Urea shortage puts supply chain under ‘extreme pressure’ with supplies at risk and prices to soar

News AU ^ | 12/7/21

[TexasGunLover]

Vehicles do not start without def. There is no limp mode in my truck.

My 2021 Duramax does. The manual says it will remain in limp mode until it's filled.

[eartick]

Gosh it might be.

Also I heard running red diesel is illegal.

[9YearLurker]

Surely that is only a rhetorical question on your part...

[Vinnie]

That’s a pisser!

[backwoods-engineer]

The question is whether Western governments have the will to do that modification, as it means back to old days of diesels putting out smoke.

Why don't you stop pontificating on a subject you obviously know nothing about? DEF does NOT eliminate particulates in the exhaust; it reduces levels of the various oxides of nitrogen (NOx). In a DEF delete, the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) is not affected.

[BobL]

Close enough.

[oldtech]

This spells it out pretty well. Why would you let your industry stop just because of a shortage of urea when you really don’t have to. I remember the old days when the diesel engine smoke was very obnoxious in a closed space, but why would you let the trucking & other industry die because of something like this? Talking about shooting yourself in the foot! Aren’t there enough problems in the world already? I know that running a diesel engine without this fluid is not the ideal, but a whole industry going under isn’t ideal either. All we need now is a shortage of the materials (Catalysts) that make up a catalytic converter for gas engines..and everything stops, I guess. Except the guys still driving the old cars without them.

[Svartalfiar]

Or what has happened to me twice already the DEF pump fails and of course the truck shuts down and a tow truck has to be called because God forbid I should drive a truck with no DEF a few miles to a garage.

Keep a quart or, if you have room, a gallon of DEF in your truck, specifically for such emergencies. Only use it for than, not regular fills (but swap out every so often to keep it fresh). Much easier and cheaper than possibly having to wait for a tow and pay for it.