Chevy Duramax DEF issues

[dave17352]

I have been following a thread recently on duramaxforum.com which is following people that have had DEF problems with their 2011 and newer chevy duramax trucks. I happen to be one of them. My truck is in the shop for the second time, first time they replaced the NOX sensor. 300 miles later it is back in for DEF issues and I won't know something til next week. I was wondering how wide spread it was because it is a 36 page thread and growing on duramaxforum. I would like to hear from anyone on here that has the DEF version Duramax and whether or not you have had any problems.

I was thinking maybe we could post here what your year your DEF duramax is and whether you have had problems or not, and the mileage of such problems or hopefully the mileage of trucks with no problems.

I am trying to figure out if I should keep this truck or not.

Thanks

I absolutely love this truck except when it breaks down!


2011 duramax 24k CEL NOX sensor replaced

300 miles later back in shop for DEF issue

[FishOnOne]

N-Trouble wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:


Not to mention the hideous tank hanging below the frame right behind the front passenger tire! :R

Most just throw on a set of side steps, and the tank is virtually covered and less of an eyesore.

There aren't really any options for locating the DEF tank within the frame rails when GM decided to up the fuel tank to 36gal on the short beds in 2011. I'll gladly take the additional fuel capacity over having the DEF tank hidden.

No doubt having the extra fuel capacity is a big plus.

[dave17352]

One other question, at the service counter they said the NOX sensor cost $365.00. Will there every be aftermarket NOX sensors that will be cheaper or will they always be a GM part.

[dave17352]

Well got my truck back today and they indeed replaced the second NOX sensor. I specifically asked if they had updated them sense 2011. The service guy said the part number had remained the same. He was indicating nothing had changed. I have to wonder if he is correct. Would they change the part number if they upgraded the part. As I said in my first post I love this truck, and don't want to go gas, so I hope this will solve my issues.

Anybody know the answer to whether or not the part number will change if they upgrade the sensors?

[ricatic]

catfishmontana wrote:
I thought the Ford issue was mainly a batch of bad NOX sensors....no?

Back when all the DEF/NOX sensor problems were going on, I still had the 2011 Ford and the "Big Ford Drum". I remember well how mad many Ford owners were about how their trucks were running, or not running, throwing all sorts of CEL's relating to emissions and Ford's slow response to the issues. At that time, I was preaching patience, to both the Ford and GM camps. GM had issued their Service Bulletin that covered the temporary disabling of the DEF system. Ford was sending out multiple updated programming patches as they tried to get a handle on the crux of the problem.

Both GM's and Ford's problems began at the onset of the first cold weather in early Winter. GM had more problems than Ford but Ford had a bunch of trouble up in Canada. (There is still a Ford guy up in Western Canada that still is mad at me for defending Ford during this period). I said this then and I will say it again, these DEF/NOX sensor related issues were a very small problem for both manufacturers. But because these trucks were relatively new, the manufacturers received heavy grief from the owners...and heavy suspicion from prospective buyers.

These problems are now relegated to the "normal failure rate" category. The pumps, tanks and programming have been well vetted by now. Are there going to be unfortunate customers that have some emissions related problems...of course...but the EPA requirements for warranty coverage virtually ensure that any failures will be warrantied...even by the Warranty Grinches at Ford...too bad the same grinches won't fix the HPFP's...

Regards

[fly-boy]

My 2011 has been flawless-
55k miles.

There is nothing mind bending or futuristic about DEF or the system- You should be able to get the thing fixed quite easily and have many trouble free miles... Maybe a bad sensor or wiring harness... and the first service for the issue misdiagnosed or installed a bad part...

Sorry for your trouble...

[N-Trouble]

FishOnOne wrote:


Not to mention the hideous tank hanging below the frame right behind the front passenger tire! :R

Most just throw on a set of side steps, and the tank is virtually covered and less of an eyesore.

There aren't really any options for locating the DEF tank within the frame rails when GM decided to up the fuel tank to 36gal on the short beds in 2011. I'll gladly take the additional fuel capacity over having the DEF tank hidden.

[N-Trouble]

2012 Duramax with 26K miles and no DEF problems to date. Most of the NOX sensor issue appear to be on 2011 models which has led many to believe they updated the sensors in 2012.

[catfishmontana]

I thought the Ford issue was mainly a batch of bad NOX sensors....no?

[ricatic]

Troy

You are a lot smarter than this...you know that Ford had all kinds of DEF problems with 2011 6.7 trucks...The Blue KoolAid Club (FTE)6.7 forum is full of discussion about CEL's and limp mode discussions relating to DEF sensors, tanks, pumps and programming...your blatant beating of my old drum is bad enough...but this post you just wrote is disingenuous...if you can remember the handful of trucks with damaged in shipment DEF lines, you surely hsve not forgotten the other issues...

