Hi everyone,

Saturday 8/11/18 my 2017 F250 gives me a 50 miles til 50mph notification with my DEF fluid. I press ok and check my gauge and it shows 1/2. I call my dealership in Hattiesburg MS and tell the service tech what is going on. They advise me to find the nearest dealer in Ardmore OK and take it to them for a checkup, so I do. The service tech at the dealership in OK tells me that they can't look at it until Tuesday and they don't have a loaner vehicle for me to drive. I call another dealership in Pauls Bluff OK and they tell me to bring it in. As I'm driving it to Pauls Bluff, the Idle only warning comes on, so I call my MS dealership and tell them. They advise me to pull it over and call roadside assistance to have it towed. I call and have it towed to Pauls Bluff, get my loaner truck and go on about my way. This morning I called to see if they have had a chance to look at my truck and the lady tells me that they have looked at it and determined it to be "contaminated DEF". She then tells me that it is not covered under my warranty. I have 22,000 miles on this truck.... I drive up to the dealership and start asking questions like "how did you determine that it was contaminated"? She replies by saying that the mechanic could tell by the viscosity or thickness between his fingers. I told her that her answer was BS and I'd like to see the manager. The manager was out for lunch and she told me that she would call him. She excused herself outside and called him on her cell phone and talked to him for about 10 minutes and then came back inside and told me that he would be back in about 20 minutes. I took that time and called the manufacturer of the DEF that I've been using ( PEAK) and asked the rep what "contaminated DEF" is.... He explained that Ford, Dodge, and Chevy owners call them all the time to tell them about their "contaminated DEF". I got him to decode the numbers on the jug that I'd just put in my truck and it came out that the DEF was made on July 13 2018. FRESH DEF. By this time the manager has returned and I go inside to meet him. He's holding a greased up, old, nasty measuring container (like a plastic beaker) and tells me that my contaminated DEF is in there. He then tells me that they have flushed my DEF system and added new DEF into my system and confirms that their work will not be covered under warranty. I have filed a claim with Ford Customer Service and my Dealership back home where I bought the truck have called this Oklahoma dealership to tell them that they are full of bull. Has anyone else had this issue? Any pointers? (BTW... I never got the 500 miles til def empty message, it just went straight to 50 miles.. )

 

Just wondering why you didn't attempt to add more def after you got that message? Sux the visit isn't covered.

 

I apologize for leaving that part out. The service tech advised me to add more to it. I got a 2.5 gal and added until it wouldn't take anymore. The gauge showed full and the countdown continued. The service tech told me that it seemed like the pump had gone out or a sensor wasn't picking it up.

 

If it's operational, I think you're limited to the FoMoCo claim you've already submitted. If you're dealer is willing to get involved and provide diagnostic facts, that would help but all of that may have been cleared.

Did you receive the "contaminated exhaust fluid" message? Even though I don't think that message throws a code, did this dealer provide any codes on the paperwork?

 

There was no "contaminated exhaust fluid" message. The CEL never came on or anything. It just showed where it was going to go into Idle only mode and I parked it and had it towed. They told me that the mechanic could tell that it was contaminated by rubbing it between his fingers. I asked the Service Manager if he had checked their DEF for contaminants before they put it in my truck and he just looked at me with a blank stare and said no. I then asked him if I had any further trouble, like within a week or two with it, would they cover it since they provided the DEF fluid this time, and again, the blank stare followed by a NO...

 

This may not be relevent to your post, but this happened to me and my insurance company covered it minus the deductable. But, to address the fuel/DEF contamination issue I put a lock on the fuel/DEF filler door, mostly because it made me feel better thinking I had done all that I could to prevent contamination and to rule out vandalism.

 

There is no way a mechanic can tell if your DEF is contaminated just by putting some on his fingers. Thats the craziest thing I ever heard of. They need to collect a sample in a clean container and have it tested. I would call customer service at Ford and get them involved. Something smells fishy.

 

Some of these dealers are scumbags...like the dealer I bought my 2011 f350 from..it developed a leak in the a/c evaporator..i told them it was an evaporator leak because I recognize the stink of the refrigerant oil..they call me back and ask if I had recharged the ac system because their machine said it was overcharged and that there was no evaporator leak, i told them to check it again because there was oil dripping from the condensate drain..they found the leak but refused to fix it under warranty because their machine said the ac system was overcharged....I told them no I did not charge the system, and why would I waste my refrigerant and time on the truck when it is still under warranty..went to a different dealer, and sure enough they found the leak and replaced the evaporator..

