Service Def. "Will not restart in 200 miles

[Wildbioed]

I have a 2017 1500 ED. I topped off my DEF tank about 2 weeks ago at a local truck stop. It was just a bit below half. All was well until about 3 days ago when I got the "service DEF system. See dealer" message. Today, I just got the one saying it wouldn't restart in 200 miles.

This happened once last winter, but then fixed itself (thankfully before I had taken it to the dealer.) I live in NH and it has been in the low teens now for a couple weeks. Truck has about 90k on it. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Ricerocket27]

I never had the vehicle will stop in 200 miles issue, but I did have issues. No guarantees this will work with your 2017, but this is my experience with my 2014. These systems have several issues. DEF fluid cystalises on the guage in the tank (common on other brands of trucks also), that can cause the check engine light to come on. On the RAM, the DEF level gauge is actually one of those sonar tape things, it's on the inside of the plastic tank, so the only way to replace it is to replace the whole tank (I was quoted CAD4300 in BC, in 2022). The other thing with the RAM one is, the guage tape only goes 3/4 of the way up the inside of the tank. So if you fill the tank to the top, it takes forever for the guage to start falling, even if it is working correctly.

For my EcoD, I had the check engine light come on. Dealer checked codes and told me it was a faulty DEF guage (replace the tank ...yeah right).

In summer of 2022 (before I worked it all out - I was on a 16 week trip towing around North America at the time). I worked out that in fact I likley had quite a full tank, even though the guage was only reading 1/8. So I bought one of those cheap plastic syringe type pumps from O-Rielly's, got under the rtuck, disconnected the fill tube (real esay to do) and sucked all the DEF out. I pulled out about 7 US gallons. Then I put just 2 gallons back in. After 1 day the gauge started reading what I thought was correctly. on day 2 the check engine light went out. Since then, i am carefull to never add more than 2 gallons at a time when it's getting low (<1/4). And in any case never add so much the tank would be more than half full. And since then, no check engine light.

Apart from not knowing how much DEF is in the tank, the only thing the check engine light did was prevent the Remote Start from working.

The above has worked for me since August 2022. Take from that what you will, but that was how I "fixed" my DEF system problems. I now just manage the level and the all is good so far. Not the way it should be but neither is spending 4300 bucks to fix the problem (which may well come back aftre the money is spent).

I have also heard that cleaning the tank with hot water can clean the crystalisation off the gauge inside the tank, but I have never tried that.

 

[Wildbioed]

Thanks. The reading I have done about this aligns with what you said about crystalization. Yeah...the DEF gauge takes forever to move. I've put about 13k on the truck since I bought it, and have filled the DEF tank twice. Both times, it took about 5 or 10 minutes to register the changed level in the tank. My attempted fix today was to try a dose of Rislone Crystal Clear in the DEF tank. My next one will be popping the DEF injector out to clean it. I haven't pulled the codes yet, but that is on the agenda too.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'll have to remember to just add a couple gallons at a time in the future. I was thinking tapping off would be better in the winter....not realizing that there is a significant amount of water in DEF anyhow...and a little condensation sure wasn't going to cause more issues.

 

[John Jensen]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'll have to remember to just add a couple gallons at a time in the future. I was thinking tapping off would be better in the winter....not realizing that there is a significant amount of water in DEF anyhow...and a little condensation sure wasn't going to cause more issues.

The Eco has an 8 gal DEF tank. When mine gets to half full I refill with the 2.5 gal jug. That brings it to 6.5 gals full and precludes any overfill message.

DEF is 33% Urea and 67% deionized water. Your 2017 has a DEF Quality Urea Sensor that will trigger a code at 22% Urea (78% water). Condensation will never be a problem.