- Joined
- Jan 19, 2021
- Messages
- 3,122
- Location
- Rosemary Farm, Grass Valley Ca
- RV Year
- 2016
- RV Make
- Newmar
- RV Model
- Ventana 3427
- RV Length
- 35
- Chassis
- Freightliner XCR
- Engine
- 6.7 ISB 360/800
- TOW/TOAD
- 2001 Jeep Wrangler
- Fulltimer
- No
I recently bought a couple jugs of DEF (one box) from my local membership Chevron fuel station for an up-coming trip. I don’t stock it at home because I strive to use only fresh brewed DEF in the coach. When I opened the box and examined the jugs, I found that I couldn't decipher the date code, so I contacted the manufacturer and asked them to explain it to me. The manufacturer is Musket and they make all the DEF (box and bulk) sold at Loves and I’m sure many other retailers. Attached is a picture of the date code on one of the the jugs and it can be broken down as follows:
021 = Stockton California bottling site
3 = 3rd decade
2 = 2nd year in that decade
272 = Julian date code September 29th (note Julian but not reversed as is typical)
So this was bottled in September of 2022 in Stockton CA. I had guessed Stockton just because of my location but the rest was a mystery, although I figured there was a Julian component to it. But I was surprised to find that the DEF I bought was over a year old. This was disturbing enough for me to dump it in my F250 DEF tank since that system has been trouble free since day one. Because of my past experiences I decided not to use it in my coach even though it was properly stored in a relatively cool place. It endured a summer so it was not going in to my coach tank.
021 = Stockton California bottling site
3 = 3rd decade
2 = 2nd year in that decade
272 = Julian date code September 29th (note Julian but not reversed as is typical)
So this was bottled in September of 2022 in Stockton CA. I had guessed Stockton just because of my location but the rest was a mystery, although I figured there was a Julian component to it. But I was surprised to find that the DEF I bought was over a year old. This was disturbing enough for me to dump it in my F250 DEF tank since that system has been trouble free since day one. Because of my past experiences I decided not to use it in my coach even though it was properly stored in a relatively cool place. It endured a summer so it was not going in to my coach tank.
