[Quasimodem]

Okay, lets start a list of "1000 Miles to No Start" horror stories. I have seen a few here, but maybe we can conglomerate them all in a single thread. I will start:

Okay, I started from the Bay Area on a long trip to Riverside (near LA). About a hundred miles into my trip, boom 1000 miles to no start warning. No big deal right? I can get some DEF the next day in LA. Fine, so I drove another 400 or whatever miles to Riverside, got in late in the evening to Riverside (near Montecito Memorial Park). The next morning, I went off to a BMW dealer near the intersection of 10 and 15. I bought a small bottle of DEF and took it back. I poured it into the secondary (larger) tank and drove around for the day. The warning did not go away!!!! I left for the Bay Area the same day and the Warning never went away.

By the time I got back up to the Bay Area, I had 97 miles left to drive before No Start.

The next day, I went to the VW dealer, bought 2.5 gallons of DEF, and put some in the primary tank. The warning went away. Whew.

I dont know if my Secondary tank pump is broken or maybe the secondary tank pump is shut off by a sensor in the primary tank and doesnt come back on until the primary tank has something in it. Whatever, I will find out soon enough once I go through the DEF in my primary tank... So the lesson of this story is, if you are going on a long trip, and dont have time to troubleshoot a possibly bad secondary DEF tank pump, add the DEF to the Primary tank. The trickle down theory doesnt always work, though it has worked for me before.

[335dFan]

Originally Posted by Quasimodem

Okay, lets start a list of "1000 Miles to No Start" horror stories. I have seen a few here, but maybe we can conglomerate them all in a single thread. I will start:

Okay, I started from the Bay Area on a long trip to Riverside (near LA). About a hundred miles into my trip, boom 1000 miles to no start warning. No big deal right? I can get some DEF the next day in LA. Fine, so I drove another 400 or whatever miles to Riverside, got in late in the evening to Riverside (near Montecito Memorial Park). The next morning, I went off to a BMW dealer near the intersection of 10 and 15. I bought a small bottle of DEF and took it back. I poured it into the secondary (larger) tank and drove around for the day. The warning did not go away!!!! I left for the Bay Area the same day and the Warning never went away.

By the time I got back up to the Bay Area, I had 97 miles left to drive before No Start.

The next day, I went to the VW dealer, bought 2.5 gallons of DEF, and put some in the primary tank. The warning went away. Whew.

I dont know if my Secondary tank pump is broken or maybe the secondary tank pump is shut off by a sensor in the primary tank and doesnt come back on until the primary tank has something in it. Whatever, I will find out soon enough once I go through the DEF in my primary tank... So the lesson of this story is, if you are going on a long trip, and dont have time to troubleshoot a possibly bad secondary DEF tank pump, add the DEF to the Primary tank. The trickle down theory doesnt always work, though it has worked for me before.

Glad to read these varying experiences. I haven't had one yet, but have anticipated it. Before starting out on my recent 6,500 mile road trip, the end of which would put me exceeding my mileage limit for the second service, I went to a VW dealer and bought some DEF to keep in the trunk with some other consumables. I had every intention to fill the upper passive tank if I had got the warning. Still haven't got the warning although I am about 700 miles over the service required limit, and I take the car in for service this AM.

[kbsilver]

If you are just doing a partial/small fill for range extension from the 1/2 gallon bottle, it's suppose to go into the ACTIVE (smaller) tank (with the blue ring on the fill port). 1/2 gallon should get you another 1500 miles or so.

[Mark M]

So here is my 1000 mile DEF story…..

I had been on the hunt for a 335d for some time and had even been working with my local Lancaster PA dealer to tap into their resources to find one at the price point I had been seeking with the specs I required.

We found my 2010 space grey sport pack / premium pack at an location near Charlotte NC, over 500 miles away. My father works part time for our local dealer as a driver doing dealer exchange work. So after reviewing pics and details I committed to the car, my local dealer purchased it with intent to bring it back go over it, and CPO it for me. I cashed in air miles and got a ticket for my father to fly down to Charlotte.

Once there, he completed the paperwork and took off with the car headed back to PA. About 70 miles into his trip the dreaded DEF light comes up…but indicated only 250 miles till no start. He called me from his cell asking for advice on what to do. He then hit up a dealer along the route about 4pm on the way, but they had very little knowledge on diesels and told him codes are referring to a defective Nox sensor. Thus they did not add DEF. Given that it was now almost 6pm, I advised him to pull off and find a hotel for the night. Wake up fresh the next morning and drive straight through to our PA dealer without shutting off the car.

The next morning he started out with ~150 miles until no start and drove straight through, stopped once at a subway, but left the car running and used the blade key to lock the doors. Pulled into our local dealer and as expected, it would not start after shut off. They flushed the DEF, changed Nox sensors and did other maintenance work prior to me taking delivery. Since then, it has been a phenomenal car!

[335dFan]

Originally Posted by Mark M

So here is my 1000 mile DEF story…..

I had been on the hunt for a 335d for some time and had even been working with my local Lancaster PA dealer to tap into their resources to find one at the price point I had been seeking with the specs I required.

We found my 2010 space grey sport pack / premium pack at an location near Charlotte NC, over 500 miles away. My father works part time for our local dealer as a driver doing dealer exchange work. So after reviewing pics and details I committed to the car, my local dealer purchased it with intent to bring it back go over it, and CPO it for me. I cashed in air miles and got a ticket for my father to fly down to Charlotte.

Once there, he completed the paperwork and took off with the car headed back to PA. About 70 miles into his trip the dreaded DEF light comes up…but indicated only 250 miles till no start. He called me from his cell asking for advice on what to do. He then hit up a dealer along the route about 4pm on the way, but they had very little knowledge on diesels and told him codes are referring to a defective Nox sensor. Thus they did not add DEF. Given that it was now almost 6pm, I advised him to pull off and find a hotel for the night. Wake up fresh the next morning and drive straight through to our PA dealer without shutting off the car.

The next morning he started out with ~150 miles until no start and drove straight through, stopped once at a subway, but left the car running and used the blade key to lock the doors. Pulled into our local dealer and as expected, it would not start after shut off. They flushed the DEF, changed Nox sensors and did other maintenance work prior to me taking delivery. Since then, it has been a phenomenal car!

I guess it shouldn't surprise me at this stage, but I am still amazed at the cluelessness of some dealers and their serious lack of customer focus.