John Deere 3320 smokes blue on start-up

[jdjllee]

This new tractor with 80 hrs smokes blue for short period on start-up.
Then starts and runs fine all day. Next day starts and smokes blue. Smokes about 30 seconds. What gives? Tractor at dealer now. No verdict yet. Counter man said he thought it might be characteristic of Yanmar TNV88 diesel engine. I said NO SIR. Blue smoke= oil in chamber. Anybody seen same?

 

[Mech]

My JD 790 has always smoked on a cold start. Mostly white smoke. If I plug in the block heater it doesn't smoke. Is this something that just started happening since it has gotten cold? The 790 is a yanmar engine and Yanmar designed tractor.

 

[WH401]

Sounds like your on to cold starts now with it. As long as it's not smoking enough to fog out the area, then its just normal. If it were a problem with rings or the engine, it would smoke the whole time you used it. It's just doing its now because it's cold. My 3320 does the same thing on a cold start but only for about 5 seconds. All three of my diesel vehicles, a 92' and 06' Dodge and Ford Excursion, will do it on a real real cold morning, but only for the first few minutes their running.

 

[nmu98]

My 3720 does it also. Its not oil, but not fully combusted diesel. All my tractors do that except my IH404. Its a gasser

 

[jdjllee]

I'm in mid Georgia area. I grew up in New York State. To me, cold doesn't really exist down here in Georgia, LOL. I'd say this blue smoke has just started showing up in the last few weeks or so and it has gotten a bit colder here. I'd say the starts I'm talking about are mid morning in the 50's. I don't know. Black smoke, white smoke, grey smoke, I might not be concerned.
Blue smoke bothers me. I wanted to go on record with the dealer on this so
if it turns for the worse, I'm on file with them. We'll see what the dealer and JD rep say about it. I'll start taking notes and tracking it for oil consumption. Anyone know what normal oil consumption to expect? On a side note, I own a 1990 JD 322 lawn and garden tractor with a Yanmar gas (3 cylinder, water cooled) engine. 700 hrs on it and it never smokes blue, cold or not. It does not use oil to speak of. It's a similar design. I think Yanmar made both diesel and gas versions of this.

 

[nmu98]

I'm in mid Georgia area. I grew up in New York State. To me, cold doesn't really exist down here in Georgia, LOL. I'd say this blue smoke has just started showing up in the last few weeks or so and it has gotten a bit colder here. I'd say the starts I'm talking about are mid morning in the 50's. I don't know. Black smoke, white smoke, grey smoke, I might not be concerned.
Blue smoke bothers me. I wanted to go on record with the dealer on this so
if it turns for the worse, I'm on file with them. We'll see what the dealer and JD rep say about it. I'll start taking notes and tracking it for oil consumption. Anyone know what normal oil consumption to expect? On a side note, I own a 1990 JD 322 lawn and garden tractor with a Yanmar gas (3 cylinder, water cooled) engine. 700 hrs on it and it never smokes blue, cold or not. It does not use oil to speak of. It's a similar design. I think Yanmar made both diesel and gas versions of this.

You cannot compare your gas engine to your diesel. Diesel does not combest well on a cold started motor. Cold could be 60 degrees. Diesels have glow plugs or heaters to help them start. You are getting blue smoke from the unburt diesel due to the lack of combustion temp.... Normal.

 

[tomd999]

Hiya,

Oh man, no wonder all my Diesels smoke, there's fuel oil in the combustion chambers....... OK all kidding aside, It's engine temperature.

All Diesels depend on heat from the compression stroke to provide heat to burn the fuel as it's injected into the combustion chamber. When the engine is first started, all the components, (Piston, head, block, intake, etc.) are the same temp as the surrounding air. as the piston begins to compression stroke, the air is compressed and begins to heat, however, the cold components act as heat sinks chilling the air, when the fuel is injected, the now chilled air does not provide enough heat to fully combust the fuel. What burns is the "light" parts of the fuel, leaving the "heavier" oilier parts partially burnt. These heavier parts of the fuel cause the smoke your seeing. You will notice along with the smoke is a strong "smoking candle" smell, this is caused by paraffin contained in the fuel that is partially burnt because of lack of heat.

What you can do to reduce this smoking is either use a block heater to warm the engine before you start it. (easier on the tractor, not on your electric bill) or buy a cetain booster additive. The higher the cetain # or the fuel, the easier and smoother it combusts and with that, less smoke on start up and more BTU's released in the combustion chamber and not going out the exhaust pipe as either soot or unburnt fuel.

Now, another thing to keep in mind is that not all the unburnt fuel is going out the exhaust, some is getting blown past the rings. Engines no matter what make, fuel or vintage, have the most blow-by when they are cold. This blow-by contains various stuff that you really don't want swimming in your engine oil. So, what I have seen as the recommendations to minimize this is to lightly load the engine 30-60 seconds after startup to try to heat the cylinders quicker than just letting it idle for 5 minutes. That being said, running the engine with a small bit of throttle while driving out of the barn easily is better for you and the tractor as it gets up to operating temp quicker.

OK, as always, my 2 cents,

Tom

 

[kennyd]

jdjllee, is this the first diesel engine you have owned?

 

[abrannan19]

yep...as said above..

blue smoke is raw diesel..nothing to worry about.

 

[nate_m]

Hiya,

Oh man, no wonder all my Diesels smoke, there's fuel oil in the combustion chambers....... OK all kidding aside, It's engine temperature.

All Diesels depend on heat from the compression stroke to provide heat to burn the fuel as it's injected into the combustion chamber. When the engine is first started, all the components, (Piston, head, block, intake, etc.) are the same temp as the surrounding air. as the piston begins to compression stroke, the air is compressed and begins to heat, however, the cold components act as heat sinks chilling the air, when the fuel is injected, the now chilled air does not provide enough heat to fully combust the fuel. What burns is the "light" parts of the fuel, leaving the "heavier" oilier parts partially burnt. These heavier parts of the fuel cause the smoke your seeing. You will notice along with the smoke is a strong "smoking candle" smell, this is caused by paraffin contained in the fuel that is partially burnt because of lack of heat.

What you can do to reduce this smoking is either use a block heater to warm the engine before you start it. (easier on the tractor, not on your electric bill) or buy a cetain booster additive. The higher the cetain # or the fuel, the easier and smoother it combusts and with that, less smoke on start up and more BTU's released in the combustion chamber and not going out the exhaust pipe as either soot or unburnt fuel.

Now, another thing to keep in mind is that not all the unburnt fuel is going out the exhaust, some is getting blown past the rings. Engines no matter what make, fuel or vintage, have the most blow-by when they are cold. This blow-by contains various stuff that you really don't want swimming in your engine oil. So, what I have seen as the recommendations to minimize this is to lightly load the engine 30-60 seconds after startup to try to heat the cylinders quicker than just letting it idle for 5 minutes. That being said, running the engine with a small bit of throttle while driving out of the barn easily is better for you and the tractor as it gets up to operating temp quicker.

OK, as always, my 2 cents,

Tom

Very well said, Tom.

Thanks for taking the time to give some schoolin.