ShinerBock wrote:
Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Because DEF is built the API standards. You are saying the your Advil Ibuprofen is better than Costco's Ibuprofen. They are both the same but with different labels.
Exactly! My wife is an R&D Chemist for a major pharmaceutical company that makes both the name brand and generic version of many drugs. The main difference between a generic drug and a name brand is quality control standards bell curve is slightly less stringent with the generic version, but both still meet the FDA standards.
You're right, name brand and generic
SHOULD be identical in formulation. But, not only is the bell curve less stringent but the QC sampling frequency is lower for generic.
On the DEF, my personal experience was only one 2.5 gallon 'box' of cheap brand from Rural King supply. It was $8 per box compared to the $12/box I typically paid for Peak Blue. It was a 1500 mile round trip towing a small trailer. I repeatedly got a CEL and the code was for inefficient catalyst. At no point running peak Blue did I ever get a single engine code for anything DEF related prior to this. Not only did my CEL come on but also I saw the DEF tank drop much faster than usual.
When I got home I removed the fill hose from the tank, siphoned out the DEF, then refilled with Peak Blue. From that point on I have never had another CEL on the truck. I have also filled up at the DEF pumps at Pilot/Flying J without any issues.
Was the cheap DEF inferior, maybe stored improperly, or too old? I don't know. The only thing I can say with certainty is that I've never had an issue with name brand DEF, either in a box or at the pump, and the one time I tried generic I had problems.
This could have entirely been a one time thing and I might possibly use generic for the next 5 years and never have another problem. But, I don't see the logic in saving $4 if I know the track record for the name brand is flawless.
KJ
