FILL 'ER UP-2X: Diesel fuel is not enough anymore. With many of the new engines you have to tank up on 'diesel exhaust fluid' too

摘要

From this year forward, all diesel pickup engines, save for the Cummins-powered Ram brands, will come with a new emissions control system. At the heart of these changes is a technology called selective catalytic reduction, or SCR. The good news is that these Ford and Chevy/GM diesels engines will run cooler than the engines of the past three years. But be advised, the 2010-newer powerplants include an entirely new secondary "fuel" system that uses what the industry is now calling "diesel exhaust fluid (DEF),"plus the tanks, sensors and plumbing to go with it all. And for all you shop-jocks who think you can do an end run around this new technology, please understand that if you let your pickup's diesel exhaust fluid run out or you attempt to game the system, your $50,000 truck will power down into what engineers call the "limp mode," and if ignored, results in a no-start. And who wants that?