 

Our 2015 Ford 250 had the def warning system come on. The truck went into idle mode. We had it towed to the Ford Dealership. They have had it 3 weeks. They topped off Def and it didn't reset. They tried to reset and it wouldn't work. They told us today that it would cost $2200 for new parts. That there was sand in the def tank. They are the only ones that ever put def in the tank. They told us that maybe driving over dirt roads got sand in it. We do not live on dirt road. We live downtown. Rarely go on dirt roads. Still how could dirt get in closed tank? I think they put contaminated def in it. Problem how to prove it.

 

Claim it as vandalism with your insurance company.

 

That's the problem for sure.
Long story short on my post above and directly related to your post. I took my 2011 in for the "reflash". No codes, CEL's, etc to indicate that anything else was wrong with the truck when I dropped it off at the dealership. Went to pick it up and shortly thereafter the CEL came on. Checked the code and found the P0XXX code for a DEF issue.. Topped it off with a new jug of DEF to see if the code would clear. It didn't. Took it back to the dealership and they said that the DEF was contaminated and I said that it clearly wasn't contaminated before I brought it in for the "reflash" and it has been in your custody since - only you could have contaminated it.

They disagreed. I got the insurance company involved and they told me to file a claim. I did and they paid minus the deductible. Considering that about the same time there was a lot of talk about water in fuel and grenading HPFP, I decided to put a lock on the fuel/DEF door in an effort to enable me to pin point when and where I bought the fuel or DEF should a future problem occur. I believe that the dealership that my truck was at did something to contaminate the DEF, but the insurance company decided just to pay the claim instead of fighting with the dealership.

Unfortunately a few months ago I had another DEF issue,. the heater this time and the cost to replace was close to the cost to delete and tune the truck so I opted to go that route. The last statement is not intended to highjack the thread, but to say that I just don't trust that if I had the DEF system repaired again it would have been the last time..

 

I think there is something wrong with Def systems. I had a problem with my Mercedes Suv. After dealer replaced DEF it wouldn't reset. When I called dealer suddenly they couldn't fit it in their schedule for weeks. It said I only had 8 starts before it would shut down. I called all the dealers within 100 miles. No one would take it. Said it would cost $8,000 to $11,000 to fix. Trade in value was $11,000. I traded it for a Nissan.

The Ford service had my F250 3 weeks before they even looked at it. They didn't even try to reset for 3 weeks. I think they don't want to deal with fixing so they just replace hoping that will fix it.
It is strange that Def systems quit working right after the warranty expires. I wonder how many have this problem. There should be a recall or a class action lawsuit.

 

There is a DEF problem issue. Having the same problem as Brians is. I get the countdown, it doesn't take enough DEF for the tank to be empty. Took it in, dealer says the level isn't reading right, but I have to pay for them to empty it, reset it with the computer and refill. So while I didn't do anything that the manual doesn't call for, I am on the hook the repair. Doesn't seem right that I gotta pay for Ford's inability to program a system correctly. But they haven't finished the repair as the service adviser said after that point they have to check it again and if it's still off, the DEF tank needs to get replaced and that is under my warranty.

I'd tell the tech the slimy feeling between his fingers is because DEF is uric acid and that's called your dissolved skin... It's why bleach feels slimy.

BTW, there are a couple of quick tests you can do for contaminated fluid - it's supposed to be at a certain Ph and specific gravity range. But otherwise I agree, you need a lab report to tell you.

 

Well... just got my truck back after a month. Cost over $2,400.00 to replace Blue Def tank. When I told manager that I did not believe that sand could have gotten tank unless they put it it in with dirty equipment, Manager "claimed" there is a little filter in tank that got debris in it. They had to replace whole tank because little filter inside tank. Manager said most people get rid of Blue Def system after warranty expires on engine. I will never buy a Ford or a diesel again. EPA is costing us too much and car companies don't know how to deal with it. I had similar problem with Mercedes SUV diesel.

 

So you'll never buy a Ford again because all of the car companies are having problems with def? Sounds logical to me.