Hello- I picked up this mini excavator this week and it's smoking a bit more than I'd like to see. It seems to start and run well. Here's a video of it running. I did drain the water separator before running it here and I think that's why it' running rough in the beginning while I'm driving out of the shed, however this is only the 4th time I've started it since I picked it up, so maybe not. The other few times I've let it warm up a bit before starting out and this time I started and almost immediately started moving it. https://youtu.be/RJ2_aAOB8MA It has 2700 hours. So far I haven't noticed any change in levels or appearance of the oil or coolant. I pulled the oil cap off the valve cover while it was running and smoking, and there was no visible smoke or noticeable pressure from there. I ran it for about an hour in this video. Engine temp stayed in the normal range on the gauge and using my no contact infra red, the head was running about 175-180 degrees. Anyone have any thoughts on what would be causing the smoke? I think it looks white which would seem to indicate something with fuel injection or a head gasket, although another person I had look at it thought it looked blueish and could be oil burning. I have only run the machine for 1 hour so far, and this was my first time running an excavator, so obviously I need more practice. What control style would be better to learn? It has deere backhoe format I believe and iso excavator.
Try some fuel treatment. I have a Hitachi ZX27U which is the same machine and it tends to want to smoke some after setting a while . Diesel treatment such as HOWES cleans it up just fine. I don`t notice this with my other equipment as much as I do with the little IZUZU engine in this machine. Hope this helps. My machine has been Great.
Hasn't seemed to help, but I've only run it about 15 minutes so far with the fuel treatment. It does run rough when it's cold. Definitely likes to warm up at 1/2 throttle for 5 minutes or so before moving. I have sent in an oil sample to see if that tells me anything. I'm thinking that the injectors may be getting wore and not atomizing the fuel enough. The smoke does smell like raw diesel, and if you walk through it, you smell like diesel for hours after.
Googled the problem I see several good articles on Diesel engine smoke from a Google search. One of my JD tractors has white smoke at startup which led me to the search. Note the comment about how to determine if one of the injectors is bad. Note from the reference below the various potential causes of white smoke continuing after startup. http://www.agriculture.com/machinery/tractors/reading-smoke-signals_198-ar15040 Sounds like you are on the right track with your ideas. Let us know what resolves the issue.
Oil analyse showed slightly elevated aluminum, trace of fuel dilution and high levels of sodium. They also said it had 5w30 gasoline engine oil in it, which could be the source of the sodium. I'm going to run it as is for a while on the new oil change and keep and eye on coolant and oil levels. Next I will test for air getting in the fuel lines and then pull injectors and have those tested and check compression at the same time.
If you have an "old fashioned" /standard? pump line injector fuel system, then it's easy to loosen one line at a time at the injector to see if one cylinder is dead or if they all react the same. You definitely want to fix it if there is an injector leaking or some other problem that's causing one cylinder to misfire. Take your temperature gun and take the temps of the exhaust manifold as it warms up, and after running it hard for a while. Post back if one is significantly hotter or cooler than the rest. The end of the manifold in the airflow will be cooler naturally. That didn't sound very smooth to me, but I'm not there listening to it in person. One possibility if all the cylinders make about the same difference when disconnected, is that the fuel is too old and gummed stuff up a little, and just doesn't burn as well as fresh fuel. Very easy to happen if some biodiesel got in there (MN is all 2% bio right?) and/or it sat for a while unused, or not used enough to burn up the old fuel and get it replaced with new. If you're not planning to use up the tank of fuel, you might want to drain it and start with fresh fuel. Even then it could take hours of hard running to clear up and run right. If that much smoke was being caused by coolant, then you'd smell like a candy factory, not diesel. Definitely keep an eye on the oil and coolant, but the coolant would show up missing if that much was being burned.
Ok, I cracked each injection line and the issue is definitely coming from the 3rd cylinder. When I open the line on that one the smoking stops. I assume this rules out blown head gasket and coolant being the issue and leaves the injector, injection pump, or compression on that cylinder. My brother had me disconnect all 3 lines and turn it over thinking that a cylinder with low compression would sound different when cranking. Here's a video of that. They all sound pretty even to me, but I guess I'm not sure what I'm listening for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHja4mQoYRw If that shows compression is good, then I'm down to the injector or injection pump on that cylinder, however since it's getting fuel in the cylinder (since it smokes), that would seem to indicate it's the injector. Thoughts?
Sounds like you are on the rite track other then compression test by sound would do 2 things first get the car engine oil out of the engine , and second instead of just having one injector tested and repaired or replaced take all of them in good fuel shops dont charge much for testing and repairing one injector prolly wont hurt bad either .
That compression test sounds good to me. A RRRR, RRRR, rr, RRRR, RRRR, rr would be a failing test result Don't use that test on a two cylinder, they're not 180 apart so the results are more difficult to interpurt. If the compression was bad enough to cause that smoking then it would be coming out noticeably, either through the crankcase vent or hissing into the intake or exhaust. You could take the bad cylinder's injector out and if it looks fine, take another one out and swap them to see if the dead cylinder goes with the injector or stays put. Or just get the one tested. Or leave it alone and run it for a couple hours with new fuel and additive to see if it unsticks.
I have pulled all 3 injectors and am taking them in to be tested/serviced. The #3 did have a bad o-ring that appeared that it tore on initial install. I think that o-ring only keeps out debris from the hole, but with it bunched beside the injector not in the groove, it may have caused it not to seat properly. Not sure if that would cause the problems. Hopefully having the injectors serviced will fix it. If not, that will only leave the injection pump for that cylinder (expensive).
All 3 injectors pop tested OK with decent spray patterns. Going to reinstall in different cylinders. If the issues stays on 3, I will switch 2 injection pumps to see if it's the pump.
Bummer. While you have the injectors out, do a compression test, or at least blow compressed air into the cylinder at TDC and see where it leaks out, intake exhaust or crankcase. Check the valve tappet clearance while you're at it.
I did not with the injectors out, but I picked up a compression tester today since switching pumps seemed like it would be a pain and it's pretty easy to pull the glow plugs. Unfortunately, it is low on 3. So, do I just run it as is or dig into it more. I'll probably only put a couple hours a year on this.
blow compressed air into the cylinder at TDC and see where it leaks out, intake exhaust or crankcase. Check the valve tappet clearance while you're at it.
I'm probably going to wait till next spring to work on it any more. Can the valve tappet clearance cause low compression? Would that be what the manual just calls "valve clearance and adjustment"
Yes And you can check for sticking valves when you check the clearance. Roll the engine over and see if the tappet is ever loose when the valve is still depressed.
I'll give it a shot tomorrow.
I did this this evening. valve clearance is OK. Air leaks out of all 3, intake, exhaust, and crankcase. The engine was cold when I did the test.