Broken DEF access door

[Flowman415]

The link to some photos show how the access door to the DEF tank fill cap on a 2017 Isata5 broke due to the excessive amount of expandable insulation foam applied during the rigs original assembly.

It's telling that FR missed this error and odd the original owner did not claim this as a warranty item because as the new owner of falls on me to correct the issue.

Regarding the photos, note the one showing the door attached and the bulb of excessive foam. The inside of the door shows where foam pushed and bulged the door with pressure to the point the bottom hinge broke.

Other photo show how much excessive foam I removed and how much more I could have removed.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/x5C1JWNJrdJBabUt8

As a side note, why on God's green earth was the DEF access fill port located in such an odd and inconvenient manner? The port is located so far deep into the coach that a funnel is required to reach it as DEF spouts are too short.

[SeaDog]

Welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. You do know that the DEF spouts are expandable.

[Flowman415]

Tank for the reply SeaDog. By expandable do you mean like with a funnel like I'm doing, or by actually pulling on the port to elongate it closer to the access door?

P.S. I tried pulling on the port and it appears to be pretty nailed in place.

[SeaDog]

The nozzle on the DEF containers and be pulled to make it much longer then how it comes out of the box.

[Flowman415]

Hi SeaDog. As this is my first diesel rig and experience using DEF, I appreciate the tip to stretch out the container hose as this gave me an extra 3" of usable length.

I'll use your technique in a pinch, but for a safety factor, I think I'll continue to use the customized funnel I made up.

As a side note, the measured gap between the top of DEF fill port to access the hatch is 11".

Considering that the maximum length of a stretched out DEF container hose is 17" and from this you subtract the 2.5" required to safely secure hose inside fill tank port and then subtract another 4" to 6" of lenght so you can to tip container to fully empty it this now leaves you with only 11.5" of usable hose length.

To bridge above 11" gap, this 1/2 inch (less, if the hose contracts during this process and/or you tip the container too far), is in my opinion a design shortfall, and a disaster just waiting to happen.

Why the DEF fill port could not have been located just inside the access hatch amazes me.

[SeaDog]

Make sure you use the correct material for the funnel or you will contaminate the DEF system. Titanium, Rubber, Plastic, or Stainless steel are the only four materials that a funnel should be made of.