Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) Tracking
 

I am curious to see if anyone else is interested in tracking their DEF usage like we track our fuel usage.

I would prefer to see a section for tracking this in various vehicles, but would settle for a section to where it just tracks DEF usage in general, provided it keeps detailed info about MY usage on MY account.

So the twenty dollar question is: Does anyone else feel this way, or am I the only one that is OCD enough to care?

I think that a bigger question is, how many people actually fill their own DEF?

Our vehicle takes DEF, and I have only had to put it in one time. That was the time that the dealer forgot to install it. For us, our DEF tank makes it between oil changes. Our dealer fills it every time that they change the oil as part of the service. So I don't really have any idea how many actual gallons of DEF are being added...

Can't check now with the database error, but isn't there a place to track service items like oil changes? if so, it should be possible to track DEF use there.

I just used the note feature for all maintenance. DEF is pretty much the same thing. You might want to track your "mileage" for DEF usage, but the note function is the best way to do that, and just calculate the mileage and cost per mile yourself if you're really worried about it. You can add a cost and have that logged but it's just a one-time cost per "note."

I assume that many/most diesel owners that actually have DEF will have it changed by a mechanic or dealer, which makes the "mileage" aspect of it unnecessary because the dealer will drain the existing fluid and then refill it completely. Keep in mind most Jetta TDIs don't have it, which probably makes up the majority of Fuelly diesel users. None of the Europeans use it either because in Europe (save France) they don't care about pollution, just about CO2.

Saying Europe "doesnt care about pollution" is an insane comment. Most of the highest ranking "greenest" countries on the planet are European. The US ranks 33rd in the World. Ranks are here: https://epi.yale.edu/epi/country-rankings

BDC-
I wish my DEF intervals were at the oil changes. I fill the DEF about 3 times in my oil change interval, and I imagine the big rigs are even worse about it.

Plus, when I'm using my truck for work purposes, it is nice to be able to properly account for ALL of my expenses, even if DEF only adds about a penny per mile.

Europe uses DEF, they just call it AdBlue. Their emissions requirements are pretty close in line with ours.

But again, the point of the thread is to find out if anyone actually wants to track their DEF (AdBlue) usage with the Fuelly website/app.

I want to be able to compare my empty usage to when I've got 20,000 pounds hooked up to my truck, and how much that impacts my bottom line. A pleasure use only vehicle isn't going to care, but one used for work will.

I would love to see a feature so that we would be able to track DEF mpg.

I don't mean to derail, but do European diesel subcompacts really need DEF? I was under the impression that only the larger vehicles used adblue, especially since most of the smaller federalized diesels (i.e. most TDIs) don't require it. Given that our NOx requirements are more stringent than europe, and since DEF is used for reducing NOx (thus basically all diesels other than TDI Jettas require DEF), I was under the assumption that all of the very small diesels in europe would not require DEF. And if that's the case, that probably means the majority of european diesel owners do not need DEF tracking.

Maybe Draigflaig can add something useful to a thread and tell us if his european subcompact uses adblue. I am unable to find much via google searching. I would say the feature is much more pertinent to be if it's used in all european diesels versus just the big ones, as it is in the US.

Personaly i've never heard of any kind of additive for any diesel vehicle, personel or commercial until I joined Fuelly. I think this is another strange US only thing...

Exactly -- most european diesel owners don't need to track DEF usage because it's not required for the diesel subcompacts that everyone over there drives.

I suppose using notes to track the cost of DEF is the best way to do this for now. Since few europeans and most american diesel owners (aka TDIs) don't need it, I don't suppose it will be high on the list of new features for development. But you can calculate and record the cost and DEF "MPG" yourself using notes. I do this for all my maintenance costs.

I believe the new Jetta TDI will require it in the US, and the Passat already does. It is possible to reach current US NOx limits without using SCR and DEF. The previous Jetta did so, but relying on EGR and a NOx trap alone to do so results in fuel economy loss. The non DEF Jetta wasn't rated much better than the DEF Passat.

With the less stringent emissions, the penalty from EGR and/or a NOx trap alone in Europe isn't as great as it is in the US. The US is also moving to Tier III emissions. Some of the diesels are already certified to it here. Those that are all use DEF. Some of them could be certified to ULEV or even SULEV under the current system.

Yes, would love to track it.
https://www.fuelly.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17138

So far, 900m between 5g fill-ups.... oil-change interval of 15,000m... I'll probably top-off 5g 15 more times before next oil-change.

Hello all,
I track my DEF use as a maintanence item like an oil change. I use aCar on my android. I have a 2013 F350 purchased new with 20 mile on the odometer. First time I added DEF was at 6k right before first oil change. 5 gallons were added. After that I began to use a fuel additive called Diesel Mechanic in a Bottle. I add 4 oz per fill up about 1oz per 10 gallons. After using additive, the next time I addes DEF was at 14k miles. The next time was at 23k and the last time I added was about 32k. All in all I got 6k on fill up from the dealer, them about 8k, 9k, and 8k after using the fuel additive. I don't think tracking miles per gallon on DEF is a big deal to most, everyone I have spoken to about DEF say they just add 2.5gallons when the light comes on. I am not sure if the additive has increased milage or not on my vehicle. Total mpg is 12.798 with 105 fill ups and 2787.46 gallons. Best of 16.69 mpg worst of 9.612 Mostly city driving pulling a trailer about 25%. I have had a few customers that have reported milage increases on older trucks and cars.

My 2cents

Def tracking
 

I would also like to track DEF consumption, topped my tank the other day, 2 gallons in 10k. Not bad, but most my driving is highway.

LOL! another strange US thing....hahaha, like the strange catalytic converter that we had to have by 1975 but while I was living in germany in the early 90's saw all these cars with "mit catalyst" in the back windows in green and them bragging how green germany was as their cars now had catalytic converters, lol, yeah, DEF is another "strange US thing" lol.

And by the way, 2007 was the year you couldn't by a vw diesel here because the euro model couldn't meet the N/A emissions tests. VW scrambled for a bit and late 2007-2008 came up with a solution for the 2008 model year.

Yea the US has been blaming "emissions standards" for a reason to keep diesels out for decades. In my opinion, it's because the US economy relies too much on the sale and consumption of oil and gas, if they all had cars that only used a gallon of fuel every 80 miles, and changed their oil every two years, their economy would crash big-time. Just my theory for what it's worth!

Meanwhile Europe only blames diesels for lung crushing smog and not being able to go outside at certain parts of the year...

Also I love it how you still go around saying your car gets 80 mpg yet even you will make fun of euro mpg ratings as the fantasy that they are. Classic draigflaig.

But wait there's more! If we all stop changing our oil our economy will crash!!!

Smog and diesel pollution is only a problem in a couple of overcrowded cities. If you cram the entire population of Australia into one city, it's inevitable there's going to be problems. Modern diesels filter 99.9% of particulate now, and don't forget, although they emit Nitrous oxide, petrol powered cars still emit more C02, more carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons too, so don't go thinking a city full of petrol cars is healthy. I didn't say my car gets 80 MPG dude, I said if America had cars that did 80 Mpg, please read correctly if you want to pull me up on things.

And I need not remind you I'm entitled to my own opinions and theories, and it's ok to discuss or disagree ;)