Urea explanation. anything and everything

[navistardiesel]

looking at new 2011 fords and i saw the urea tank on the side of the chassis. i know urea is just urine and water and you have to add it to the tank but i would like to know, how much it costs, how much you add, what happens when it runs out and what happens when it freezes. i live in new england and it can get down to about -12 here in the winter, fuel lines gel so what happens to the urea. I would like the full rundown on this. also what it does and if there is anything in the tank that keeps it at a certain temp, like if the truck is plugged in. i would just like to know anything and everything about it this way i can understand if i buy a new truck for 55k drive it across country and it goes into goddamn limp mode.

more new sh*t, more sh*t that breaks but a truck for 55k is in the right business

[jesilvas]

Ammonia and water.
There is a heater loop in the tank. If it's frozen the truck shouldn't care until it's reliquified. You fill till it's full.
It's like a liquid catalytic converter. Changes NOX into water and nitrogen.

[cagedlx]

okay.... ill do my best to answer your question... as far and best as i know! I am a peterbilt dealer in kc, selling mainly new... cept for all the customers asking for pre-08 trucks lol, no one wants to be the next ''guine-pig for the next phase of diesel tech... but if you wanna new truck... you have too! and i dont think Ford is planning on selling any ''gliders latly :-)
Its not all bad, I have sold 6 to a very close customer of mine, all with urea. and the new Paccar MX engine, and they have had ZERO problems at all... including the urea!

It does have a freezing temp of right at 32... mainly because the urea you buy is 63% water!!! but it never freezes solid.. it will go to a "slushy'' like matter... and as you drive it will begin to thaw out and melt. when its in that stage the truck can run for long piriods of time with out using it at all.

--- limp mode.. not 100 percent sure on ford, but even if you run the tank complete empty the truck can run for 90 minutes with no urea.

----cost, at out store its 4.75 a gallon right now.. as it becomes more avaiable they ''want" it to be almost the exact same price as diesel.

---- where to buy.. its popping up everywhere... all big truck dealers stock it, and most big trucks stops will too... most pilot and flying j trucks stops are starting to have it at the pumps.... meaning a large truck stop will have one pump.. usally an above ground tank to get it. And if you "fuel up" at any paticular station or location, truck stop or not, ask them to stock it... more then likly they will.. and probly have alrealdy been asked to by salesmen... so the more demand the more you will see...


as far as how the **** it works... i cant expain that... other then they say it works like an exuast stack at a power plant, like a scrubber, i have also been told the air coming outa the pipe is cleaner then the air going into it.. and also..on a big truck, that the system will use 1 gallon of urea for every 15 gallons of diesel fuel the old dpf systems usesd!

Every urea truck i have drivin runs way harder then the similer speced DPF truck... hope my rambeling might help...

[TW720HVY]

Originally Posted by cagedlx

--- limp mode.. not 100 percent sure on ford, but even if you run the tank complete empty the truck can run for 90 minutes with no urea.

My friend was told that as long as you do not turn the truck off it will keep running, to get you to a place to re-fill. He is on the EMS board of his town, they are demoing the new 6.7 and that was one of the questions they posed to the rep, this was his answer. Maybe there is a different setup with emergency vehicles.

[navistardiesel]

that helped alot, i understand it now, so now i can explain it to my father who is contemplating a '11 f550. lets hope its better than his last ford. 88 f350 overloaded, 460 5spd droppin 35 dollars for fuel, when gas was a buck a gallon lol

[Dakster]

I'll add my .02.

The truck will give you warnings when you have 800 miles to fill it. You don't have to worry about it freezing. If it freezes there is a heater and a sensor that knows the DEF is frozen so you don't go into limp mode.

Use of DEF seems the vary between 800 -1200 miles per gal of DEF. Since you have a 5 gal holding tank, you will get anywhere between 4000 - 6000 miles of driving on a full tank. You should be able to find DEF within that mileage.

I traveled up and down the east cost from New Hampshire to South FLorida. Every truck stop (Flying J, Pilot, Turnpike Service Centers, Racetrack Fuel Stations, etc...) all have heard about DEF and had it. I asked everytime I stopped just to check it out. This was early summer when Ford was the only light truck out there that requires DEF and there were not that many units out there.

I bought a 2.5 gal jug at a Pilot for $14 out the door. NOW, they have bulk def at some Pilot stations for around $3/gal. I still have over 1 gal. left over, but the next time I catch a place with bulk DEF I will just top off. Absolute worst case is go to a Ford dealer and pay $11 / Gal for it. I would pay $11 for a gal of diesel if I could get 800 miles per gallon!

My only b*tch is that Ford won't tell you exactly how much DEF is left, just full, less than 1/2 full, and miles to limp mode starting at 800 miles. Otherwise, I have put between two trucks more than 7k trouble free miles on.

[navistardiesel]

thats awesome. and alot less of a hassle than i expected, i would like to know the exact intervals and mileage that the urea gets with the 6.7 so ill talk to my dealer tomorrow, and maybe even check the pilot for urea.

[mor4wd]

Out of curiosity, I hooked up my DashDaq that I used to tune my 6.4 to the new truck. It's basically just an uploader and gauge cluster for those who don't know. I had it "Find Signals" and it popped up with 111 signals that I could view and the DEF fluid level was one of em. So there is a way to see exactly how much you have left if you buy a DashDaq.

[Dakster]

Down to what accuracy for DEF level? 10ths of a gallon? Interesting that you can tell with a DsahDaq and Ford makes the intervals so bizarre. How can it hurt me if I know I have exactly 3 gallons left?

[jimmi]

I guess i am in the same boat as Dakster. On occasion I plant trips nearly cross country. Round trip that translates into over 4K of mileage. It would give me peace of mind knowing how much DEF I have left. -