Blue smoke on cold start/cold outside

[liberty2701]

I always used since new an additive. I do not think it is dirty injectors. I used the max dosage for the cetane boost. I am wondering if the boost in cetane helped with combustion on the cold start.

 

[Rebeldad1]

From a practical point of view....
If it were mine and I was concerned I would put the tractor on a trailer and go see the dealer. Pick a COLD day. Have the service writer start up a couple new ones on the lot. If they dont smoke then start yours for him to see. If all of them smoke the same as yours then its not a problem.

 

[powerscol]

Well if it helps any I fired my Bobcat CT 235 up Sunday at 10 degrees without the block heater being on. I fully cycled the glow plugs. I got two puffs of white smoke, one puff of black, then she smoothed out with no smoke. Let it ideal 30 seconds then went to work. Got some black smoke for a bit under load, then as things warmed it went away and all I saw was condensation.

However if it helps, when my truck dropped and injector it smoked like your tractor does at start up.

I agree, take the time to get it back to the dealer, or get a good diesel doc to look at it where it is at..

 

[Coyote machine]

I always used since new an additive. I do not think it is dirty injectors. I used the max dosage for the cetane boost. I am wondering if the boost in cetane helped with combustion on the cold start.

I'm not going to yell as you suggested someone might do at this point 8 pages into us trying to advise you about your tractor. BUT, I am going to ask why are you so reluctant to pursue this with your dealer and get some answers to the problem? Those of us who have worked with diesels look at your video and all conclude the same thing- misfiring cylinder. Whether it be injector related or cylinder issues, glow plug malfunction, it doesn't really matter- it's NOT running right. Adding additive may mask the problem or may clear up a marginal injector- temporarily, BUT it has not and likely will NOT fix the underlying issue on it's own. ONLY you can do that by being directly involved in dealing with your dealer, while under warranty.
And, if you knew enough to diagnose it properly then you would have already done so. You don't. And the recent weather doesn't create true cold start conditions anyway. Take it in, get it diagnosed properly and get it fixed sooner than later under warranty. It won't get better on it's own.

 

[liberty2701]

I'm not going to yell as you suggested someone might do at this point 8 pages into us trying to advise you about your tractor. BUT, I am going to ask why are you so reluctant to pursue this with your dealer and get some answers to the problem? Those of us who have worked with diesels look at your video and all conclude the same thing- misfiring cylinder. Whether it be injector related or cylinder issues, glow plug malfunction, it doesn't really matter- it's NOT running right. Adding additive may mask the problem or may clear up a marginal injector- temporarily, BUT it has not and likely will NOT fix the underlying issue on it's own. ONLY you can do that by being directly involved in dealing with your dealer, while under warranty.
And, if you knew enough to diagnose it properly then you would have already done so. You don't. And the recent weather doesn't create true cold start conditions anyway. Take it in, get it diagnosed properly and get it fixed sooner than later under warranty. It won't get better on it's own.

I agree and thank everyone for the advice. I just discovered something that might be contributing to the smoke. I always had my fuel supplier fill my heating oil tank and my 55 gal fuel drums with #2 heating oil. I investigated into the heating oil sulphur content. In New Hampshire heating oil is Allowed to have up to 4000 ppm of sulphur. New Hampshire has not adopted the new low sulphur rules. Yes, I confirmed this. I am going to run a couple of tanks of Ulsd with an injector cleaner just to ensure this is not the cause. I have more than 2 years of warranty left so plenty of time to address the problem with the dealer. This throws a wrench into the whole argument whether heating oil and diesel are the same. Certainly not in New Hampshire.

 

[Coyote machine]

Well that could be an issue for a tractor meant to run exclusively on ULSD, for sure. Good catch!
the problem I have with the 2 years of remaining warranty is this. A problem like what you're experiencing isn't doing the tractor's internal engine components any good; especially long term. High sulfur content in your fuel is not part of what your engine was meant to run, consequently you are likely gumming up parts like glow plugs and injectors and putting sulfur where it is not intended to be in your system. It's already showing malfunction by evidence of your video.
Yes, switch to off road ULSD diesel immediately, and do NOT tell your dealer what you have been running through the engine to date. And do the injector cleaner too.
I suggest you give us another video after you've run some of both for a number of hours. You could very well have come up with the reason you are 'smokin' Your engine doesn't like high sulfur diesel, and is letting you know that via the smoke it is spewing. It does not have the ability to run correctly on the wrong fuel content.

Good job tracking that down. Keep us apprised of outcome/questions.:thumbsup:

 

[Ford850]

Yikes. Your dealer did tell you it was bad fuel when you took it in before. They drained the system, and I wonder how full they refilled it? If you had a full tank of good fule, and used that for some time, that would explain why the symptoms went away for awhile. As you gradually topped off the tank your sulfur fuel would have eventually caused the problem again.

 

[ritcheyvs]

Interesting development. Good advice from CM. DF2 and home heating oil start out pretty-much the same but ... I don't think sulfur, per se, is the problem. But oil furnaces are much more tolerant of things like trace water, microbes, and other contaminants that will drive a Diesel nuts. "Old" Diesel fuel must be discarded (used for non-Diesel purposes) or "polished" to remove the microbes and other contaminants. For the small quantities we use, just replace old fuel with known, good, fresh stuff. For mega-yachts that hold thousands of gallons, there are special dockside services that super-filter (aka polish) the old fuel in the tanks. That process takes considerable time and is costly (but less costly than replacing all that fuel).

 

[TJP89]

Yikes. Your dealer did tell you it was bad fuel when you took it in before. They drained the system, and I wonder how full they refilled it? If you had a full tank of good fule, and used that for some time, that would explain why the symptoms went away for awhile. As you gradually topped off the tank your sulfur fuel would have eventually caused the problem again.

Nailed it IMO. Otherwise the temporary lack of symptoms can't be explained.

 

[Coyote machine]

I agree, and it would explain why it was there, then not.
It occurs to me that the dealer was actually on the right track from the get go. Wonder what made them conclude the initial, and likely actual problem was bad fuel? Seems they were right on from the beginning....

I must say, I'm surprised that the oil dealer didn't ask what the 55 gallon drums of fuel were being used for? I realize they would not suspect someone would use high sulfur fuel in a newer tractor, but wouldn't most use or ask for off road diesel for farm use?
I'm surprised NH doesn't require ULSD use anyway?!