Branson 6530R loss of power and white smoke

[daholub]

I bought a 2006 Branson 6530R about 7 months ago. It worked fine for about 2 months but then it started putting out a lot of white smoke over 2,000 RPM. Some days I can get the revs up to 2,600, but with the white smoke starting at about 2,000. Other days, it will sputter and smoke and not get above 1,000 rpm. It never seems to have a problem starting right up though.

The closest Branson dealer to me is over 100 miles, so I got a mechanic from the Case/IH dealership to come look at it. They thought it might be the injection pump, so they took it off and I had it tested. It turned out being fine and after they installed it, we had the same problems. After that, I started looking at it myself.

The best I can tell, there is no water or diesel in the oil and the oil level has stayed constant as has the coolant level. I pulled the injectors and tested them. They popped at about 2900 psi, had a good spray pattern and no leaks. I did a compression test and all 4 cylinders had about 375 psi (from the Cummins B3.3 manual it shows Min of 275 and Nom of 427). The fuel tanks were drained and new fuel added. I put on a new fuel filter and the air filters are clean. Just to be sure, I removed the intake manifold and it was clear. I replaced the fuel line from the filter to the injector pump because it looked like it may be cracked. So far none of this has helped.

Any suggestions before I have to start digging deeper into the engine?

 

[sikmusicfreak8]

It is fuel for sure and not a blown head gasket?

 

[K5lwq]

Welcome to TBN! I would start with a combustion chamber leak test as your other test seem to be ok.

 

[Roadworthy]

In addition to the combustion chamber leak test you could try a pressure test and leakdown of the cooling system.

 

[daholub]

Ok, I will give those tests a try. Thanks.

 

[LouNY]

Is your engine getting up to temperature?
Is the injector timing correct?
And then as others have mentioned water.

 

[daholub]

The engine gets up to temperature. The mechanics set the timing when they reinstalled the injector pump.

 

[LouNY]

One slim possibility is the air filters,
take out both of them and start her and see what it does with no air filters.
Is that a turbo charged engine?if so what is the boost pressure doing.

 

[Texasmark]

One slim possibility is the air filters,
take out both of them and start her and see what it does with no air filters.
Is that a turbo charged engine?if so what is the boost pressure doing.

Nope, naturally aspired, direct injected, 4 cylinder, 4 stroke, Cummins B 3.3 NA series, early tier 4....no ecu, no def, no regen.....

 

[Texasmark]

Where are you located da? White is water vapor. Water vapor over 2000 RPM and while running after then engine should be warm enough to burn off any "condensation" that may have occurred while the tractor was sitting up should be long gone. Also, if the engine were running too cool, like the thermostat was stuck open, the cooling water should have headed up adequately to stop any condensation.

Any history from the PO on service performed on the tractor. Did you service the radiator fluid since you bought it? What color is the radiator fluid and is it clear? Assume it's 50-50 Prestone Chartreuse green....yes no? What about the fluid in the radiator overflow bottle.......clear, fluid at the proper level in the bottle?

On a leaking head gasket, you'd find bubbles with the radiator cap removed with the engine running and or oil in the radiator fluid and find the radiator loosing fluid.

One problem could be pitting in the cylinder walls caused by the high compression of diesel engines. There is a www explanation of the process. OTR truckers use "ion trap" water filters to combat the situation and JD made a fluid you put in the radiator which I used for years and they no longer market...forget the reason why. That ion problem usually affected sleeved engines more so than solid block like the B series Cummins.

When you pulled the injectors, were the tips all the same color? Did one look like it had had a "steam cleaning bath? Harbor freight sells a relative cheap...considering pricing for engine tear down and all, scope that you can run down the injector hole and have a look at the cylinder and piston head. I'd get one of them and pop all 4 injectors and look at the crown of the piston to see if carbon buildup is identical or there is one or two adjacent cylinders that are steam cleaned.

Next set the RPMs to 2000 and systematically crack the feed lines to the injectors at the injector, one at a time, and see if the engine looses power identically for every injector cracked, and lock the nut back down and see if the RPMs return to where they were or they increase....and seeing if the white smoke has changed.

I'll be looking for your response back.