IDLING DIESELS

[bkc]

I HAVE NOTICED THAT IF I LET MY TRACTOR IDLE IT SEEMS TO "LOAD UP".WHEN I GOTO TAKE OFF WHITE SMOKE COMES OUT OF THE EXAUST AND IT WILL SPIT AND POP.IF IRUN IT DOWN THE DRIVE WAY OR JUST SHUT IT OFF LET IT SIT FOR A FEW MINNITS IT SEEMS FINE. I THOUGHT DIESELS WERE MENT TO RUN. SHOULD I NOT LET IT IDLE?

 

[dieselsmoke1]

Never heard that idling was "bad" for a diesel. May get a puff of black smoke or extra rattle when tached up, but that's about it. Not unusual to see one idle all day on the farm.

 

[jwcinpk]

Sounds more like bad fuel than a problem with the fuel system. Deisels idling don't present a problem they just burn fuel.

 

[Phil_R]

Engine is "wet stacking"... cooling of cylinder wall causing fuel to condense, and/or a bit of carbon building up on injector disrupting fuel pattern.

A higher idle-speed may help... diesel engines are meant to work. (70% load is about ideal) Wet Stacking usually occurs at less than 40% load. (Some engines are more prone to wet stacking than others... )

Wet stacking is not good for an engine, better to "shut it down" than idle long enough for wet stacking to occur.

 

[Charlie_in_TX]

My 2615 owners manual says to not let it idle bellow 1500 rpms for extended periods of time. It says the warm up and cool down should be done at or above this speed. Warm/cool only takes a couple minutes.

 

[bkc]

I DIDN'T THINK IDELING WAS BAD THATS WHAT'S CONFUSING ME A LITTLE. WHEN I SAY IDELING I MEAN ONLY LIKE 5 MIN.,LONG ENOUGH TO HOOK A CHAIN TO FEL OR HOP OFF TRACTOR TO STACK WHATEVER IN THE BUCKET. MAYBE I HAVE SOME BAD FUEL. WOULD RUNNING DIESEL FUEL TREATMENT BE BAD FOR ENGINE IF IT DOSEN'T REALLY NEED IT? ALSO IT "LOADS UP" IF IM JUST PUTTING AROUND. -READ NO LOAD ON ENGINE- SHOULD I TRY TO USE A DIFFERENT GEAR TO LOAD THE ENGINE?
I DONT WANT TO SOUND LIKE IM CONPLAINING I LOVE THE TRACTOR. JUST A LITTLE ISSUE I WOULD LIKE TO RESOLVE.
THANKS AGAIN

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

1st Where in western NY are you? 2nd Are you maybe running off road fuel?

Galen LaWall
Your Mahindra Tractor Dealer
Batavia NY 14020
585-343-0770

 

[BamaRob]

Just curious... Why would the diesel being "off road" make any difference in how the engine performs? Off road fuel, at least to my knowledge, is just "on road" diesel with dye added. Is this not correct? Am I damaging my engine because I don't pay the higher taxes for "on road" diesel?

I can say that I see a lots of variation in the "purity" (for lack of a better term) in the off road diesel that I buy. One place I buy doesn't sell a whole lot and it (apparently) sits in their tanks for a while (it shows when filtered through my Mr. Filter(R)). Another place I buy it services lots of logging companies that buy lots of fuel for their skidders and such on a daily basis. The fuel I get there appears to be "fresher" and cleaner.

BR

 

[3RRL]

I would suspect you've got a lot of moisture....bad fuel in there. Your diesel should idle at least long enough to switch chains etc without doing that. I've noticed "white" smoke may indicate a "lean" injector pump setting, vs "black" when too rich.
Putiing in a diesel additive should not harm the engine. Try a little Power Service in recommended dosage. That may help if the fuel is bad.
Also noticed your "Caps Lock" is stuck?

 

[hudr]

We used to always let our tractors idle through lunch, planter reloads, etc. On our bigger JDs (100+hp) we tried to always set them just above idle. Otherwise they would "slobber". Price of fuel these days we tend to shut them down if its going to be more than a few minutes.