I Did the Unthinkable (long, hopefully entertaining story)

[Jerry Burks]

While camping for 1 night in Ely, NV we went to the gas station to fill up for the next day. Price for Diesel was not so bad and I filled it like always. When it was full, I turned to the pump to retrieve the receipt and my dear wife came from the shop with the needed jug of DEF. We chatted about the crazy price of the DEF, I opened the jug and started pouring it ---- *into the still open diesel tank filler*. I did not even notice until it spilled over because the tank was full. By that time, I had probably 1-2 gallons of DEF poured in.
.......... I froze.
Obviously it was Friday night and nothing could happen until Monday. So we pushed the truck from the pump to a parking spot and put a sign inside that it would be towed Monday.

The good news was that we had already set up the 5th wheel at the KOA and had a place to live. The bad news was that Ely is a small somewhat miserable desert town with minimal services. At least we could rent a U-haul truck on Sunday (after a 5-mile walk) as a rental car to get around. We extended our stay with a weekly rate.

Monday morning we drove around in the hope of finding a shop who could fix the problem. Two of the 3 repair shops declined for various reasons but we found one who claimed to have such DEF cleanup jobs before and we got the truck towed there. They dropped the tank, flushed it as well as the fuel line and emptied the filter and water separator several times. On Tuesday morning they declared the problem solved and charged $350. The engine was running but after short time the "water in fuel" light came on again and then the engine went into limp mode. No way we would drive with the rig 200 miles through the desert, limited cell phone connection and no place to pull off.

So we contacted Coachnet who finally agreed to sponsor $350 for the tow to the next Ford dealer. The local tow company did actually charge $1250 for the 235 mile tow to Spanish Fork, UT which I guess is rather cheap. We arrived there Wednesday around 1:30pm. Given our dire situation, Tim Dahle Ford took on the repair right away, I rented a car from the local Enterprise and went back to Ely to pick up my wife and the 3 dogs and fully expecting to drive home in the rental (Fort Collins, CO) and wait a while until the repair was complete, then go back, retrieve the repaired truck, then go to Ely to retrieve the trailer and go home again.

Now, before I was back to Ely in the rental, I got a call from the dealership that they happened to have a complete fuel system kit they ordered for another customer with same problem (and apparently more time) and that my repair might be complete by Friday. Oh, well, so we did not take off for home and I went back to Spanish Fork in the rental on Friday. The truck's fuel system repair/replacement was indeed complete but now it threw a mass air flow sensor error. Might have been that was damaged when doing the other repair work. But no problem, they stole one from the other truck that was waiting now for the fuel system anyway.

I took the truck back to Ely now the 4th time 235 miles through the desert. Hooked up the 5th wheel and drove home another 700+ miles without further problems.

I have split feelings about the whole story. Of course, I kick myself in the butt for that moment of not paying attention. But it is what it is and whatever the cost it is my own fault.

I am also very grateful to Tim Dahle Ford in Spanish Fork that they went out of their way to help us (strangers who did not buy there) with some creative tricks and get back on the road in a few days. I heard that some such repairs can easily take weeks to get started and more weeks to finish.

The whole repair job cost us $16,093 of which was $8,096 for labor and the rest for parts (complete fuel system replacement) and tax. I do know their lead diesel technician spent late hours to get it done quickly with the help of an apprentice (total billed 31 hours). However, racking up $8k for labor within 47 hours in the shop sounds a bit high to me. But I am not going to contest it.

For what it is worth, I am pretty sure this will not happen to me again. Actually, I am planning to separate diesel and DEF filling events completely.

[Tightwadted]

Ouch, feel for you. One reason I like my Duramax is the location of the DEF fill under the hood. sure it's a pain, but, if my setup was like yours, i can easily see my absentminded self doing the same thing.

[tuffr2]

Ouch - I would say it is difficult to screw up that bad but we all have had a brain fart now a then.

I put power steering fluid in the brake master cylinder once. Driving the car the brake pedal would go to the floor but I could pump the pedal and get it back. Then it would slowly go to the floor again. It stopped the car and I had to pump the brakes maybe once or twice at a light. I drove the car two weeks before I had time to flush the brakes. Total screw up was only $5 for brake fluid. Anyway flushing the brakes worked. Funny how we remember the screw up.

I have screwed up other times with things too but that was the only time I put the wrong fluid in the wrong reservoir. The power steering bottle looks like the brake fluid bottle...ugh.

[mbutts]

This reminds of the time I hooked up city water to our MH's black tank rinse instead of the city water connection. That error cost me several hours of time, a lot of rags, and some bleach.


I recently returned to travel trailer life and picked up a 2020 Chevy 2500 diesel. Both filler necks are behind the same door. I really hope divine intervention prevents me from being my usual easily distracted self while filling the DEF.


Thanks for posting!

