bobmisi
Silver Member
My Branson 3820 did that when the glow plugs were not working. I checked them and had two that were dead. Replaced them and the problem went away. You might be overthinking the problem, when it's really nothing major.
Branson hard to start, lots of smoke
- Thread starter calbug
- Start date
- Views: 25292
Good catch, and an excellent point. Being a Canuck I'm geographically conditioned to keeping GP's in tip top shape.
Some of the reason I hang out on here, is to remind myself of important stuff that I take for granted.
Rgds, D.
In my experience with the pre super strict emission diesels you can pour in new oil, run it for five minutes and the oil will already be black as coal.
Like others said oil color could be due to crankcase moisture, if you aren't loosing water or making oil. Also the oil test someone mentioned would be a good idea.
As for the white smoke, it can be water or unburnt (raw) fuel. Raw fuel could be from cold combustion when the glow plugs are not functioning properly or a stuck injector dumping fuel into the cylinder.
Aside from Coolant contamination, Fuel Dilution % should be a standard (ie. no extra cost) lab result, when getting crankcase oil tested. That's always in the back of my mind, but forgot to mention it earlier.
Rgds, D.
buickanddeere
Super Member
if it's near or below freezing temps. Plug in the block heater. Is the tractor glow plug or intake heater equipped?
banjodunn
Veteran Member
G'day white smoke on cranking = unburnt fuel due to not enough heat in the cyl to create combustion either due to pre heat of some description not working or loss of compression I know which one I would be looking for first (and it would not be compression:2cents
Jon
Jon
How do I check the glow plugs? The light in dash says they're on. With this colder weather, it could be the plugs.
JimRB
Veteran Member
You remove the wire from each glow plug and measure with a multimeter that reads ohms of resistance. Post back the results of the ohm reading. On my car 3 glow plugs had one value and one was way off. New glow plugs all read the same value. If I remember to use the glow plugs my start up on freezing days results in a much cleaner looking exhaust and smoother running engine at the start.
By the way people are asking about where you live. Georgia is vague. I live in middle Georgia which is lot different from south Georgia by Florida and certainly a lot warmer then up by Blue Ridge, Jasper, Dalton. Glow plugs might not be all that necessary if you live close to Florida but they may be useful if you live close to Tennessee or North Carolina. What is the outside temperature when you are having the starting problems?
Also you did not mention changing and cleaning all fuel filters and screens. At least I did not read that. On my tractor I may have to clean the screen in the tank, clean bowl and change the water separator by the tank and clean the bowl and change the filter by the pump/fuel distributor. Your tractor may not have as many devices to clean and inspect.
By the way people are asking about where you live. Georgia is vague. I live in middle Georgia which is lot different from south Georgia by Florida and certainly a lot warmer then up by Blue Ridge, Jasper, Dalton. Glow plugs might not be all that necessary if you live close to Florida but they may be useful if you live close to Tennessee or North Carolina. What is the outside temperature when you are having the starting problems?
Also you did not mention changing and cleaning all fuel filters and screens. At least I did not read that. On my tractor I may have to clean the screen in the tank, clean bowl and change the water separator by the tank and clean the bowl and change the filter by the pump/fuel distributor. Your tractor may not have as many devices to clean and inspect.
JimRB
Veteran Member
Oops, you said middle/south Georgia. Macon has had some cold enough weather lately that glow plugs might be useful. Again what was the temperature? I also am curious about glow plug resistance. Idiot light for glow plugs means little other than the light bulb lit up. It may not indicate that electricity made it all the way to the glow plugs.
I live near Dublin and we've had some cooler weather lately about the time this hard starting began. I will get over in the next few days to check the plugs. Tractor is at the hunting club. May also change the fuel filter while I'm at it (changed in August). It doesn't have a water seperator that I'm aware of unless it's on the underside and I've missed it somehow. As you can see, I'm not an expert on diesels. From reading on here, I assume the glow plugs are contolled by something with a timer? There's no block heater or preheat switch. I assume glow plugs come on when key is switched on?
