[davinci74]

I have had my 335d for about a year now and I appreciate everyone's input on this forum. I have learned a lot about the car from your knowledge, and this is my first post. I recently got the "No Start" indicator light and tried to refill the DEF Fluid myself rather than being overcharged at the dealer. I put about a half gallon of fluid in both the active and passive tanks to remove "No Start" indicator as I have done several times in the past, but the computer is not resetting the indicator. I am not hearing the hum of the transfer pump as I have heard in the past.

Will the transfer pump need to be replaced or the entire tank itself? My car has 83,000 miles so I am beyond the BMW warranty but I have an third party extended warranty. Is this something an extended should cover?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Hoooper]

why dont you try filling it up more before assuming there is a problem? How many miles did you put on after the fill? If anything is wrong it sounds like it would be the tank level sensor, otherwise putting the 1/2 gal into the active tank would get rid of the indicator. Try driving in a way that you will get the DEF to slosh around in the tank. DEF can crystallize, but the crystals are very easily dissolved back into the DEF so if you have a crusted up sensor you might get it fixed by sloshing DEF around it a couple times.

 

[davinci74]

Thank you for your reply. I actually did try adding fluid to both tanks once and drove the car about a 100 miles but the light stayed on. I tried adding more fluid to the car this morning without driving it and it did not remove the light. I only have about 170 miles before it won't start, so I either have to take it to the dealer or hope there's another way to remove the indicator. Is there a way to defeat the indicator electronically?

 

[F32Fleet]

Extended warranty will cover it. There's no way to defeat the no start condition.

 

[davinci74]

Thank you both for your responses. I wanted to post an update in case anyone else ever has a similar experience.

I tried taking my car out for a quick spin to see if it would make a difference, and sure enough, within a mile down the road the "No Start" indicator blinked off. Apparently, I did not add enough DEF to the tank the first time in order to remove the indicator. What big sigh of relief!

There are many posts regarding refilling the DEF, so I wanted to summarize a few things here for future readers:

There are two reservoirs that hold the DEF that are accessible by pushing firmly on the small triangle on the round disk on the driver's side of the rear bumper. I don't know the size, but I use a large Allen socket to twist off the caps on the reservoirs by hand and then only re-tighten the caps by hand.

The upper reservoir is the passive, higher capacity tank that holds 4.5 gallons. The bottom reservoir is the active, lower capacity tank that holds 1.6 gallons.

When refilling the tanks, be very patient and pour the DEF very slowly while allowing air to escape through the small diameter filler neck as you pour. Personally, I found it easier to use a funnel with a small hose on the end for the refilling. It is much easier to do with one person pouring and having a second person holding the funnel.

To make the refilling process easier, many have recommended purchasing a small 1/2 liter bottle intended to be used for emergency refills of the active reservoir and reusing the bottle as a funnel after its initial use. The next time I do a refill, I intend on cutting a hole on the bottom of the 1/2 liter bottle, screwing the bottle onto the filler neck, and pouring DEF from a larger (and cheaper) of DEF. As far as I know, pretty much all DEF is the same and there's no need to buy anything BMW branded. You do want to make sure that the fluid you are using is not over 2 years old, however, as it can degrade over time.

You also want to be careful when adding DEF not to overfill the tanks. Overfilling the upper, passive reservoir can cause the DEF to crystallize and therefore plug a vent on the tank. The crusted DEF is still soluble in the liquid DEF, however, so if it is crystallized you can soak the crusted area with DEF to clear it up.

Well, that's about all I know about it. I'm not a mechanic, so I fully admit that I may be missing something. I just wanted a central source where people can find this information quickly and hopefully save themselves from spending hundreds of dollars at the stealership when it can be taken of at home very easily.

 

[Flyingman]

Nothing like DIY!:thumbup:

Although I've yet to add DEF myself to my 335D with 70k+ miles, I have added it to my GL350 as MB charges upwards of $200 for about $15 worth of DEF.

The MB is much easier to fill as the DEF fill is adjacent to the Diesel Fill.

I purchased both the extended warranty and maintenance on the 335D so have yet to pay for anything "out of pocket" and have another 18 months or 30k miles left.

A full tank of DEF has always lasted me 13k miles, an oil change interval, without fail, so it's not something you should need to do with any great frequency.

 

[335dFan]

To make the refilling process easier, many have recommended purchasing a small 1/2 liter bottle intended to be used for emergency refills of the active reservoir and reusing the bottle as a funnel after its initial use. The next time I do a refill, I intend on cutting a hole on the bottom of the 1/2 liter bottle, screwing the bottle onto the filler neck, and pouring DEF from a larger (and cheaper) of DEF.

I was going to do the same, but another forum member showed a better way. You can remove the business end of the 1/2-gal bottle but cutting away the tabs. Then it becomes a screw-off cap that can be refilled with DEF and used over and over. I think you need to wash it off with water after use to keep the DEF from crystallizing and messing up the mechanism. See the picture.

 

[davinci74]

335dFan - I wanted to thank you for the tip! I'll definitely look into doing that.