Blue/white exhaust smoke - what is causing this?

[orange1]

I was given a Kubota G5200 by my uncle last week. It had been sitting outside exposed to the weather. He said he had been told it needed a new head gasket. I got one and replaced it. I did not change the oil as I wanted to make sure I could get it running before putting in new fluids. I did put new coolant in the radiator though. Once I turned the ignition, it started right up. I rode around on the tractor thinking that the light gray/blue exhaust smoke would stop after a bit, but it never did and I rode arround for about 6 or 7 minutes. Power seemed to be fine when riding arround. What could be causing this?

 

[cmhyland]

If you have white smoke it sounds like you still have coolant getting into the cylinders.
Take the radiator cap off and see if it stops.. If it does then your weeping it in from somewhere.
Head gaskets are the usual culprits. That said it can also be cracks in the head and block.

Is there any antifreeze in the oil?

Sometimes you can pressure test the cooling system and see if it will maintain pressure.
If it doesn't and you don't see the leak start the engine and see if you get lots of white smoke...

Regards,
Chris

 

[SkyPup]

First try getting some fresh uncontaminated diesel fuel in the fuel tank.

 

[normde2001]

Why did "they" think it needed a head gasket? Sounds like a lot more troubleshooting would have been in order. Could easily be water in fuel.

 

[orange1]

Water in the fuel? Would that cause the smoke? Should I just go ahead and drain the oil and fuel and put fresh fluids in? The engine seems to be strong, it's just that the smoke won't stop coming from the exhaust. Or, is there an additive I could put in the fuel to get rid of any water that could be in there. I do know that the radiator was very low on fluid when I drained it and refilled it. Could that coolant have worked its way into the fuel system?

 

[orange1]

Just checked the coolant level. It is still at the same level it was when I filled it, so it is not losing coolant. Prior to putting on the new head gasket, the radiator was very low on coolant. That has me thinkin that -maybe the coolant got into the oil - would that cause the smoking I am seeing?

 

[normde2001]

" It had been sitting outside exposed to the weather."

Any kind of fuel/injector problem can cause smoking. You could have water in everything if certain precautions were not taken, (check your filter bowl for water). Water in oil will not necessarily cause smoking unless it has caused enough damage to cause excessive oil burning. Oil with water turns a brownish, sometimes pinkish color, (the mechanics used to call it "turkey s**t".

 

[thcri]

I guess to me a diesel may not get warm enough just riding around for 6 or 7 minutes. I would get fresh diesel fuel and I would change the oil. A free tractor I would not mind spending the money. Then I would let it warm up and then work it a bit. Do some mowing or loader work or something like that. During the summer I let mine set outside and I think the diesel fuel abosorbs the moisture and I do get some blue smoke.

murph

 

[andrewimbrogno]

My diesel kubota had a similar problem, white smoke would come out when i first started it up and at full throttle for the first few minutes.....i asked the dealer and he said that white smoke could be cause by a few things. The best case senario was that there isn't enough fuel getting into you engine. The worst case would be you have a cracked block and coolant is getting into the motor. Now i changed my fuel filter and my air filter and my white smoke problem was solved....Also look for depris that is clogging the gas tank up....since you have already replaced your head gasket then that was not the problem ( i was told that could also cause white smoke) I hope this helps. Although i did not see any blue smoke I found a site that tells you what causes differant colour smoke...might wanna take a look...now its talking about marine diesel engines but all the same /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif diesel smoke

 

[JANDCBURKE]

just a thought, you made it seem like changing a head gasket was no big deal, maybe you replaced the valve cover gasket instead, if you did the head gasket, where did you find your torque specs and did you tighten enough??? i hope its all the simple fixes however!!