LS MT342 White Smoke and Occasional Runaway

[fistfulofdollars]

Howdy. I have a 2021 LS MT342 that has had an intermittent white smoke issue since buying it new in Dec 2021. The white smoke usually goes away on its own after a few minutes, or I can turn the tractor off and let it cool down to clear the smoke. Twice now, latest being today, while at operating RPM (~2000), it will start emitting white smoke from the exhaust, and then immediately peg the tach at 3000 and start billowing out the white smoke. Turning the key off clears the issue within a few seconds. I can let it cool down for 10 minutes, start it up, and it will just emit a little smoke. The engine oil level and coolant are both at the bottom third of their normal ranges, but I have not seen any excess coolant or oil consumption in the 80 hours I've used the tractor in the past year. The recommended service was performed at 50 hours, along with all the other usual maintenance. The tractor is stored outside, and I drained the fuel filter today, but there was no water present.

Is this worth diagnosing myself, or should I just have the dealer worry about it? It's an intermittent problem, and the dealer is 90 minutes away, so I rather fix it myself if it's something simple (i.e. not a cracked block).

What diagnosis do y'all recommend?

Thanks!

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Ahh, something like that should be under warranty. Take it back to get fixed. Definitely not normal. White smoke is usually a sign of unburned fuel. With the engine revving up when it smokes sounds like something going on with the fuel delivery going bonkers.....
Does that model have electronic throttle control? (Meaning no cable going to the injector pump). If so, probably a glitch in the ECM.

Not something to mess with if it's under warranty...... IMHO.....

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

And if you do decide to take it to the dealer, take a video of the problem to show them. If it's intermittent, it might not happen when it's there.... and you get it back ---- with the dealer saying they didn't find anything wrong.....

Having video backup could be good insurance ....

 

[thepumpguysc]

It’s not going into re-gen mode is it.??