Oil & Fuel BX2350 Running Rough and Smoking

[CHDinCT]

Just for haha's, I'd ask for a trade in quote on a new one. Maybe for $4K difference, you could get a new unit (and move your loader over to it), and not just a new engine. You could then finance the cash difference vs having to come up with cash for the repair or whole new motor. Not saying they'll trade it out for $4k difference, but worth a shot. How man hours did you say it has, and what condition is it in? And sorry to hear that it's not something simple. Did they think the damage is from running it after it went sideways?

 

[Recoveryhill]

Sorry to read your report. The low compression in that cylinder caused your un-burned fuel, the smoke and carbon build-up.

Here are my thoughts on the repair:

Before teardown dealer should measure top clearance of all three pistons and not just assume that the broken ring is the only issue. That procedure is relatively cheap to perform and could save a ton of grief if you have a bent connecting rod in addition to the damaged ring. On the bright side, perhaps the ring relieved the excess pressure and saved the rod.

Yes, checking the head while it is off is a no brainier.

One would assume they will replace all three sets of piston rings?

One would assume they will carefully check the cylinder walls for scoring from the damaged ring?

Following the rebuild either witness a compression check verifying psi now conforms to factory spec., or at the very least have them test and record pressures on an official service document. This value for each cylinder is your "bill of health" and without it you can only assume your tractor engine is now healthy.

Again, sorry for your trouble!

 

[Recoveryhill]

By the way, I've asked for the exact compression numbers but the mechanic didn't have them in front of him. I'll post them when I get them. One thing that still confuses me is that there was no blowback. If there was no blowback wouldn't that make the ring / piston an unlikely culprit.

Thanks,
John

John, Blowback is a condition, not a measurable value. If you have a broken ring you probably do have "some" blowback but if one expects a stiff wind out of the crank case, he is not going to find it. The volume of air in the combustion chamber on these engines is small and even with repeated air being forced past the rings, it won't be dramatic. Keep in mind that even a minute amount of pressurized combustion air leaking will dramatically lower the pressure and the only thing a diesel has to initiate proper combustion is proper pressure.

Blowback is like he said/she said. Recorded pressure at the top of the piston stroke (and the ability to hold it), is the gold standard of information for a diesel engine.

After the rebuild, if you go that way, run the engine for around 50 hours and send an oil sample to Blackstone Labs for analysis. This will detect any unusual wear in the engine and give you a baseline for another analysis in another year or 100 hours or so.

 

[GA06BX2350]

Recovery Hill,
I did some digging around and found out that my shop had their part time guy working on it. He's the one who gave me the original quote. Great guy, but he's still learning tractors. I told them that I wanted to wait until their full time guy returned before doing anything else. Monday the full time guy walked in the door and within minutes called me with a diagnosis; bent connector rod. You called it, you're good. :thumbsup: Estimated cost ~$950. Yesterday he called me to tell me the piston skirt was broken as well and a valve was bent. Grand total is around $1300-$1400. Owe. I hope to get it back by mid next week. The probable cause is hydro lock. I never should have started it after laying on it's side; lesson learned. Thanks for the suggestion about the oil analysis, I do believe I'll do that. All things said, I hate that this happened, but I've learned a ton. Thanks so much for all your help on this and the great information. You were right from the very beginning. What you've given me will be remembered and passed on.

Chris,
Thanks for your reply. With the repair cost coming in at less than $1500 the trade in scenario probably doesn't make sense.....Still I like the idea as I would love to have something with a backhoe. I might still chat with them when I go pick my tractor up. Great suggestion.

I'll let everyone know the final everything when I get my tractor back.

Thanks again guys! I'll post again soon.

John

 

[GA06BX2350]

I picked her up yesterday. They ended up replacing the connector rod, piston, and valve. Final cost $1197. She's back to running like a champ. Guarantee I'll be tightening that counterweight from now on.

Recoveryhill,
Thanks for all you help.

CHDinCT,
I asked about trading it in. The cost delta was more than I wanted to deal with at the moment.

Thanks again everyone. Have a Merry Christmas!