Cold Start Blue Smoke rehash

[JimR]

The other morning it was 10 degrees out up in the NE. Up until now I haven't had any issues starting my tractor when it is cold. This time however it was blowing clouds of blue smoke. My wife even said something about smoking out the neighborhood. I had the throttle set at 1200 rpm's. After 3 minutes of smoking away like crazy I cranked the throttle up to 2K. The smoke started to clear up. After another minute I wide opened the throttle. The smoke finally cleared up and stayed that way for the next 3 hours that I used my tractor chipping brush and moving wood around. Yesterday is was 14 degrees out and I had no issues with the tractor smoking. My fuel comes from a gas station that has lots of trucks in it buying diesel. I don't think this is a bad fuel issue. I also noticed in the owners manual that it says "Do not use any type of engine oil additive or fuel additive". I know if you do not use a fuel additive that the fuel will gel in the filter. I had that happen to me a month ago on another very cold morning. I removed the filter, drained the old fuel out and poured it half full of Power Service 911. I shook it up real good, drained that out and refilled it with diesel. The tractor fired right up and has been fine ever since. I do use Power Service anti-gel in my tractor since the fuel filter gelled up. This morning it was 20 degrees out when I fired up my tractor to do a smoke test on it. There was very little "grey" smoke to speak of and it cleared up within a minute of running the tractor. Does anyone have any ideas as to what may have caused this issue when it was really cold out?

 

[Billrog]

Just took longer for the engine to warm up.

 

[JimR]

Just took longer for the engine to warm up.

This is my second diesel tractor that I have owned since 2003 and never had one do anything like this cloud making machine before. When I say smoking I should have said belching. It was as bad as the other guy that posted about his tractor belching smoke back in 2014 where his garage or barn was smoked out.

 

[Ford850]

This is my second diesel tractor that I have owned since 2003 and never had one do anything like this cloud making machine before. When I say smoking I should have said belching. It was as bad as the other guy that posted about his tractor belching smoke back in 2014 where his garage or barn was smoked out.

Diesels need higher RPM to warm up. If you don't use long enough glow plug cycles, or it's very cold in general, you can just barely get it started. It stumbles and coughs since its still cold, can't get enough heat built up due to it stumbling, and continues that loop longer than normal. I've had mine do that on occasion. But if I warm it longer with the glow plugs or use the block heater, it revs right along and the exhaust cleans up in seconds.

 

[JimR]

Diesels need higher RPM to warm up. If you don't use long enough glow plug cycles, or it's very cold in general, you can just barely get it started. It stumbles and coughs since its still cold, can't get enough heat built up due to it stumbling, and continues that loop longer than normal. I've had mine do that on occasion. But if I warm it longer with the glow plugs or use the block heater, it revs right along and the exhaust cleans up in seconds.

Maybe we will get one more cold single digit day so I can try this again to see what happens. Heck, even my old 97 Cub Cadet never smoked like this in the dead of Winter.

 

[VictorW]

2004 CK30hst and always use a fuel additive for anti-jelling. Below 20'F, I run the glow plugs for two cycles. At start up, you may have had a cylinder or two not fire and push the raw fuel into the muffler. It will then burn off blue as the engine and exhaust warms up.

 

[kbsd]

How was the idle? Was everything smooth as usual, or was it a bit rough sounding/feeling ?

 

[JimR]

How was the idle? Was everything smooth as usual, or was it a bit rough sounding/feeling ?

The tractor es skipping at an idle. At 1600 rpm's it did not appear to be skipping but was smoking like crazy. I'm hoping for one more really cold day. I may just put a block heater in it to eliminate this problem.

 

[kbsd]

It sounds to me, that fuel injector is sticking open causing an over fueling issue causing the smoke. After it gelled up, did you replace the fuel filter? It may be worth a new filter if you reused the old one after it gelled.

 

[Highgear]

So - I always thought blue smoke - was oil being burnt and black smoke - was fuel ?

