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Exhaust fluid!? Has emissions equipment gone too far?

5K views 35 replies 15 participants last post by  66GMC 
#1 ·
If anyone else is into diesel's, as i am, then I'm sure you've heard of the new DEF and DPF systems in the new trucks. For those that haven't heard of it, here's a basic summary: The DPF (diesel particulate filter) is supposed to catch all the little particles in the exhaust. Well obviously it is going to get clogged, so the vehicle is also equipped with a DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) injection system. What it does is sprays this fancy fluid into the exhaust to raise temperatures and burn all the particles to clean the DPF.
Now this already sounds like a pain in the a. Well there's more.
The fluid isn't cheap. $5 a gallon to fill a 5 gallon tank every 5,000 miles. That's an extra $25 every 5000 miles, for what? Well I'll tell you what, a loss of 2-3mpg compared to previous models.
So lets get this straight. There's extra emissions equipment on the truck that causes WORSE FUEL MILEAGE THAN WITHOUT IT! How does that make sense!?
"But you can just not fill the tank right?" WRONG! The truck will go into limp mode if you don't fill the tank. Some trucks, such as the powerstroke, won't even start without the fluid!
"Well I'll just get rid of the system". NOPE! That will void your warranty.
"Well I'll just deal with it til the warranty is up". That's fine, except for the fact that the warning system and the level sensors are malfunctioning in every brand. They can sense windsheild washer fluid, coolant, fuel, but the can't make this one work? Come on, man!
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Anyone else think this is going way too far? It's costing owners money for the fluid, plus it hurts fuel mileage. I find it ridiculous. :nono:
 
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#3 ·
If a state has emission laws it seems logical that diesel engines should also be subject to those emission laws. Welcome to the same silly $chtick the rest of us have been dealng with since the late 1970's.

That's yet another reason to hot rod old stuff, the variety that isn't subject to emissions testing.
 
#5 ·
Agreed. The 6.0's and 6.4's were both HORRIBLE. The 6.7 actually looks kinda cool. But I'm a duramax guy. Looking to buy one when i sell my car. I was considering paying half cash and getting a loan for the other half to buy a brand new truck, but with all this new crap I actually prefer buying a used mid 2000's truck.
 
#6 ·
My kids keep asking me when I'm going to buy a new truck, I say why?... this ones been paid off for 8 yrs, 7.3, 125,000 miles, runs like a top, has plenty of power with a 60 hp/110 lbs. ft. tow chip, pulls anything I can hitch up to it, no cat converter just a 4" exhaust and small straight through muffler.

I drove a new 2012 F-250 pretty much like mine ...$54,000!!!! holy chit.......no thanks
 

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#8 ·
I'm with you on not buying a new truck. The old ones may actually be better. Why replace it if it works?
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Ford's pricing has become ridiculous recently. A base single cab, long bed with the 6.7 starts at $50k. I can get a fully loaded duramax for less than that.
 
#7 ·
Until the fedgov mandated OEM fuel efficiency standards, mileage wasn't something they cared about. The early attempts at cleaning up exhaust emissions are a prime example- they decreased HP, PLUS made the mileage worse. All that mattered to them was meeting the fed/state emissions requirements. They basically said, "Mileage? Bah- that's not OUR problem- it's all on the consumers!"
 
#14 ·
The worst part is that they don't even know what they're talking about! They see the black smoke and they freak out. Little do they know that black smoke has less pollutants than their prius puts out. Plus is settles and is just carbon. Sprinkle some on your dinner, still better than gasoline exhaust fumes.
 
#11 · (Edited)
In my experience, the new diesels with DEF are much better on fuel than the ones with the 'afterburner' exhaust.

I drive other people's trucks...no payments..haha.

Coincidentally, I just put 300 miles on a brand spankin' new F-350 today. Averaged 13.1 MPG pulling a loaded trailer. The truck it replaced was an '09 F-350 with a 6.4 and the afterburner exhaust; on the same run it would get 7-8 MPG.

 
#13 ·
In my experience, the new diesels with DEF are much better on fuel than the ones with the 'afterburner' exhaust.

I drive other people's trucks...no payments..haha.

Coincidentally, I just put 300 miles on a brand spankin' new F-350 today. Averaged 13.1 MPG pulling a loaded trailer. The truck it replaced was an '09 F-350 with a 6.4 and the afterburner exhaust; on the same run it would get 7-8 MPG.
You are comparing it to a 6.4 though! Haha. Worst diesel ever built!
I'm a duramax fan. The new d-max is pretty awesome. I guess i would deal with it til the warranty is up then delete all the crap.
 
#15 ·
I retired from Freightliner almost 4 years ago. These laws are federally mandated. It has been a nightmare for the manufacturers to comply. So much so that Catipillar finally decided it was not worth it. They got out of the on road production of heavy truck engines rather than try any longer to comply with the ever increasing emission requirements. Daimler Trucks North America owns Freightliner brand and Detroit Diesel as well as the Mercedes truck engines. They have no choice but to continue to strive for an efficient, economical, and reliable power plant that is compliant. The new engines are more expensive to produce, heavier, and less fuel efficient. Also they have to run on a low sulpher fuel that now costs more than gasoline. Isn't government regulation great? :drunk:

John L
 
#18 ·
Ahh. Well hopefully they'll settle in and perfect the new procedures and get the price back down. Some guys "out west" as we call it (toward the middle of florida, I'm on the east coast) run the "red dye" diesel, which I believe is off road diesel. Hefty fine if you get caught though :pain:
 
#20 ·
We pay taxes so the farmer can be subsidized. The farmer raises corn so we can make ethanol. We pay extra at the pump so the corn can be bought, processed, and made into gasoline. We pay extra for our food at the grocery store because the farmers are growing gasoline.

