Stopped at a truck stop in Flagstaff and saw a driver trying to fix his own DEF system with a garden hose

I was fueling up my service truck on I-40 last month and saw a guy under his Peterbilt with a regular green garden hose. He had it shoved into the DEF tank fill neck and was just letting it run. I mean, I get that DEF is mostly water, but city tap water? I walked over and asked him what was up. He said his truck was derated and a 'buddy' told him to flush the tank with water to clean the crystals out. He'd already put about five gallons in. I tried to explain about the 32.5% urea mix and how tap water minerals would wreck the injectors and sensors, but he wasn't having it. Has anyone else had to talk a driver down from a truly bad roadside fix idea? What's the worst you've seen someone try?

2 comments

2 Comments

perry.nancy6d ago

Just grab his hose and shut it off.

cameron_owens496d ago

Man that's brutal. Saw a guy once trying to clear a clogged fuel filter by blowing into the line with his mouth, like it was a birthday balloon. He was spitting diesel and coughing. Another time a driver was convinced his air leak was in the brake chamber, so he wrapped the whole thing in about two rolls of duct tape. It looked like a silver football. Some of these roadside fixes just make the problem ten times worse and way more expensive.