/Product.aspx?pid=472

I've purchased DEF bulk at 14 or more places and have only encountered one place that required the magnet.

I've tried to buy at the pump one time in Amarillo & had a helluva time getting it to work. I had to barely squeeze the handle to where
it would just turn on and hold it there or it would shut off, it took me forever to fill the tank. So do you slip this deal over the nozzle
to activate the gizmo on the pump handle?

 

[gsbrockman]

It slides over the nozzle where it enters the tank.

 

[Boomer II]

I see it's a no spill mechanism, but does it activate the magnet that some pumps have? My one experience at a truck stop was not very positive, first I couldn't pay at the pump. Had to go inside & tell them how much I wanted, well, I want to fill up, not good enough, so I got to guess how much of each I needed. Tried to do the DEF first, WRONG! Do the diesel first. Couldn't pump the DEF without it cutting off, made yet another trip in doors to get the guy & he had no clue why. So after about eight trips inside & ten minutes of barely squeezing the pump handle as little as possible I managed to get it done. I need some serious education on how truck stops work, because I'd really like to get my DEF there as opposed to paying through the nose elsewhere.

 

[MelvinPierce]

I have had mixed results. I have the magnet, but still some DEF handles just give me fits. Some are fine, but others just keep clicking off. I can put the magnet on, makes no difference. Not sure why. I would say that as I travel, about 1/2 of the bulk pumps give me fits. 1/4 work fine, and the other 1/4 have to go slow, but only clicks off some times.

 

[Too Tall]

Listening to the issues hear, I'm thinking about going to the local truck stop and filling up a plastic 5 gallon gas can with the DEF fluid. And then funnel it in as needed? Is this doable, that is, to pump the DEF into a plastic container? Will it deteriorate or get stale over time?

 

[PMcCall]

If you are a prime member on amazon, you can get 2.5 gall jugs for $11.97 and no shipping with prime. I have found these 2.5 G jugs to be the easiest to deal with. they come with a pouring spout. Remove the cap, install the spout, dump it into the DEF tank and toss it away

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Walmart sells DEF for $12 also. Save a couple jugs and refill them at the truck stop. If you keep it cool, it has a pretty good lifetime.

According to Chrysler TSB 25-006-13:
Temperature Estimated Useful Life
32°F (0°C) Indefinite
50°F (10°C) 75 Years
68°F (20°C) 11 Years
86°F (30°C) 23 Months
95°F (35°C) 10 Months
104°F (40°C) 4 Months
122°F (50°C) 1 Month
140°F (60°C) 1 Week

 

[2rrRAM2nv]

nice to know about shelf life. Dealer told me it was only good for a few months. WTF? then what about in the truck? I might not need to fill up for more than a year or so.

 

[jus2shy]

Personally, I bought a couple 2.5 gallon DEF jugs. I re-fill these jugs at the trucker stops along with my truck. This way, I lengthen the amount of time I can go before I have to go to a trucker stop. I figure having a 5 gallon jug is good enough to get me across the US if I should ever need to tow something that far, so 2 jugs is more than enough for my uses.

 

[MattandLana]

According to Chrysler TSB 25-006-13:
Temperature Estimated Useful Life
95°F (35°C) 10 Months
104°F (40°C) 4 Months
122°F (50°C) 1 Month

Thanks for this info Joseph. Without wanting to completely hijack the thread, the shelf life vs us temperature is interesting. In our Australian outback the summer shade temp will exceed 40 degrees C every day for weeks on end. Even under the truck, tank temps will reach more than that. So my question is: what if anything happens when the DEF in the truck 'goes bad' due to heat?

 

[JLandry]

So my question is: what if anything happens when the DEF in the truck 'goes bad' due to heat?

I think either the Cummins or Chrysler rep at May Madness said that in cases of severe evaporation due to high heat, crystals can form in the DEF tank and dosing system resulting in clogs or damage. Also, I recall he may have mentioned contamination of the SCR unit can result.

It sounded expensive and wouldn't be covered by the vehicle's warranty of course.

A DEF Q&A paper by Cummins indicates that high temp issues are in reality a non-issue.

John L.

 

[MattandLana]

Thanks for that John. In case others are interested, the Q&A paper John referred us to (which tells you almost everything you could ever want to know about storing and handling DEF!) contains the following:

Q. What impact will exposure to high temperatures for an extended period of time have on DEF?
A. While DEF exposure to constant, high storage temperature may have some impact on shelf life, this should not concern operators. Extensive testing in very hot climates has been conducted confirming that DEF stored at a constant temperature of 95 deg F had a shelf life of over 6 months.

As John says, sounds like a non-issue.

Cheers

 

[MattandLana]

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