2020 Silverado 2500 DEF usage

[Joe Stevens]

I'm late to the conversation, but here goes.  I have a 2019 3500 Duramax and today has only about 6000 miles on it due to the covid-19.  I purchased the truck February, 2019 and shortly thereafter loaded a full camper (approx 4,000 lbs) and went on several trips.  I was continually having to refill the def along with every diesel refuel, finally purchasing 2 of the 2.5 gallons containers.  It didn't take long for those to be used up either.  I understand load stress and how it affects usage of fuel and def, but this is ridiculous and is getting expensive.

Thanks for your information and updates.

I'll be off to see the dealer soon.

 

Joe Stevens

[daveac43]

I'm having a situation that appears to be a bad sensor as well. Last time I got a low def alert I put some in it but it overflowed after half of one of the Blue DEF jugs. Since I got it back from the 7500 service it has been acting hokey. On the way home from town yesterday I had it register low and then empty but within a couple miles it registered almost full again. The truck drives fine other than that so I'd say the sensor has to be out of whack.

[1975 hoss]

On 6/17/2020 at 7:37 AM, gjohnston7 said:

The TSB that the dealership gave me was one that they justified the increase of usage on regulatory changes.  When I did a search, it looked the standards changed 10-15%.  I assume that is why they went from a 5 gallon to a 7 gallon DEF tank.  However, That would not explain why I went from over a 1000 miles per gallon of DEF to 300.  Since the system doesn't generate an error code, Chevy says there isn't an issue.  Instead of looking at the data and saying that doesn't make sense they are only interested in error codes.  Or I would prefer that they come out and say, yup - you are only going to get 300 miles per gallon of DEF.  

I now have a 20 Denali and came from an 18 High country.  Same engine technically.  Just went on a 2700 mile trip towing my camper and I went through 3 1/2 tanks of def.   My 18 never went through it like this.  I could get about 4-7k miles out of a tank before.  I took it to the dealer and they said it will use more because of regulations.  I said not 5-6 times more.  I used roughly 270 gal of fuel and 24ish gal of def.   this is ridiculous..... dealer won’t do anything for me.  

[tscheuzger]

I have a new 2021 Chevy 2500 HD.  DEF was filled at the dealer when I picked it up/28 miles on the odometer.  3 months later at 2500 miles the DEF gauge read about two segments left and I got the 1000 mile warning - this after towing one 1800 lb. load about 250 miles on a 6x12 dual axle U-haul trailer.  Went through a truck stop bulk DEF pump and put in a little over 5 gal.  Four days/800 miles later and the DEF gauge has not reset and now shows zero segments.  Called the dealer and they said to keep an eye on it over the next week - that it should re-register.  If not, I'm taking it in.

 

Tom

 

 

[gearheadesw]

So discouraging, so ridiculous that the mighty diesel is reduced ti this.

[newdude]

On 3/9/2021 at 8:33 PM, 1975 hoss said:

I now have a 20 Denali and came from an 18 High country.  Same engine technically.  Just went on a 2700 mile trip towing my camper and I went through 3 1/2 tanks of def.   My 18 never went through it like this.  I could get about 4-7k miles out of a tank before.  I took it to the dealer and they said it will use more because of regulations.  I said not 5-6 times more.  I used roughly 270 gal of fuel and 24ish gal of def.   this is ridiculous..... dealer won’t do anything for me.  

 

On 3/10/2021 at 11:40 AM, tscheuzger said:

I have a new 2021 Chevy 2500 HD.  DEF was filled at the dealer when I picked it up/28 miles on the odometer.  3 months later at 2500 miles the DEF gauge read about two segments left and I got the 1000 mile warning - this after towing one 1800 lb. load about 250 miles on a 6x12 dual axle U-haul trailer.  Went through a truck stop bulk DEF pump and put in a little over 5 gal.  Four days/800 miles later and the DEF gauge has not reset and now shows zero segments.  Called the dealer and they said to keep an eye on it over the next week - that it should re-register.  If not, I'm taking it in.

 

Tom

 

 

 

On 12/1/2020 at 2:28 PM, Rguerra said:

I have a 2020 Duramax 3500 single axle 4x4 pickup and I have used over 10 gallons of DEF fluid since new.  I am currently at 4700 miles with 1/2 of the DEF tank remaining according to the DEF gauge.  This seems excessive to me since my brother has the same truck in 2018 that he has never added DEF fluid to in 14k miles.  He is at the 30% mark in his pickup but hes waiting to get that level really low before adding more since it has been in the truck so long.

