Diesel D E F Story

[Foiled Again]

Less than 5 minutes after filling my fuel tank AT THE DIESEL PUMP the light turned red as I was driving back to my office and the truck was enveloped in white smoke/steam..... OH Sugar! (or something slightly more dramatic)

I KNOW I used diesel, but what if some idiot in a tanker just dumped gasoline into the tank at the station! Checking all of my gauges - nothing abnormal - engine was not missing or backfiring - coolant level was normal.

I pulled into a parking lot, called that station to warn them. Waited for everything to totally cool down, then decided to risk going to the dealership (less than 2 miles away) at very slow speed. Due to Christmas vacations it was 48 hours before a competent diesel mechanic was able to look at the situation. It was determined that there was no gas in the tank (WHEW!)..

Then the service coordinator tried to tell me it was corrosion on the battery terminals putting out a bit of smoke and smell.... I was not at my most charming when I informed her that only exploding batteries could have but out so much smoke I couldn't see out of the windshield... and suggested that he look for a blown head gasket, blown radiator hose, water pump failure or something with the D E F system. I then mentioned that I'd filled the DEF tank a week before and the sensor read 18%. 30 minutes later they called back with a definitive answer - apparently the hose came loose from the exhaust system and the DEF had basically peed all over the exhaust system.

My Xmas present was NOT getting a $2000 bill from having the wrong fuel put in the tank... instead I have to buy another box of D E F. Whew. That was close.

What's really ironic? Less than 50 miles away a tank truck driver dropped a load of diesel into a gasoline supply tank and 50 cars filled up before it all hit the fan. 50 cars!

OH boy, someone is watching out for me.

Paula

[Gearheart]

You got lucky.

[Craig Schrader]

Just curious, did it smell bad when it happened? The reason I ask is at My place of employment people have been known to urinate on HOT equipment (think steam turbines) to stink up the place to irritate the other workers.
I think DEF has ammonia in it same as urine. I know its a weird analogy but it might help others identify the problem if it happens to them.

[Chatooga11]

Where the heck do you work???

[khollister]

Originally Posted by Chatooga11

Where the heck do you work???

No kidding - I was thinking the same thing

[switz]

I was in Bloomington when this story broke.....

In the 60s, Westinghouse built PCB filled oil circuit breakers and transformers for power sub-stations and on the poles at a plant in Bloomington, IN. It was a very long plant and could take quite a bit of time to walk from the back to the front.

A series of production units started failing in the field.

Research of the serial numbers showed that the problem units were produced around the time of the late night break. Further research showed these units were at the back of the plant at that time.

A group of Uker (Card game) players did not want to miss out on their break card game time as the restrooms were in the front of the plant, so they voided their bladders into the open canisters. Over time, the uric acid ate of the insulation on the wires and the transformers would short out.

So that stuff can be corrosive!

[McDave]

My days of innocently peeing on things for fun ended when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I remember being in the back yard of my grandfather's house when I went over to pee in the bushes. I saw what I thought was my grandfather's water hose being pulled through the bushes and decided it would be fun to pee on it. I peed on it and it gave a funny wiggle every time I would hit it. I wondered how a hose could do that. A few minutes later, my grandfather killed a rattlesnake that was about 6' long with his garden hoe.