I have been using my 1845 case skidloader. put 20 hours or so on it last couple weeks. oil level is staying put but I notice I do get some light blue smoke out the exhaust. I believe its a 188 diesel motor. it starts and runs great. suspect it has been overhauled before I got it. just was wondering about the smoke. thought some of you diesel mechanics might give me some input. thanks norm
Theres quite a few things that could cause some light blue smoke. What year is it? How many hours> what model 1845? 1845? 1845B? 1845C?
I think they came out with the 1845C in the late 89's with the Cummins engine so it's probably older than that. The 188 is very common in other Case equipment like backhoes and small dozers. You might check threads in those sections. It's a simple old timey engine and pretty easy to work on. Some parts are getting hard to find. Someone with more knowledge will probably chime in.
its an 1845. early model. the fellow I bought it from new absolutely nothing about mechanics. he had all his work done at a shop. used it to move gravel/dirt. it starts so easy and runs so well that I suspect it has been overhauled. the guy paid a shop 800 bucks to replace wheel bearings. I know case wants couple hundred for the bearings but theres a lot cheaper ones out there. I have a manual for it and it helped me change a bearing /seal in the front left. so far other than the noise factor it works pretty well. it shows 6200 on the meter but like I said I think its been taken care of fairly good. just curious about the blue smoke as it carrys 70 lbs of oil pressure and doesn't seem to burn any. gets up about 1/2 way on temp meter when it 90 degrees outside. thanks norm
Your cheapest test, would be a compression check. If it has good compression, then pull the head and check valve guides and seals...
It could be that it has been just babied around too much, take it out and get it good and hot and run it like a rental. It may just have a glaze on the cylinders and needs a good hard days work.
If you're gonna do a compression test, then have the injectors tested while they're out. If it sounds even and doesn't burn oil, what more do you expect???
I don't know if this is a completely accurate statement or not, but I tell some people that expectations for diesel exhaust were different back in the 1980s. Sometimes they had a little haze to them.
If you can get me the #'s off the injection pump I can tell you whatcha got.. I'd just run/work the snot outta it for an hour or so.. before I started taking it apart..
The environmentalists here, I know there are some hiding in the bushes, might disagree with me but unless this engine is having a problem starting or is going through enough oil during a weeks worth of work to get to the point engine damage from low oil is a concern then I would like Repowerguy says, run it like a rental. In my experience most diesels are happier when worked hard. You want to see a sick mess of an engine put a Detroit diesel in an application where it is working at 10% max horse power! They are the worst but back when we were doing lots of engine rebuild we would run them on the floor using a water barrel for cooling. Most engines would start to wet stack if you were to run them for any length of time, so we only ran long enough to check out for as the Cat dealer here called it "Leaks & Squeaks".
I would run it hard and use it like a rental like the other guys said, for a week or so with fresh fluids. Start off good and level and keep track through the week and look at consumption.
I've got an 1845B with the same engine. Someone commented on this forum once that the 188 was one of the dirtiest running engines they'd ever seen. Was cautioning people not to try to run it inside under any circumstances. On mine, it also starts right up and runs great, but has that haze like you talk about. I've adjusted the valves and replaced the injectors, but still has bad exhaust. The hydraulics are also extremely noisy, whining under load. But, all in all it's a very strong machine and I just can't kill it. Others have commented about the hydraulic noise as well. Greg
We had more than a few 1845's and a couple other machines with that engine, been so long don't recall them being dirty running but back then most diesels were not that clean. Not as bad as running a cold Mack truck with the END707 or 711! Those would make your eyes burn in short order. Think in all the years we had those 188D around only rebuilt one. Most of the 1845's were sold or went to auction because of other problems engines still starting just fine except when below say 40ºF, then you just had to know how to do it.
The noise is sort of obnoxious to say the least but if I keep it reved up it seems to do better. I really do like it though. I had a mustang 1700 for several years. cant say much about other mustangs but it has been a good one for me. I sold it since I had bought the 1845. the 1845 isn't as heavy as the 1700 so it wont do as much work as the 1700 but I just use it mailnly to dig broken up dirt and to lift things. last winter when it was around 35 I started it. fired right up. does have a heater that works. only real problem I know is the linkage on the right side is froze up at the pin under the seat. there are grease zerts for it but don't suspect they were greases much. I did get the left side to take some grease but the right side is a no no. haven't figured out how to get the pins out on the right side so just live with it for now along with the noise
Have an 1845 1975 era, 5000 hours beaten regular by the previous owner. If the battery is up it will start like better than any other diesel I have ever had. We had another case with that engine it was just quick to start. Neither smoke a great deal.