hard start and white smoke

   / hard start and white smoke #1  

Olefergie60

New member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Messages
4
Hello there!

another question 'bout that 1960 ferguson fe-35 I own.

since a few month, I remarked that the engine is harder and harder to start.
It's easy to crank (it has two recent 1100 amps battery) but when it begins to run, it runs weird and uneasy for a while and seems about to die often for the first 10 or 20 seconds. I hold the switch to make sure it will run. the more it goes, the longer it smokes white before it runs perfectly. When I showed this up to my brother, he touched the manifold just after I started and remarked that the cylinder in front stayed cold while the 3 other were already hot.

What's the problem and where should I look?

it's a 23c standard 4 cyl diesel engine

thank you for your patience reading my bad english
 
   / hard start and white smoke #2  
Sounds like a bad glow plug. That white smoke is unburned fuel. And your engine is running rough because that cylinder isn't firing. Pretty common problem.
 
   / hard start and white smoke
  • Thread Starter
#3  
well, I tought this could be the glo-plugs, and I did check them last week, and they all glow red in seconds (2-3 seconds).

May this be a compression problem? (rings, valves, ???)

when the engine is hot or when the temperature outside is hot there's less problem.

thanks!
 
   / hard start and white smoke #4  
Low Compression could absolutely contribute to starting problems. You could do a test on it. If that cylinder is low, that may be the problem. I'd also do a "leak down" test. But yes, rings or valves could cause that. We had a tractor years ago that turned out to have a piece blown out of the head gasket on the rear cylinder. Replaced it, and good as new.

How does it run once its warmed up? Diesels do have better compression once their hot.

You threw me there, because 9 out of 10 times its glow plug related (white smoke).
 
   / hard start and white smoke #5  
A little white smoke is not normal? Mine does this everytime on cold start since new. Only got 50hrs.
 
   / hard start and white smoke
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Hi mr 444

when the engine is hot, it continue to smoke. A little but it smokes anyway. Last year, just after I rev up the engine(to start the alternator), the smoke stopped almost instantly, maybe 20 seconds after the cranking, and it wasn't smoking at all, at any RPM. Now it always smoke a little, even hot.

How do I test the compression? I guess it takes some intruments not availables at the corner store...

thank you
 
   / hard start and white smoke #7  
Of course white smoke is definitely normal upon startup, and even a little during running is OK. But if you're noticing a definite change in behavior, (hard starting) and things don't seem right, they're probably not. Afterall, you know your tractor better than anybody, right?

The compression test is done with a guage that basically looks like a dial type tire guage with a short length of hose attached. Most auto parts stores carry them. My particular guage screws into the glow plug hole, and when you turn the engine over, it gives you the reading. Now I'm not sure what your reading SHOULD be, but a good place to start is to do this check, at least to see to it that all cylinders are getting similar compression levels.
 
   / hard start and white smoke #8  
Olefergie60 said:
Hi mr 444

when the engine is hot, it continue to smoke. A little but it smokes anyway. Last year, just after I rev up the engine(to start the alternator), the smoke stopped almost instantly, maybe 20 seconds after the cranking, and it wasn't smoking at all, at any RPM. Now it always smoke a little, even hot.

How do I test the compression? I guess it takes some intruments not availables at the corner store...

thank you
Was the tractor sitting around in storage not being run for a long period? If so, you could have stuck rings. Someone else just had that problem on one of the JD boards here. It sounded like he had to pull the engine apart, free up the rings in several cylinders and put it back together. A faulty injector delivering too little fuel can also cause a cylinder to run cold, hence white smoke. If I was betting money I would have to suspect compression related, though.

If it was sitting a long time i would put good fresh oil in, maybe with an addtitve, then work it hard for several hours and see what happens before getting into compression, injectors, etc.
 
 
Top