[4x4ord]

I absentmindedly did the same thing …. Pumped DEF into my fuel tank. However, I just found a barrel and a piece of garden hose. I removed the fuel line at the under hood fuel filter and attached a length of garden hose to the fuel line. I cycle the key on and off multiple times until the transfer pump hand emptied my fuel tank. Just to be certain there was no DEF remaining in the fuel tank I removed it myself which was a relatively easy task. The tank was in fact empty ….. I don’t think removal was necessary. I burned the contaminated fuel in an old tractor and was able to get away with the repair costing me a couple hours and a new fuel filter. I did the same sort of thing to that truck by inadvertently putting gasoline in the fuel tank. When I heard the engine pinging I realized what I did. I drove a couple miles to a farmers yard where I had my wife meet me. The fuel tank was very low when I added gasoline so I just used the same technique to pump the gasoline to her car, the farmers gas powered truck and the remainder I pumped into a jerry can. I dumped a jerry can of diesel into my truck and carried on. That truck went nearly 100,000 miles since those mistakes without any issues. (I sold the truck at that point …. still running flawlessly) Had I brought it to a Ford garage they would have replaced the entire fuel system!

[bigb56]

Distraction can be a big issue, I have a problem with panhandlers approaching me while I am fueling in the inner city areas and even at highway stops. I've been told that this might be the reason for the sign saying do not use your cell phone while fueling, because it is a distraction, although cell phone and fuel companies are said to have issued the warnings as a precaution (there has never been a cell phone related fire at a fuel pump per the NFPA https://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/Ab...2017-04-04.pdf ).
I guess the folks in ELY didn't get it all out, maybe they didn't realize the affect just a small amount of water of DEF has on a modern diesel engine and figured it was "good enough".
Sorry to hear that is happened to you but glad it is fixed and you can move on. Good thinking on the U-haul, I've often considered that would be a good option in an emergency.

[Dave Pelletier]

Ouch is right. This one hits home as I have basically the same truck, stayed at the KOA in Ely and filled up my DEF at probably the same gas station..... Ely isn't somewhere I'd want to get stuck.

You managed to get back on the road pretty quickly despite the troubles. The only thing that bothers me is that if you didn't start the truck, I can't see how any DEF got out of the fuel tank......just doesn't make any sense to me.

Cheers,
Dave

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by Dave Pelletier

The only thing that bothers me is that if you didn't start the truck, I can't see how any DEF got out of the fuel tank......just doesn't make any sense to me.

Cheers,
Dave

They probably just used the truck's transfer pump to empty the tank which would leave a residual amount in the bottom which, since water goes to the bottom, would have been DEF. Maybe they just pumped till the diesel started to appear. At any rate they didn't get all of the DEF out of the tank. IMO the tank should have been removed and completely cleaned and for $350 I'm sure that didn't happen.

[tuffr2]

The water separator area would help. Like just disconnect the fuel line there and run the engine until you got diesel then run it an extra 5 to 10 minutes.

My brother had a old diesel golf and his son put gasoline in a diesel tank. He ran the car until is stopped. My brother was eventually able get the golf running again after a few days of cranking it. He would charge the battery and crank then repeat. Lucky it was an older diesel without all the sensors and other stuff like super high pressure fuel rail. He never had to replace any injectors either. A real miracle.

The VW Golf was a later 1990's car.

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by bigb56

They probably just used the truck's transfer pump to empty the tank which would leave a residual amount in the bottom which, since water goes to the bottom, would have been DEF. Maybe they just pumped till the diesel started to appear. At any rate they didn't get all of the DEF out of the tank. IMO the tank should have been removed and completely cleaned and for $350 I'm sure that didn't happen.

Yeah, if that's what happened, it makes sense.....costly mistake.

Dave

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by Dave Pelletier

Ouch is right. This one hits home as I have basically the same truck, stayed at the KOA in Ely and filled up my DEF at probably the same gas station..... Ely isn't somewhere I'd want to get stuck.

You managed to get back on the road pretty quickly despite the troubles. The only thing that bothers me is that if you didn't start the truck, I can't see how any DEF got out of the fuel tank......just doesn't make any sense to me.

Cheers,
Dave

Originally Posted by bigb56

They probably just used the truck's transfer pump to empty the tank which would leave a residual amount in the bottom which, since water goes to the bottom, would have been DEF. Maybe they just pumped till the diesel started to appear. At any rate they didn't get all of the DEF out of the tank. IMO the tank should have been removed and completely cleaned and for $350 I'm sure that didn't happen.

OP stated:
They dropped the tank, flushed it as well as the fuel line and emptied the filter and water separator several times.


Confused as why the whole fuel system needed replaced
After dropping/clean fuel tank...just replacing filters as needed should have sufficed

Man am I glad I don't have DPF or DEF!

[Jerry Burks]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

......Confused as why the whole fuel system needed replaced
After dropping/clean fuel tank...just replacing filters as needed should have sufficed

Man am I glad I don't have DPF or DEF!

I am not sure if these guys just did a shoddy job. I was not around all the time during the repair but I know they had a small battery operated pump on a cart. Maybe they did just pump it out without good cleaning.

Otherwise, I suspect it was already screwed up when I turned on the ignition to get in neutral to push the truck (and the tow truck driver did the same to load it). The low-pressure pump in the tank recirculated the mess through the filter when I turned the key (without cranking). When the repair guys in Ely finally cranked the motor for testing, they completed the disaster.

The Ford service techs checked all components and found DEF crystals all the way to the injectors. I took the pressure sensor as a souvenir and sure enough there is a nice crystal crust. Also, I suspect there are Ford instructions to replace the whole shebang in a DEF contamination case.

[Solo_RV_Guy]

Originally Posted by Jerry Burks

...Also, I suspect there are Ford instructions to replace the whole shebang in a DEF contamination case.

^^^ This.

[StrkAliteN]

What is DEF ?

and / or what does the initials stand for??