White Smoke from exhaust?

[sandman2234]

A friend of mine told me his tractor was smoking white smoke. I went by there and it was smoking, but a light bluish smoke. Not really white, more of a very light blue. Usually if you have water going into a combustion chamber, the smoke is very, very white. I mean like what I am typing on type of white. If it has a tinge of blue to it, it may not be coolant in the chambers, but oil.
David from jax

 

[DieselPower]

Blue smoke usually indicates oil. White smoke can be either water vapor or fuel vapor. A non firing cylinder will make white smoke and usually if you hold your hand over the exhaust stream it will get covered in fuel.

 

[FireKraKer]

Thanks everyone....as you might have guessed I am no mechanic....

If you get shot in Iraq, I am your man. But working on a tractor, not me.

Anyway....I went home last night and did complete service on the tractor.

Changed all filters: oil, hydraulic, fuel, air
Changed a fluids: oil, hydraulic, radiator, axle oil

Started it back up and purred like a kitten with no smoke. I was suprised to find out that my front axle oil was non existant. Appparently they never put any in???

 

[john_bud]

FireKraKer,

I think you will be OK. Best guess is that you pumped oil into the exhaust manifold and probably into the muffler as well. You also got REAL LUCKY. You could have damaged the engine severely. Oh well, now you know! Always pull the glow plugs and crank to blow out the oil that got past the rings. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, let it stand upright for 24 hours.

The axle oil could have drained out of the vent when it was over.

jb

 

[dtd24]

no to make light of this subject because I really feel for you. I'm glad you did not get hurt.

But John Bud said:

If you don't feel comfortable doing that, let it stand upright for 24 hours.

Pretty much want to leave it upright from here on in!!!

Srry man!

 

[RobJ]

Blue smoke usually indicates oil. White smoke can be either water vapor or fuel vapor. A non firing cylinder will make white smoke and usually if you hold your hand over the exhaust stream it will get covered in fuel.

100% correct here.


I think a lesson learned is if you roll your tractor don't be in such a hurry to start it. You should take it to a shop or if you can pull the injectors and turn it over first. If you ran it with water in the cylinder then the damage is done and possibly shortened the engine life...at least for that one cylinder.

Be Careful!!

Rob

 

[VA Rebel]

how did you turn it on its side anyway

 

[FireKraKer]

I was heading back to the house and it was dark. Long story short, I forgot where a hill was on my land and before I knew it I was sideways on it tipping over. LOL on the upright comment. Noted, I will keep it that way!!!

 

[Knotbored]

When I was a teen a half-century ago all our cars smoked LOL.
Black smoke was fuel problem
Blue/grey smoke was oil problem
White smoke was water problem
Each color also had a distinct odor. We could usually tell who was arriving by the smell-
Those were the days-------

 

[Yankee Clipper]

Kraker,

I hate to be the one to tell you but likely you bent a rod when you cranked the engine too soon after the tractor was laid over. The liquid on top would not compress but the rod could bend. White smoke in a Diesel indicates timing or lack of complete combustion, which is what you have if the piston is not coming to TDC.

To isolate this, start the tractor and with the engine idling, take a wrench and break the fitting to the nozzle - one cylinder at a time - like grounding a plug on a gas engine. The RPM at the dead or bad hole will not change. This will allow you to isolate the cylinder is not firing right - and likely you will find only one cylinder not firing as it should.

The easiest way is see if it is not coming to TDC is with a compression test. I am guessing you won't have the adapter so you can pull the nozzle of the suspected low hole (pull the other cylinders as well to make it easier) and use a long (6-8') piece of solder to determine top clearance. You want to position the tip of the solder so it will be under the head and hit the top of the piston when you roll it over. Roll the engine over by hand and the solder should be flattened out. If the tip looks untouched that cylinder is not coming to TDC.

This failure is common with people running their engines when washing them as well. It doesn't take much water to do this, either. They shut them down and then the engine won't restart or it starts but smokes and lacks power.

Anyhow, the last option is to call the dealer and have him run a compression test if all this sounds like too much.

I hope I am wrong, but I have seen it before. Next time, let the tractor sit or pull the nozzles and crank it over for a few rounds to blow the liquid out before starting.

Good luck