Regards

[dave17352]

FishOnOne wrote:

ricatic wrote:
Both Ford and GM had a lot of trouble in the early 2011 model year. Teething problems plagued both manufacturers. Ford issued numerous programming updates trying to solve their DEF related issues...Troy knows this but still bashes GM...the Ford problem was a cold weather issue...

GM also had cold weather issues..and some problematic DEF tank and pumps in 2011.GM had enough trouble at first that they received an emissions exemption from the EPA to disable the system temporarily until a fix was developed. 2012 and up model years for both manufacturers have been relatively free from DEF related issues.

Regards

Troy knows he can't remember when he read a Ford related DEF issue (Perhaps the last Ford issue I can remember was during shipping some of the lines where getting damaged on the trucks :h), but Troy continues to read DEF related problems with the GM's.

Just the other day Troy noticed the topic was on the first page over at thedieselplace. :W

Anyways Troy's comments are directed to the ongoing DEF problems the GM's have been having and not some issue 2 years ago. :R

Just curious what or who is Troy, I haven't a clue. Just curious

[JustLabs]

dave17352 wrote:

JustLabs wrote:
My 2011 has had zero issues with DEF.

how many miles on your rig?

Just over 24K.

[FishOnOne]

ricatic wrote:
Both Ford and GM had a lot of trouble in the early 2011 model year. Teething problems plagued both manufacturers. Ford issued numerous programming updates trying to solve their DEF related issues...Troy knows this but still bashes GM...the Ford problem was a cold weather issue...

GM also had cold weather issues..and some problematic DEF tank and pumps in 2011.GM had enough trouble at first that they received an emissions exemption from the EPA to disable the system temporarily until a fix was developed. 2012 and up model years for both manufacturers have been relatively free from DEF related issues.

Regards

Troy knows he can't remember when he read a Ford related DEF issue (Perhaps the last Ford issue I can remember was during shipping some of the lines where getting damaged on the trucks :h), but Troy continues to read DEF related problems with the GM's.

Just the other day Troy noticed the topic was on the first page over at thedieselplace. :W

Anyways Troy's comments are directed to the ongoing DEF problems the GM's have been having and not some issue 2 years ago. :R

[ricatic]

dave17352 wrote:

ricatic wrote:
Both Ford and GM had a lot of trouble in the early 2011 model year. Teething problems plagued both manufacturers. Ford issued numerous programming updates trying to solve their DEF related issues...Troy knows this but still bashes GM...the Ford problem was a cold weather issue...

GM also had cold weather issues..and some problematic DEF tank and pumps in 2011.GM had enough trouble at first that they received an emissions exemption from the EPA to disable the system temporarily until a fix was developed. 2012 and up model years for both manufacturers have been relatively free from DEF related issues.

Regards

So shouldn't gm bring the 11's up to 12's standard with a recall?

Because at the time this was all going on, I was still driving that POS 2011 6.7 Ford, I did not follow the GM repairs to the letter. I do know that all the trucks that were included in the temporary DEF emissions disablement were required to be reflashed to the new software under the agreement. If not reflashed, the warranty was voided.

After the final emissions programming was released, for both GM and Ford, the early DEF and emissions issues were virtually eliminated.

Please do not misunderstand. Although both manufacturers have eliminated most of these emissions related DEF problems, they both are still susceptible to the normal failures that just happen. All in all, with all three manufacturers now using DEF emission controls, there are very few problems...but that don't help when it's your truck having problems...at least with GM, there will be warranty coverage...

Regards

[TurnThePage]

MARK VANDERBENT wrote:
Wow !!lots of responses with no issues and only a few with slight. Lots of happy duramax owners out there!! I know that for fact !!

I thought the exact opposite. An awful lot of people reporting issues in a thread that's only hours old. I counted at least 6 before your post. It does sound like it might have indeed been growing pains though. Hope that's the case.

[dave17352]

ricatic wrote:
Both Ford and GM had a lot of trouble in the early 2011 model year. Teething problems plagued both manufacturers. Ford issued numerous programming updates trying to solve their DEF related issues...Troy knows this but still bashes GM...the Ford problem was a cold weather issue...

GM also had cold weather issues..and some problematic DEF tank and pumps in 2011.GM had enough trouble at first that they received an emissions exemption from the EPA to disable the system temporarily until a fix was developed. 2012 and up model years for both manufacturers have been relatively free from DEF related issues.

Regards

So shouldn't gm bring the 11's up to 12's standard with a recall?