Government regulation at it's best. :p :( :drunk: :evil:

John L
 
#21 ·
It gets worse.
Even farm equipment (combines) have DPF's on them and have to use DEF.

I had a guy coming into the store and was buying DEF in 10-case lots every other day during harvest. The amount of fuel that a combine burns is horrific!

Apparently the major component to this stuff is urea, which is also found in fertilizer.

More info here:
DEF
 
#22 ·
I read somewhere that there are some unintended environmental hazards from the urea in the DEF. I cannot seem to find any information on it now but it wouldn't surprise me. I've hauled truckloads of urea fertilizer and it's kind of nasty stuff. You don't dare leave it in your truck overnight and the guys that load it have been burned (chemically) from contact with their bare skin and caution you to wash it off right away if you get it on you. It doesn't really seem like a good idea to vaporize the stuff and shoot it into the air we breath. :confused::confused::pain::pain:
 
#25 ·
thank the epa, and it not as expensive as you think it only accounts for about 3% of the fuel used so figure it like this would you rather have the older dpf systems which used fuel to create high enough egt to burn off particulate or spend like $12 5-6k still get 17+ mpg and have a truck that stock that rip a new one to most older trucks with add on's me personally while i dont like it it still better than the older dpf systems
 
#29 ·
While kinda funny it really isn't to kool anymore to smoke people out.

My 99 Dodge still get 19-21 mpg. This winter seems better thqan last year so far. I just got 19.9 for 550 miles of "everything" driving. -5 temps a couple days, some snow and ice, highway and town driving.

It would be very hard to give up this truck. Paid for long ago, very low maintenance, good mpg, good tire life and trouble free. I can fix most problems myself and have a couple friends that let me use their shops when I need an extraq hand.

It's got almost 300k on it now. I fear rust cancer is going to be the end of it. Hopefully it will last untill they try to take my keys. :boxing:
 
#30 ·
I am all for emission equiptment. If you have ever been in a shop when one of the smoke belchers fire ....you'll know what I mean.
There is no need for all that smoke , it is nasty , unhealthy as heck and just sensless.
I saw a newer dodge running an older dodge on a strip a while back. The Old dodge smoked like a freight train and the newer dodge , you couldnt tell it was running....except for the fact it spanked the other "smoker" quite badly.
Breathing exhaust emissions is getting old, keep the air clean.

I Know I Know...I just ticked a bunch of guys off....

I get nausea pretty badly just following some of the diesels out there when I am driving, I have to pass them.
You gotta realize though...todays cars and TRUCKS go farther on a gallon of fuel than ever, its lower octane ( Gas) , lower sulfur(diesel) and they make more power than ever right outta the box. How can you argue with that?

JMHO + some facts.:thumbup:
 
#31 ·
If a diesel smokes more than a little, something is wrong. Either the fuel has been turned up, or the injectors are not quite right anymore.. Diesel Exhaust fluid just creates a chemical reaction that actually creates ammonia as a byproduct of reducing the NOx a little bit. The other issue with it, is it is expensive, but also if the tank runs out, it throws a fault code and puts the engine into limp mode. Emissions standards are a good thing, but yea, if I were to own a diesel, it would be an older diesel.
 
#32 ·
I am fortunate to be able the have my streetrod at a shop where I can work on it at my leisure.

Just so happens the shop is home to a mid sized tucking company that does a lot of service work on it's over the road trucks.

I seen and been in the shop when these big trucks get fired up after oil changes and other work and you can't even tell they are diesels except for the size and a little noise. There is almost no nasty fumes and they run them for 10-15 minutes at times. Occasionally several of them. So they are really very clean machines.

Now when a refer unit gets started it about fogs us out. My own 1ton Dodge will fumigate the place in a couple minutes. My hotrod is a noxious piece that needs couple hoses hooked up so I run it in the shop.

The over the road trucks get a bad rep due some of the garbaqge trucks and dump trucks that are overage spew clouds of black smoke. Also as shown in the video above guys that have tuners and other performance devices on light trucks due enormous damage to the diesel industry. Most of the enthusiast boards really frown on "smoke outs" like this.

There is nothing wrong with a clean burn diesel. They get at least as good mileage as gas burners most of them get better. The driveline including the motor last a very long time and have very low maintence.

Just look at Europe and you will see that over half of the vehicles are diesel. Even emerging countries are headed to diesel.

It may take gas station additives to make them viable but it will have to happen or your grocery bill will go up and so will nearly everything else.

The gas motor no matter how good the get can't do things the diesel can and does every day.
 
#34 ·
I agree. There is'ny aanyreason to treat people like this. I'm a diesel fan and my 1 ton is a daily driver as well as a work horse. It doesn't smoke as much as it did when new in 99 thanks to a tuner and get's almost as good mpg today with all the fuel changes and oil changes. Even with winter fuel I still right at 20 mpg. I'd love to have a new diesel truck but they simply are out of my range.

I make every effort not to "roll coal" and give way to bikers and hikers like this. I park in the outskirts of the parking lots and refrain from washing it at our apt untill late at night. The diesel can be driven sanely and coexist with the gassers.
 
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