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Pete S
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2001-04-25          27237


How much blue smoke is common/not common on a 1920 NH with 1150 hrs. I am new to diesel tractors and need to know. Please respond.



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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2001-04-25          27238


It depends on on what the tractor is doing/not doing..... seriously though it depends on ambient temp., engine temp., etc., etc. Best of luck. ....


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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2001-04-26          27256


I may sound like an interior decorator, but trouble-shooting guides describe diesel engine problem exhaust as white, light gray or black. Blue just isn't in the colour scheme. Black usually is air restriction, white usually is excess/wrong engine oil or injector/engine timing and light gray can be a bunch of things from engine temperature to fuel system problems. Some gray smoke is normal at startup until the engine comes up to operating temperature. A little gray puff is normal at acceleration is normal for some engines. White and black exhausts are not normal, and appreciable persistent gray smoke also isn't normal. A diesel shouldn't need much engine work at 1150 hours. However, maintenance specs for my Ford 1710 call for valve clearances to be set and the injector spray patterns checked at 600 hours. I'm at 600 hours, and I had the valve clearances set. The dealer said that he really didn't think it's a good idea to take out the injectors until around 2000 hours just to do a pattern test, unless it smoked. My 1710 was puffing a bit before the valves were set. I also replaced the thermostat because the engine wasn't coming up to temperature. It doesn't puff much anymore. If it's a new used machine for you, I'd change all filters and oil, irrespective of the hour meter, unless you're sure of their condition. Also check the tightness bolts in general--wheel lugs and loader frames are especially important to check. Second day after I got my 1710, the steering drag link fell off. Seems like somebody didn't understand that the nut on a steering knuckle can't just be tightened, because the centre just turns around. Good thing I was going slow, with no load and had bar that locks the two brake pedals together off. And then, it took me awhile to get the hang of the loader. It was much easier after I figured out the bucket dump hoses were connected to the control valve with the float circuit. I don't remember actually trying, but it would have been frustrating trying to scoop up a bucket of gravel with a bucket in float. Anyway, what I'm saying is that former owners do some strange things. They also tend to stop doing much maintenance when they're thinking about trading a tractor. ....


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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2001-04-27          27300


I hate to be the guy to mention it but, here goes anyway, the only thing that makes blue smoke is oil. Now before you jump to conclusions, oil burning in a tractor does NOT always mean worn out engine, in fact it is usually not the case with a tractor which has not worked hard. In these cases it is merely sticky rings due to excessive carbon build-up from idling or 'stop and go' short tasks where it never properly warms up. Usually an intensive cleaning program will do a lot to fixing the problem, try some Rislone or the like. Best of luck. ....


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Roger L.
Join Date: Jun 1999
Posts: 0
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2001-04-27          27307


I'll second what Murf is saying here. Blue means oil, and like Murf I've also seen it come from other sources than the traditional worn bores. Besides the carbon, a rocker shaft that is over-oiling and/or not draining the area around the valve guides is one possibility. Another is a clogged breather. I've also seen it with timed breathers which had sheared and no longer venting the crankcase properly. Also be sure to check the engine oil. It isn't unknown for fuel to leak into the crankcase and raise the level till it smokes. As for Rislone, I have seen it work. It fixed a stuck lifter for me once and never had it cause a bit of trouble. From me that is high praise for a chemical mechanic. ....


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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2001-04-28          27316


Roger/Murf: Like you, I've always associated blue smoke with oil burning--at least in gas engines, which I know better. Never the less, the trouble-shooting sections in my 1710 repair manual do not mention blue exhaust. There are two sections, one for the engine and one for the fuel system. Neither section mentions blue exhaust. White exhaust is associated with excessive or wrong weight oil. I thought it a bit odd, but there it was. For all I know, oil burning in diesels doesn’t produce the familiar blue oil smoke because the fuel is closer to oil than gasoline. I don't have an explanation for my factory manual, and I’ve also never seen a diesel producing blue smoke. There’s a chance that I’ve just never seen a diesel in poor condition, but if I'm put in the position of believing you guys or the manual, I'll believe you. Besides, I can't pass the time of day with the manual, and I learn more here anyway. But I still wonder if somebody who thought they might have an oil burner could describe light gray as blue. I’ll second everything said about oil burners, and note that I’ve had a Honda 350 start smoking and then stop—apparently due to a stuck or stacked rings. My ’65 Econoline started a bunch of smoking. Some mid-60’s engines used rubber boots over the ends of the valve guides to prevent oil from being drawn down the guides—they probably contributed to excessive valve guide wear as well. These boots tended to crack and fall off around 70,000 miles. Nothing else may be wrong with such an engine, and compression checks may be OK. I replaced several sets of these boots for fellow students whose vans couldn’t pass emission tests and didn’t have the money for engine work. I did the engine work on mine. So, excessive rocker arm oiling is a possibility, but I wouldn’t know how to describe what is excessive beyond ‘not a lot.’ ....


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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2001-04-28          27318


I had a 'wait a minute' thought as I was out throwing sticks for the dog. The 'oil down the valve guide' thing is mostly a gas engine issue since diesels have much lower intake manifold vacuum pressures than gas engines. Could happen with a lot of oil going to the rocker arm shaft, or if drainage back the crankcase is blocked. It is possible for the oil tube going to the shaft to become disconnected, or a plug at the other end of the shaft to come off. However, I don't know if even full flow from the feed line into the rocker arm area would pool enough oil to make a lot of smoke unless the return was blocked. It's probably worth looking and also checking if the oil pressure low. However, it can take several minutes for oil to reach the rocker arms in some engines, so nothing may happen immediately. A blocked breather seems a better bet. My 1/2 ton took to blowing out a liter ever 200 highway miles or less--but only sometimes. The PVC stuff was OK, and I never figured it out. The engine had around 100,000 on it so I just had a rebuild done. I still think there's a better chance that the problem on an 1150-hour engine is pump or engine timing. I guess I could have simplified things originally by just asking if it's really blue. But then I wouldn't have had to think through the problem and I wouldn't have learned much. One thing I don't have to guess about is this Board. Far as I'm concerned, it's the best by far for compacts--a least for subjects I'm interested in. Good resources here and there's also not a great deal I'm not interested in. Well, I guess I am just as happy others are interested in price comparisons. I start getting cranky every time I have to do an exchange rate calculation. ....


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Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2001-04-28          27323


I just figured I had to put in some more on this one. Murf and Roger have done well but white smoke does happen with leaky head gaskets, leaky injector sockets and cracked heads. Blue smoke can be caused by poor fuel mixes just thinking of the time of year. It also can mean oil consumption, this can start from cylinder glazing from running the engine cold. This problem is really elusive as the base will fill from the unburnt fuel coming down the cylinders. ....


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sdprus
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 1 Parma,MI
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2004-09-07          95857


Blue smoke coming from a diesel usually means there is water in the fuel. ....


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