DEF - new owner

[EdsView]

Greetings all EdsView here and proud owner of a new-to-us 2011 24J VIEW. Our rig has the DEF reservoir inside the passenger side storage bin. The one gallon container of fluid is kind of heavy and this bin doesn't have anyway of holding itself up while filling this tank! Anyone have a suggestion of twelve as to fill it without spilling most of it? I am considering the purchase of either a funnel with long neck OR some sort of siphon so suck the fluid out of its' container and into the tank.:Thanx

[Winterbagoal]

Any chance you could (carefully) use the truck stop pump island DEF hose/nozzle combos to fill your tank? Would that be easier than trying to use the Walmart jugs? I couldn't believe where your DEF tank is when I read your OP. The OM for your unit has a pic. Yikes, it looks like it would be very awkward. Mine's under the hood, passenger side, and it's a pita because I'm average height and it's awkward sometimes to get the hose/nozzle to reach and fill without spilling.
Some auto supply shops might be able to source a siphon/pump tool, that would help to do it, otherwise.

[rprochnow]

Our local Kroger sells the 2.5 gallon Blue DEF container, which has an extendible spout. While the container is larger than the smaller DEF - it's much easier to use with the spout. And the 2.5 gallon container will fill 1/2 of the DEF tank in our 21VD.

During a road trip, we bought one of the smaller DEF containers at a gas station - they didn't sell any funnels - so we tried tearing the bottom out of a paper funnel cup - and that was a mess.

From now on, we plan to bring a 2.5 gal DEF with us if we expect to get down to 1/2 DEF during a trip.

Of course, finding a station with a DEF pump is the easiest...

[Winterbagoal]

Besides almost all the truck lanes in a truck stop, Buc-ee's has DEF at some of the regular pump islands. Not sure about any others.

[Wayne M]

Go to an Auto store and pick up a siphon that has a bulb in the middle of the hose. You put one end in the bottle/bucket and pump the bulb and it will transfer the fluid to the tank. Much easier than pouring.

My coach has the DEF tank in the very rear in the battery compartment and even with the extended spout I have to use the 1 gallon containers to pour. that 2.5 gallon container is very cumbersome and heavy for my fragile age. If I cannot find 1 gallon containers I'll buy the 2.5 and pour it into a 1 gallon for transferring.

[RVwithDogs]

mine is also under the hood, that 2.5 gallon container is hard to deal with, I would think transferring some to a smaller container would be a good option but would it matter what kind of plastic the container is made from ?
Also a side note, I ran into a Sprinter owner a few weeks ago and he mentioned he had his De-Defed... not exactly the words he used and a rather expensive upgrade, I think he did it in hopes of greater MPG.

[rprochnow]

Because of the extendable snout, if you turn the container sideways to get started, it's easy to rest it on the front of the hood and let it drain down and then start tilting it - so you don't end up having to lift it up that much to pour...

[Elkman]

The problem with getting DEF at a truck stop is that the nozzles are large and output is high as they are used primarily to fill the saddle tanks on big trucks. I have noticed DEF pumps at a very few Shell gas stations that pump diesel but not something to count on.

DEF makes up 1 to 1.5 percent of the fuel burned so if burn 400 gallons of diesel there will be roughly 5 gallons of DEF consumed as well. With our motorhome that translates into about 5,000 miles. Most people can have the DEF tank full when they leave on a trip and not need to worry about it until they are back at home. The 2.5 gal DEF containers with the spout are sold at every auto parts store and at Home Depot so not a problem to buy it while out on the road should you need to do so.

[BlueGekko]

I have a ‘19 Navion with the DEF fill pipe under the hood. I’m 6’3 but it’s still awkward to keep the DEF from spilling. So, I bought a blue, wide mouth funnel at Wally World. The spout is long enough to stay in the fill tube by itself so I can just pour until the reservoir is full. BTW, I read on this or another diesel forum that unsavory folks occasionally return full DEF containers to Wally World for refunds. However, the containers are filled with water. Apparently the staff don’t check the seals before returning the containers to the stock pile on the floor. When I read that, I checked my new DEF container and, sure enough, the seal was gone. I recycled the unused container of questionable liquid at the local dump. I now always check for the undisturbed seal regardless where I buy the DEF. hope no one has been caught by this trick.

[Elkman]

Why pass along rumors? That is not helpful. The real cheats to watch out for work for the banks and the oil companies.



My diesel pickup was the first model year to require DEF and the idiots at General Motors put the filler cap in the very back of the engine compartment. For that I did need a large wide funnel to get the DEF into the tank and not all over the engine block. No such problems with the Mercedes Sprinter and although I am 5'9" tall it is no big deal to add DEF. If that was the biggest thing to worry about life would be very sweet indeed.

[Winterbagoal]

The average "big truck" has a 10 gallon DEF tank, which is twice the capacity of a medium duty Sprinter DEF tank, and the industry average for DEF pump nozzle spout outside diameter is 19mm or .748inches - about the same size as a standard unleaded gasoline pump nozzle. From Cummins Filtration Q&A.
I've been to many different truck stops to refill with DEF, and not one has had a "high output" DEF rate of transfer. In fact, they seem slower than fuel pumps. The high output, large bore, nozzles are usually diesel fuel pumps, and yes, some are high rate of transfer to fill the higher capacity truck/tractor diesel tanks, quickly. They do fit in my Sprinter fuel fill spout, and you do have to be careful, or you'll be covered in splashback fuel. From anecdotal experience.

[Elkman]

Try using the large nozzle DEF to pump fluid into the DEF filler of a small car or truck and it will be all over the place. I used a 8" wide funnel so to provide surge capacity as the DEF come out of the nozzle much faster than the DEF opening can take it in.

But no worries with using 2.5 gallon plastic DEF containers where I can adjust the flow and not spill a drop on the engine or myself. I avoid going to truck stops for DEF and as it is so very easy to add 2.5 gallons every 2000 miles of driving.

The DEF saddle tanks I see at the truck stops are a lot larger than 10 gallons in capacity. Even the small Frieghtliner M2 utility trucks come with 13 or 23 gallon size DEF tanks.

[Wayne M]

The Walmart scam by some diesel owners is not a false rumor.