Utah mechanic reveals the one fuel mistake that will cost you $15,000 and how to avoid it

A GMC 2500 Duramax owner in Utah made a very expensive mistake with his diesel truck.

Instead of putting diesel in the truck, he put DEF, which stands for ‘diesel exhaust fluid’.

That’s more or less like putting salt in your coffee and sugar on your steak.

Except this mistake was a lot more costly.

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This Utah mechanic explained why this was a very expensive mistake

In his latest video, the guy behind the Dave’s Auto Center YouTube channel explained why the mistake this GMC 2500 owner made is going to cost him dearly.

The owner put about a gallon of DEF into the diesel fuel tank of his GMC 2500 Duramax and only drove about 80 miles before realizing what he’d done.

But it was already too late.

The problem with DEF is that it is highly corrosive, which means it ‘eats’ metal components.

Among other things, the Utah service center that inspected his truck concluded they’d have to change the fuel tank and the fuel pump, all fuel filters, injectors, and lines.

One of the pistons had been damaged as well.

On top of that, this is also going to be a very labor-intensive job, which means the owner is looking at a repair bill north of $15,000.

Myth busted: diesel doesn’t run on ‘anything’

For years, a lot of people believed in the myth that diesel engines could run on anything.

While it is true that these engines are a lot more versatile than gasoline ones, there are things to consider unless we want to run into a $15,000 problem like the GMC owner did.

In theory, with a lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’, these engines can run on kerosene, used engine oil, used cooking oil (if filtered and processed), vegetable oil, and jet fuel.

But these are supposed to be last resort-type, get-me-home solutions, not everyday alternatives to diesel.

Still, this is kind of a moot point, at least when it comes to light-duty trucks.

Diesel remains dominant in agriculture, trucking, and construction, but diesel engines in light-duty trucks and passenger cars are being regulated out of existence by increasingly strict emission rules.

So, sooner or later, this won’t be a problem anymore.