Gradual worsening white exhaust smoke

[sweettractors]

To me white smoke sounds like a head gasket. If it is a head gasket, and it goes too long, you might warp the heads.

I agree. This sure sounds like water getting into the combustion chamber. You will not see that leak from the outside. I ran a tractor too long and the leak in the blowed gasket cut a groove between cylinders. That is a bad deal to repair. Ken Sweet

 

[xmariner]

Is there any way to verify a head gasket leak other than pulling the head?

 

[JRobyn]

Compression check. Value of the two adjacent cylinders (if there is a leak) will be significantly lower than the others.

 

[sweettractors]

Is there any way to verify a head gasket leak other than pulling the head?

If the tractor has antifreeze in the radiator, I can smell that in the exhaust. Ken Sweet

 

[Redneck in training]

You might also see bubbles in the radiator.

 

[Farmerford]

Xmariner:

If it is a head gasket that is allowing coolant to leak into a cylinder, and if the leakage is enough to produce constant white smoke, you should notice a substantial coolant loss in an hour or two of operation, and perhaps even less time.

In addition, if you have a bad head gasket in most cases when you stop the engine, so there is no combustion pressure to keep the water out of the cylinder, the pressure in the radiatior will force quite a bit of water into the cylinder. When the engine is first started there will be very heavy white smoke for a few seconds as the accumulated water is vaporized.

Try this. Loosen the radiator cap the first notch so that the cooling system does not build up pressure. Then run the engine for a few minutes. If it smokes less that will be a sign of a bad head gasket.

Another test: stop the tractor with the front end up hill, preferably a steep one. Run the engine with the radiator cap off and observe the water in the upper radiator tank. If it has bubbles or seems to be boiling that is also a strong sign of a bad head gasket.


Ken Sweet is correct; the combustion gases seeping by a bad head gasket will ultimately erode the surface of the block and/or head. I confess to having run a John Deere crawler with a small leak for a couple hundred hours without damaging anything, but it was not worked very hard and the leak was very small.

I am not familiar with your engine, but I assume it is not of wet cylinder sleeve design. That opens up another set of possibilities: perforated sleeves due to cavitation or corrosion, etc.

I am also assuming no cracked or warped block or head due to overheating.

 

[DK35vince]

Raw/unburned fuel can also cause white smoke.

 

[MHarryE]

NAPA used to supply a tester that can detect hydrocarbons in the coolant. Used that when we had a rash of blown head gaskets. FIP timing might also be off.

 

[xmariner]

Once again I thank you all for responding.

I think I need to maybe clarify the timeframe of this ongoing problem. I purchased the tractor from a dealer a little over 3 yrs ago and for the first 1 1/2 yrs or so the tractor would belch black smoke when a load was put on it (which I didn't think was abnormal). Then it gradually started exhausting white smoke getting progressively worse in the last 1 1/2 yrs. or so.

The tractor is garaged so any sizable leaks are readily noticed. It has taken me 3+ years to put on 310 hrs. As I mentioned above there has been no loss of power. And there is no evidence of water/coolant in the oil nor has there been any signicant loss of coolant over the past 3 yrs. The tractor starts flawlessly whether cold or hot. Kinda sounds like I'm trying shape the problem.

I added diesel injector cleaner today but it'll probably take some time to run enough fuel through to see if it makes an impact.

I'm leaning toward fuel injection as being the cause. Another side note is that idling between 1100 & 1350ish rpm is fairly rough - didn't use to be.

Having said all this, I am going to try FarmerFord's recommendations to hopefully rule out a blown head gasket.

More to come!

 

[Farmerford]

Xmariner: The additional details (particularly no coolant loss) make me suspect dirty injectors rather than a head gasket, but it makes sense to rule it out.

Way back when I had a couple of Mercedes Benz 1970's diesels, the injectors would get dirty a couple of times per year, particularly if most of the driving was at low speeds. You could hear the "tick" of poor combustion before the white smoke started. MB recommended Red Line 85 diesel injector cleaner, and it really worked. You could tell because the clicking would stop after a tankful or so with the cleaner added.

If the cleaner you bought does not help, I recommend a bottle of Red Line based on my (long ago) experience.