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Here’s a pic on my instrument panel.
Notice the difference in the DEF level— Top right shows almost 3/4!tank left.
Over to the left are 5 boxes, with the one in the middle solid white.
First, am I right assuming the one on the left is more accurate?
Second, when the solid square drops to the fourth box, would it be safe to empty a 2.5 gallon of DEF and not overfill?
Or do I wait for the truck to tell me( but I have heard some bad endings when some have done that), and how much do you put in there when you are down to 500 miles warning?
I believe the box to the left are just showing you where you are at on the menu screen,when you scroll between options to choose. I’m going by the def fluid gauge on mine, 4K miles and still just a little over 1/2 full, no towing yet and a 1600mile Florida trip on there. I’m probably going to top it off when I get to 1/3 tank. I also bought the filler hose from ford ($5.00 or so) that suppose to not overfill the tank.
Lol the gauge is what you need to be looking at. The boxes to the left are just bullet points showing which screen you are on. Scroll to the next screen, and it drops another box.
Larry, I add DEF with the gauge gets below half. I've never had any errors or warnings. It just works out that the DEF tanks gets below half right before I head out on a camping trip.
Larry, I add DEF with the gauge gets below half. I've never had any errors or warnings. It just works out that the DEF tanks gets below half right before I head out on a camping trip.
LOL So obviously I’m a rookie. So HRTKD,
is the DEF gauge accurate, or is that a truck to truck thing? So I just bought 2.5 gallons of DEF from my Ford dealer. I was thinking I was using it soon, but now it may be 2-3 months away. What is the shelf life of this DEF? Should I be taking this back?
My DEF gauge takes a couple minutes to realize I added fluid. Otherwise, I think mine is accurate.
Shelf life of DEF is at least a year if stored in a cool location out of the sun. I've been buying the Wal-mart brand lately. No issues. With the gauge just below half it takes the full 2.5 gallon jug just fine.
My DEF gauge takes a couple minutes to realize I added fluid. Otherwise, I think mine is accurate.
Shelf life of DEF is at least a year if stored in a cool location out of the sun. I've been buying the Wal-mart brand lately. No issues. With the gauge just below half it takes the full 2.5 gallon jug just fine.
7.5 gal tank/ at half-full it should easily take a 2.5gal Blue DEF container, or any other brand. I usually don't get concerned about it until at the 1/2 mark, even towing. Then, a quick Peak Blue DEF container and back to near full.
The DEF gauge is surprisingly a lot nicer on the 4.2" XLT dash screen than the 8" Lariat screen as Larry has. It depicts a real gauge. Either is accurate, however. I don't bother adding DEF till I'm at 1/4 tank reading or below. The message center will give you very ample warning besides the gauge when your range starts to get low. Maybe 800 miles warning.
That DEF status screen seems like an antiquated leftover from the previous gen trucks when you could only be told DEF level in quarters.
The 2017+ gauge is better than prior years from what I understand. Keep in mind that the DEF can freeze. So Ford may be somewhat limited in how they determine the fluid level in the tank.
I add a 2-1/2 gallon jug of Walmart SuperTech DEF when gauge reads 1/2 full. Not towing DEF lasts a LOOOONG time. Here’s my guage after adding a jug and then driving highway 2000 miles, Florida to Nc and back. It Still reads full.
So HRTKD,