 

[JimR]

It sounds to me, that fuel injector is sticking open causing an over fueling issue causing the smoke. After it gelled up, did you replace the fuel filter? It may be worth a new filter if you reused the old one after it gelled.

I did re-use the old fuel filter. I do have a few spare new ones that I just purchased. I have ran the tractor for at least 6 hours since that day and have not had any issues since. I wouldn't be surprised it if was a stuck injector. But wouldn't it have been blowing black smoke for unburnt fuel?

 

[kbsd]

Typically that's mostly true. But fuel issues can show in different colors, grey, blue, black and sometimes even a white ish color, at least as far as I have seen. The reason I think he has a fuel issue is due to the rough idle, plus the smoke. And the fact it started after a gelling.

 

[JimR]

So - I always thought blue smoke - was oil being burnt and black smoke - was fuel ?

That is a very good point that you bring up. I used to have a 1982 Oldsmobile Delta 88 with the 350 diesel in it. Twice during its lifetime the injector pump diaphragm let go and this baby puffed out huge clouds of black smoke because it was flooding over. My tractor does have a huge Tier 4 convertor on it and the fuel may have been getting burnt up by the convertor. The stink from it was definitely diesel smell.

 

[kbsd]

I did re-use the old fuel filter. I do have a few spare new ones that I just purchased. I have ran the tractor for at least 6 hours since that day and have not had any issues since. I wouldn't be surprised it if was a stuck injector. But wouldn't it have been blowing black smoke for unburnt fuel?

It would depend on how open the injector is stuck, it could be barely stuck open when extremely cold. Low fuel pressure can wreak havoc on injectors and pumps and cause a variety of symptoms.

 

[JimR]

Typically that's mostly true. But fuel issues can show in different colors, grey, blue, black and sometimes even a white ish color, at least as far as I have seen. The reason I think he has a fuel issue is due to the rough idle, plus the smoke. And the fact it started after a gelling.

Since the original gelling up issue a month ago my tractor has started up fine and ran fine for the last month without any issues. I have been very prompt on adding anti gelling agent to my gas cans before refilling them with diesel for my tractor. I've put about 14 - 15 hours on my tractor since the original gelling problem.

 

[JimR]

It would depend on how open the injector is stuck, it could be barely stuck open when extremely cold. Low fuel pressure can wreak havoc on injectors and pumps and cause a variety of symptoms.

I wish Winter was just beginning so I could try and duplicate this issue and video tape it. A block heater should cure that problem. Do any of you guys have one on your NX series tractors? If so, is it into the block or a water hose type unit?

 

[kbsd]

If the tractor is still under warranty it would be worth a call to them.

 

[countrybumpkin]

My NX started smoking like that , but it ran smooth, my issue turned out to be a programming issue not regenerating correctly , it was letting the computer dump to much fuel in thinking it was trying to regen , there for over fueling it, this was all dealer fixed under warranty, a year ago, with couple hundred hours now of no issues.

 

[kbsd]

My NX started smoking like that , but it ran smooth, my issue turned out to be a programming issue not regenerating correctly , it was letting the computer dump to much fuel in thinking it was trying to regen , there for over fueling it, this was all dealer fixed under warranty, a year ago, with couple hundred hours now of no issues.

Your issue was the one I have been trying to think of, to use as another possibility.

 

[JimR]

If the tractor is still under warranty it would be worth a call to them.

My tractor has less around 80 hours on it right now and has 5 1/2 years left on the powertrain warranty. I need to find a better dealer before I contact anyone. I do not like my local dealer. He already lied to me once about shipping me a replacement hose under warranty and never did. He doesn't stock hoses and it is only a $46.00 part. Kioti will cover the hose replacement if I bring my tractor to any dealer. Surely it is not worth the time or effort to trailer my tractor 60 miles to have a hose replaced for free. Plus I do not own a big enough trailer for this tractor as of yet, I will shortly.