My Father In-laws 2012 with 16k miles is in the shop do to CEL. The shop called and said DEF tank is contaminated and needs to be replaced (mechanic said it looked like a petroleum product had contaminated the tank). $2500 is the estimate and Ford denied coverage on the extended warranty.
Father In-law is not happy and wants to know how this could happen. He has been the only person to add DEF and used Ford DEF and then Napa DEF. If his jugs of DEF froze and thawed a few times will the DEF change properties? Is the DEF getting too old do to the truck not being driven often enough?
I would welcome any ideas or feedback on this issue.
Thanks

 

Sorry to hear about this.

I thought that the normal fix was to drop the tank, clean and reinstall. Not replace with new.

Any chance your Fil added fuel additives to the wrong tank...like anti gel or something?

 

Ford directs technicians to do simple tests of the DEF to check for contamination any time there is a problem with the system. They empty out the DEF from the tank and look for fluids separating. It's easy to spot any petroleum products present. If there's contamination, Ford will always refuse warranty.

DEF doesn't change properties and become petroleum. Freezing is normal. However DEF does have a shelf life and after a period of time is deemed expired Storage in extreme temperatures decreases that shelf life.

If your FIL is absolutely certain he didn't do any cross contamination, then someone else did.


If there is any sign of contamination, the system is to be replaced. Only non-contamination failures result in a simple replacement of the failed component, then clean and reinstall the rest.

Same goes for the fuel system.

 

I would add a harsh reality here.

Likely that ford is forced to comply with EPA regulations regarding service procedures with any emissions related component. We'd like to think that ford would have some common sense accepting the reality that things can be cleaned or repaired, but I'd bet the EPA has a hard line here that ford chooses not to tangle with. There's no way an auto maker would voluntarily write in a forced engine shut down if the exhaust fluid tank is empty. Similarly, ford can't endorse a service tech saying "yea, just a little something got poured in there, I can clean it out and reinstall it".

I'd try taking the truck home, cleaning out the system and clearing codes, and see what happens. Just make darn sure that nothing flammable gets misted into the exhaust pipe, lol.

 

I would drop and clean the tank. If you don't want to do it call around.

 

I'd be cleaning it myself as well.

 

Thanks for all of the input. I may have to tap dance around the fuel treatment in the DEF tank question, as of now that makes the most sense. Dropping the tank ourselves saves money but the problem is already in the Ford warranty database. Having Ford fix it should make any future warranty claims go more smoothly. My FIL bought the extended warranty package and wants to not do anything to mess it up. The good thing is that the truck was only driven a few miles with the CEL on and the mechinic said no harm was done other than to my FIL's wallet.

 

First, the recommended way to test the DEF for contamination is to use test strips that show petroleum exists - Acustrip Oil Test Paper - Part Number 44-863. There are other tell-tale indicators, Visual inspection of a sample, remove the reservoir from the tank and inspect the seal for swelling.

The issue is that petroleum contamination will damage all of the rubber seals and components and most parts like the hoses and the dosing line which cannot be cleaned effectively. The dosing pump and injector will be damaged internally. Ford also recommends replacing the tank to ensure no contamination remains. My personal thought is you could, with enough effort get it clean but can you be sure?

 

Great info! Thanks!

 

Just a follow up on my O.P. Parts to repair truck are on nationwide back order. Was told by dealer to cough up another 15% and the will place ours on priority list. With that, date of delivery of parts still unknown.
Hard to believe truck can be out of service this long for something that can easily happen. Thankfully we were home and not camping several hundred miles from home.

 

The 15% is not to place you on a priority list. It is a fee to place your order on emergency status and expedite shipping once the part(s) become available or can be cross-shipped from different warehouse or the supplier. It is like paying to over-night a package instead of paying for ground shipping. Otherwise you would have to wait as the parts supply begins to fill stock orders and move through the warehouses and distributors.

 

I would be looking into buying the system off of a recent wreck.. These parts should all be able to come from any 6.7 SD since 2011....

 

Thanks for the explanation. The dealer did not explain it that way, It came across as highest bidder goes to the head of the line for parts. My Father In-law is livid. Keep in mind he is paying out of pocket for repairs and only has an estimate of repair costs, he also was told he would have truck back in a few days. If we were on the road 300 miles from home with campers we would really be screwed. You buy new hoping to get better reliability including parts support.

 

That would be akin to bribery and an extremely poor business practice.

 

An update for those that may search on this problem in the future.

Almost a month since truck was taken to the dealer. Parts are still unavailable. I quizzed technician and no tests were done to determine if DEF was contaminated. Tech stated that they installed a fill nozzle and the tank was full, when they removed the nozzle a yellow film was on the nozzle. How the leap was made to petroleum product contamination is beyond me. Warranty claim denied based on petroleum product claim by technician. Dealers most experienced diesel tech had recently quit, we dealt with the junior tech.

I believe the root cause of the problem is my F.I.L. always topped the tank off. He does not like not having an indication of exactly how full the tank is. I had a long talk with him about letting the system work as designed and not to over maintain the DEF level. It is my opinion that had we pumped the tank out and then refilled with fresh we may have prevented this repair problem.

We have been in touch with Ford customer service people and they think parts will be available in a couple of weeks. I hope Ford helps out with repair cost but so far nothing offered. I doubt my F.I.L. will ever trust this vehicle not to leave him stranded. Last year it was 2x replacing injectors when we were 300+ miles from home. The year before that it was truck counting down to limp mode 200 miles from home. Now this. Truck only has 19k.
Thanks to the responses on this forum about my problem and other DEF posts I pieced together what I think happened and passed on to my F.I.L.
Thank you to all that respond to these posts, and educate us on these systems.