Forum Discussion

Mountain_Mama's avatar
Mountain_Mama
Explorer
Jul 09, 2015

"DEF low, but you know it's not" problem

We added DEF to our 2012 Chevy D/A before our last trip and off we went...Over 500 miles later we got notice that we had 300 miles until we added more...Didn't think that sounded right, but added another 2.5 gal. Warning still didn't clear. Finally got a referral to a dealership who said they had to reset it. Has been fine since...so far. Saw one post on dieselplace.com forum where another guy who had the same problem but shortly had it do the same thing again but that was a couple of years ago. Had to take it back and have something else done to it...Sensors, I think.

Thought I'd see if anyone here had had similar experience. We are leaving in a couple of weeks to Grand Tetons/YNP and sure hope we don't experience it again. It's nerve racking going to a dealership you know nothing about.
Tow Vehicles
  • Vette_Racer's avatar
    Vette_Racer
    Explorer
    Jul 12, 2015
    My 2011 had the same problem twice now in 40k miles, both times it took a complete system replacement. Asked the Service Manager if this was going to continue or if Chevy had fixed it, his answer was, you can continue to expect problems and once out of warranty plan on 2k per occurrence.
  • FishOnOne's avatar
    FishOnOne
    Nomad
    Jul 12, 2015
    My truck has 71k miles and 3 years old and I top off my DEF tank when I change the oil. No big deal!

    Truck runs great and makes great fuel economy too boot because of DEF.
  • Hammerhead's avatar
    Hammerhead
    Explorer
    Jul 12, 2015
    It's nice to actually see the trees so DEF systems aren't all bad.

    ACZL wrote:
    Sadly, it's not problems w/ any of the big 3's engines. Rather the DEF system is going to be the Achilles heel going forward. Semis are no different. Can thank our tree huggers for this.
  • Hunter11's avatar
    Hunter11
    Explorer II
    Jul 11, 2015
    MM, Had the exact problem with my 2012 a couple of months ago. Kept getting a "Low DEF" warning but I knew the tank had plenty in it. Topped it off and it went away for a while but came back. This time it was saying it was going to limit the speed. Finally had to take it to the dealer and they had to replace the DEF tank sensor and temp sensor and refill with new DEF.
  • Hedgehog's avatar
    Hedgehog
    Explorer
    Jul 11, 2015
    That's why I just ordered a new f350 gas with 4.30 gears. 15,000# towing and no bs. Don't get me wrong, if it wasn't for the tree hugger imposed emissions, I would have bought a diesel in a heartbeat.
  • ACZL's avatar
    ACZL
    Explorer
    Jul 10, 2015
    Sadly, it's not problems w/ any of the big 3's engines. Rather the DEF system is going to be the Achilles heel going forward. Semis are no different. Can thank our tree huggers for this.
  • 1oldtruck's avatar
    1oldtruck
    Explorer
    Jul 09, 2015
    I had the same problem with my 2014 Silverado. Had the dealer do a "hard reset" and no problems since.
  • ktmrfs's avatar
    ktmrfs
    Explorer II
    Jul 09, 2015
    at least on chevy, if your below 30% , you want to add enough to get it over 50% full, preferably completely full. Not sure what the issue is but that seems to be the best way to avoid problems.

    But it's not just chevy with DEF issues. neighbor with a 2012 F250 was getting ready for a long trip, had DEF filled at the dealer, and just before he left, 9pm on a saturday up came the 'poor def quality" or some such message along with a restricted speed in 50 miles message. sound like something similar to BB_TX. Luckily the dealership was open, they ended up needing to do some kind of reset on the system to get him on the road.
  • BB_TX's avatar
    BB_TX
    Nomad
    Jul 09, 2015
    Not a Chevy, but similar on my 2012 F350. Warning came on within 500 miles of new. Took to dealer. He tried adding DEF but it took less than a gallon. He cleared the message and 29,000 miles later and never happened again.

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