Perkins 3 cyl diesel A3.152 Massey Ferguson 30B Smokes from breather hose

[davidsbar]

Hello there! I am enjoying reading posts and knowledgeable replies.

I have a 1979 Massey Ferguson 30B loader tractor backhoe that I have owned for 24+years.
I have worked on just about everything that can go wrong in that time.
Noticeable issue was excessive smoke from the hose at the top front of the valve cover.
When I bought it, the Perkins A3.152 originally had a blown head gasket. I had the head milled slightly on a Blanchard, and replaced the bad gasket.
All OK for a while. Ran great. Few hours running, same issue with much smoke and oil dripping (puddle on the ground) from the same hose.
Pulled the head again, found rear cylinder sleeve down .006"
Tried a copper head gasket, lasted a while, same end...
Bought a never ran new bare block from a former Massey Dealer, who had been selling parts off the once complete engine.
Took old engine and new block to experienced machine shop. Original engine had broken pistons above the rings.
Tanked, New pistons, rings, bearings etc, polished crank; Original engine had 2600 hours from new.
Ran great! Changed break in oil, ran for about 2 hours or so. Wonderful newfound power. Happy guy. No smoke.
Then ouch... same excessive smoke and dripping oil from front hose.
Not happy guy..
Just pulled the air filter, looks great. Next, I plan on removing the center bolted unit which resides in the air filter to see IF it is plugged...

I would appreciate any ideas, folks.
Only positive about the smoke is that it will keep the mosquitoes away in the summer... (not cool)

Thank you in advance,
Safe travels,
Dave B.

 

[Sportsman762]

I had the smoke from the breather tube also on my 20C. The smoke from the vent is blow by from the engine. This is an indicator that your pistons are not sealing to the cylinder.
When you say that the sleeve was down 0.006" does that mean that the engine sucked the sleeve down? When it did this did it break the lip on the sleeve?

The engine is not broke in with 2 hrs on the clock, it takes time to get the rings to break in and seal up. However it sounds like you have excessive smoke. If the ring end gap was not checked on the piston rings then the ring can expand and break. I would contact the engine shop and have them look into it. If they stand behind their work they will look at it free of charge.

DO NOT RUN WITHOUT AN AIR CLEANER!!! Sorry for yelling, but it is a great way to destroy an engine. If you have blockage in the air system then the indicator gauge on the right of the air cleaner will indicate it. However blocked air cleaner would not cause blow buy it would only affect the exhaust color by over fueling.

 

[TomSeller]

I had the smoke from the breather tube also on my 20C. The smoke from the vent is blow by from the engine. This is an indicator that your pistons are not sealing to the cylinder.
When you say that the sleeve was down 0.006" does that mean that the engine sucked the sleeve down? When it did this did it break the lip on the sleeve?
.

You mean break the lip like this?

 

[Mace Canute]

How did you go about breaking in the rebuilt engine?

 

[davidsbar]

Thanks Sportsman.
On the original engine, the cylinder lip was down .006. I do not know IF the lip was broken, since I found a new block. I was not present at the machine shop when they tore the old engine down for parts. We did not further investigate the lip, but we originally decided that the original block was not fit to use...

I would never run without an air cleaner, thanks. That does make sense that the exhaust color would change IF the air cleaner Was plugged.
Ill comment on the break in period in the next couple of replies down.

Thanks for your ideas! They are appreciated.

 

[davidsbar]

I got a hunch that when I bought it, that it was not in great shape. It knocked hard and was quite noisy.
I bought it from a small time tractor guy. He told me that the local Power Company owned it since new. It started well, and he operated it, lifting the rear end up a couple of feet off the ground with the backhoe bucket flat pushing down on the ground. He shut it down, and said "Great hydraulics!" He drove it onto the trailer. IT never did get to operating temperature. Once I started using it, getting it to operating temperatures and under loads, it's problems showed. My fault for not using it at the dealers. I should have dug a hole or moved some dirt around for 1/2 an hour. I can see why the price was a bit low. Ouch. Dumb kid. ;-(
I did look at the original pistons from the original engine when they tore it down... They had pieces of the pistons broken off above the top ring groove. This on the rear cylinder (with the sleeve lowered) being the worst, combined with a lot of knocking under load probably put a lot of stress on that sleeve...

Thanks for your ideas
Dave B.

 

[davidsbar]

Hello Mace.
The machinist told me what to do. He said do not let it idle. Bring it up to 1,000 rpms at first, and keep varying the speed. He said load would be good for it.
I remember asking him about driving it, while changing the speeds. he said this was good. I dug holes with the backhoe, trying to keep load on it. Always varying the speeds. Over a period of a couple of days, repeated the above.
There was no blowby at this time.
It takes a bit of time to put two hours on the clock...
I remember the machine shop guy talk about changing the oil to remove impurities.
I changed it after 2+ hours on the clock.
I went to Delvac 1300 diesel oil. and that is what it still there. I did change it in the fall, but didn't put much time on the machine.
It doesnt get much use...
The Smoking Started when I put the Delvac 1300 in it....... Not happy.
Was this my problem? Wrong oil?
Thanks for your help,
Dave B.

 

[Mace Canute]

Sounds like you did the break in about as well as possible so that shouldn't be related to your problem. You said "The Smoking Started when I put the Delvac 1300 in it". It certainly would be strange if the oil was the problem...I think it's just a coincidence. It's a lot of messing around but you could change out the oil back to what you had in it. If you do, be super diligent to prevent any containments from falling into the oil when you drain it and you can save it and reuse it.

I really think you should warm the engine up and take an oil sample and get an Oil Analysis done on it just to see exactly what's in it regardless of anything else you might do and as Sportsman762 said...contact the engine shop and have them look into it too.

 

[TomSeller]

I did look at the original pistons from the original engine when they tore it down... They had pieces of the pistons broken off above the top ring groove. This on the rear cylinder (with the sleeve lowered) being the worst, combined with a lot of knocking under load probably put a lot of stress on that sleeve....

You mean pieces like this from one of my AD3.152s?

 

[davidsbar]

Thanks Mace and right on, Sportsman762, I am in contact with the machine shop. We have talked on the phone and I have been up there twice...

They are reputable, and he is interested in my problem.
I will see what I can do on my end first, then go from there with the shop.

Any suggestions on where to send out for an oil sample? Never done that...

I have thought about changing out the oil back to the original brand of break in oil also. I will do that.
Thank you!

What are your thoughts on the idea that it takes a long time to really 'break in an engine'?
Is there any hope that things will work out just working the engine hard and trying to get the rings to seat better?
Or are the cylinder walls probably glazed over?
From the rebuild, it has only less that ten hours on it...

I appreciate your help.
Dave B.