What should I do?

[Bob Ha]

Cleaned my engine (turbo diesel) and washed the outer filter the other day. It was sunny and about 80 degrees outside. I let the filter dry for several hours and hand tested for dryness before reinstalling. When I started the engine little specs of soot came flying out the exhaust. Apparently the filter was not dry! What should I do and could this cause any harm? I feel stupid enough so please be nice.

 

[JoelD]

Not sure how a damp filter would lead to soot in exhaust?

Did you pull filter back out and take a look?

I don't typically clean my filters I purchase new and throw out old.

Joel

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Maybe the machine is breathing a little better now without all of the crud restricting the air filter. If it were blowing black smoke then I would be more concerned. It does sound like it is running and idling ok right?

 

[Bob Ha]

It started up and ran for a few seconds and died. Started up again and ran fine for about five minutes on its way to the barn. I haven稚 started it since while I'm deciding what to do if anything. I'm guessing it died due to the water getting into the air and fuel mixture but I'm no mechanic so I'm being a little cautious. I'm not positive the moisture came from the filter but that was my conclusion which may be wrong.

 

[Mousefield]

After washing and then drying for several hours in 80 degree weather I just feel there would not be that much moisture in that filter. If you hand checked it for dryness/wetness and it didn't feel wet it must have been reasonably dry, especially given the time frame and heat. It just may be a coincidence that you got the soot.

 

[RoyJackson]

I suggest you pop down to you local dealer and buy a new filter. Without seeing the filter, I'm guessing although the outer part felt dry, it may have still been wet on the inner part.
Anyway you could put it in a microwave (don't do that if there's any metal parts on the filter!!!) or put it in a clothers dryer at no more then a medium setting?
I'm also one who replaces filters unless they're specifically made for cleaning and reuse (like some K&N filters).

I don't think you damaged your engine, but that water may have turned to steam (in the cylinder) and did a bit of cleaning of the head. I've seen this done with gasoline engines, but never a diesel. The mechanic will spray a mist of water through the intake. I doubt there was enough water to hydrolock the engine. Anyway, that would have prevented the second starting. My opinion is if you started it again, it would run longer...or continure to run. But don't do that until you know you have a clean, dry airfilter to install (don't operate that engine without an airfilter!!).

 

[scesnick]

It sounds to me like you got a bit of water down /in the exhaust when you were washing it and then it blew it out when you fired up the tractor. just my 2 cents

 

[RickB]

It sounds to me like you got a bit of water down /in the exhaust when you were washing it and then it blew it out when you fired up the tractor. just my 2 cents

Agreed. We are hearing about two unrelated occurrances.

Take special note that the OP cleaned the OUTER air filter.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

could it have restricted it enough to really richen up your mixture?

let it dry for a day or so/buy a new one and try 'er again....

 

[stevem5215]

It's no big deal. People drive their tractors out in rainstorms. What's the difference ? It's got a cover on the air filter.

Steve

 

[RoyJackson]

It's no big deal. People drive their tractors out in rainstorms. What's the difference ? It's got a cover on the air filter.

Steve

Well, the difference is his tractor wouldn't start initially and when it did, it only ran 5 minutes.
I don't know about your tractor, but both my old 670 Deere and current 790 have the air cleaner intake under the hood. Might get a little misting down the intake, but not the water that would have come from a washed filter.

 

[TripleR]

I am sure will point out my mistake, but how would a restricted air filter cause black "soot" to come out, smoke maybe, but not soot as this takes a while to accumulate.

Two things that happen at the same time are not always related, so I would not be overly concerned. I am sure many of us have ran a little water contaminated fuel through one of ours at one time or another with no adverse effects; how would ingesting a little water from a damp filter be any different? Some may have even run an engine with a restricted filter; again nothing catastrophic.

If I was concerned, I would probably buy a new filter; don't wash mine anway and check the fuel filter to make sure it is clean and then run it.

What am I missing?

 

[flyingcow]

Agreed. We are hearing about two unrelated occurrances.

Take special note that the OP cleaned the OUTER air filter.

It sounds to me like you got a bit of water down /in the exhaust when you were washing it and then it blew it out when you fired up the tractor. just my 2 cents

I'll second this thought.

 

[backdoor]

I'm with the water in the exhaust thinking, too. Could be that some settled in the turbo. That's happened to me before. I wash my outer filter several times before replacing it with a new one. I follow the washing instructions in my owner's manual. I have a precleaner that catches an amazing amount of dust and debris.

I would check the filter to make sure it was not damp enough to be damaged by the air being pulled through.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

i have a lot to learn on diesels but i've put partially wet filters back in atvs and had them choke down to where they'd barely run (run very rich)....so i would assume the same is possible with diesels.....

we've also hit mud holes and flooded the air boxes, having to remove the filter just so we could ride the atv home......

just thought i'd throw it out there....i had black smoke in my mind, not a soot that could settle on to things around it....

is it still doing it?

I am sure will point out my mistake, but how would a restricted air filter cause black "soot" to come out, smoke maybe, but not soot as this takes a while to accumulate.

Two things that happen at the same time are not always related, so I would not be overly concerned. I am sure many of us have ran a little water contaminated fuel through one of ours at one time or another with no adverse effects; how would ingesting a little water from a damp filter be any different? Some may have even run an engine with a restricted filter; again nothing catastrophic.

If I was concerned, I would probably buy a new filter; don't wash mine anway and check the fuel filter to make sure it is clean and then run it.

What am I missing?

 

[Chilly807]

Unless it continues to give you trouble, run it as normal. In fact, the sooner you run the engine the sooner the airflow through the filter will continue to dry it.

Water in the intake of a diesel in SMALL quantities is not a problem. We normally water-wash the compressor side of large turbochargers to remove dirt and salt crystal buildup as a regular maintenance item. The engine is at full power when we do it, and about a litre of water is slowly fed into the turbo inlet.

Chilly

 

[KennK]

Though I'm always embarrassed to admit it, the time that I accidentally put gasoline in my diesel fuel tank it acted exactly as you described. Luckily it smoked, sputtered, and died somewhat quickly and I didn't try to run it until I got it repaired.

A drained fuel system, a new fuel filter, and a replaced fuel injector or two later its running great.