 

 

Diesel Exhaust Fluid Consumption – TechLink (gm-techlink.com)

 

Quote

 

Segmented DEF Level Gauge

 

The current 2020 Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500 models have a DEF level gauge on the instrument cluster that provides drivers with a representation of how much DEF is in the DEF tank up. (Fig. 2) The DEF level gauge does not operate like a typical float-style gauge that is used in a fuel tank. The Engine Control Module (ECM) monitors the DEF level and consumption rate in order to calculate an estimated range. DEF levels are detected by the DEF level sensor.

 

There may be some fluctuation in the amount of DEF represented on the DEF level gauge. After filling the DEF tank, it may take a few key cycles to register the correct amount in the DEF tank. With the new segmented DEF level gauge, it is possible that after adding 5 gallons (18.9 L) of DEF that the gauge reads as a full tank after the fill event. However, if the actual level of DEF is just entering the last segment on the gauge, the gauge is likely to drop by one segment shortly after driving after the fill event. As a result, a driver could have an initial impression that the vehicle consumes an excessive amount of DEF.

 

 

[XY74]

I just filled mine the other day, tracking it on fuelly.  In the last 2984 miles it used 4.76 gallons for 626.9 MPG.  That was about half empty and half towing a flatbed with a small tractor, around 6000 lbs.  If I am towing the camper, it's more like 400 MPG.  

[Cody Courtney]

2020 Chevy Silverado 2500HD... and it feels like I burn through DEF like crazy. Probably have filled it up 4 or 5 times in 11,000 miles. 

[baker01]

2021 3500 HC DRW 4X4. I ran a DEF consumption test. I started with a full DEF tank. I filled the tank slowly to first spit back. I drove until the gauge registered 4 bars down (no towing). I was able to put 2.5 gallons and about a cup back into the tank. I had registered 2250 miles on the trip meter and averaged 14.3 MPG. The DEF usage calculated out to 900 mpg. 

[2500W/T]

On my 2020 L5P 2500 HD, I am on the 2nd full tank, about 450 miles, DEF still indicating full.

 

I was told on my 1st trip to the dealer for an oil change, that GM had a software update related to DEF.  After the alledged update, my DEF usage went lower.  I tow our 5th wheel and do local errands; with 19,700 on the odo, 2 DEF fills in 1 year.  Right now, set the Trip Meter to 0 and filled with DEF, will see when I need to fill back up again.

[shimmy]

Just came back from a pretty long trip.  Traveled 5,200 miles from the east coast to northern Idaho and back pulling a 8,000 lb cargo trailer (shaped like a brick).  2020 Chevy 2500hd.  DEF usage was about 430 mile per gallon of DEF with a fuel burn between 12 and 13 MPG.  We were on the interstate traveling ~70 for most of the time; keeping up with traffic.

[unit]

I'm averaging about 600 mpg of DEF while towing a 30' Airstream trailer at 60 mph.  That average was computed towing a little over 4,000 miles.  The trailer weights about 8500 lbs.

[2500W/T]

At about a hair over 800 miles and the DEF gauge is at full.  When I hit 1000 miles, going to add some DEF to see where is at, regardless of what the gauge shows.  So far, is just driving wihout towing or carring any heavy loads.

 

When the truck was new, the DEF usage was a bit higher.  Took the truck for a freebie oil change.  The GM Tech said, that was some recall/software update about the DEF fluid.  After that update, the usage was drasticaly reduced.

Edited August 29, 2021 by 2500W/T

[2500W/T]

Today was the day.  Topped the DEF tank with 0.904 gallons of DEF within 1008 miles.  At this time, normal drive, lots of idle time.  The DEF gauge was showing full. Going to repeat the experiment, want to see if is weather related an increase or decrease, or the same.

 

For what I saw, 1 gallon per 1000 is not that bad.

[Madams1970]

On 6/3/2020 at 6:30 AM, gjohnston7 said:

What are other owners of a 2020 Silverado 2500 Duramax getting as far as DEF usage?

 

I have a 2020 Chevy Silverado 2500 Duramax that is only getting about 300 miles to a gallon of DEF.  My last pickup was a 2016 Silverado 3500 and I was getting over 1,000 miles to a gallon of DEF.  Pulling the exact same trailer, with the same loading, going the same route.  Without a trailer, just driving around town I am getting a whopping 400 gallons.

 

I have taken it to the dealer a few times and they say without an error code, there is nothing wrong.  They have updated the software a couple of times and given me a bulletin from Chevy that said higher usage might be from changing environmental standards.  Looked up the standards and they didn't change that much.  I assume that is why they went from 5 gallon tank to 7. 

 

Is everyone experiencing this same level of usage with the 2020 or is my "unique"?  Or did I have an unusual experience with the 2016?  I have only driven Chevy Silverado diesel pickups and have never had any issues but this experience is just about to tip me over the edge and consider something different.

I just towed my 31' travel trailer round trip 1300 miles used about 2/gallons of DEF.