Slight error in judgement but bought this big (86ft) boom lift and here we are. Knew it smoked when running but not enough to concern me too much at the time. Engine runs well with no missing. Upon operating for longer times the smoke is heavier and now concerned about it. It has the Deutz TCD 2.9L L4 with turbo and it is water cooled. Also has EGR and DOC (catalytic converter). We changed the oil with no change to the smoke situation. When you take the oil cap off the top it starts puffing pretty hard and I took the turbo intake hose off and visually verified that there is oil coming from the crankcase vent into the intake on the turbo side. Before we take this motor out and start taking things apart on our own can anyone give me any advice? I know this engine is pretty common in these type units so hopefully someone has dealt with something similar. At this point I'm not sure if there is anything external (easy ) I might check? We did put an oil pressure gauge on it and it starts out at 50lbs and gradually goes down to about 35 as it warms up. That part did not seem concerning to me but we haven't run it for hours at high idle yet either. Farmers here so this unit will sit for WAY more than it will ever be used. But when we need it I need to be able to trust it to run. Thanks for any help guys.
Is the air filter new? If not change it for a new one and then check crank case pressure.
Thanks Zewnten. Mechanic friend who has worked on some of these checked the turbo this morning. We had not done that yet. Impeller is super loose and been rubbing on the sides of the housing. :-( He said lets get a turbo on it and go from there. We will also change the inner and outer air filter before we start it up again.
Check the charged air cooler. Make sure it's free flowing. Check the reed valves off the EGR, make sure they're not caked up and stuck open.
Actually no charge air cooler on this unit. To check the reed valves I would remove the electrical EGR valve itself from the EGR manifold (not sure if that's the correct term)? Can I get to it that way? Maybe a good idea to take the EGR valve out and check/clean it anyway. Thanks
Sorry, I misspoke. That would have been the larger 6 cylinders. If you don't have an EGR code, don't mess with it. I think you're on the right path with the turbo and air cleaners.
No problem. Thanks for the advice. I don't understand how the bad turbo (impeller moves easy side to side with your finger) can cause the blowby issue I see but the mechanic said we know the turbo is bad so let's correct that and go from there. I do agree with that.
Bearings leaking?
Is either side of the turbo wet?
Reply to Zewnten & funwithfuel. Thanks for the help. Oil on inlet and outlet of turbo. I do know there was quite a bit of oil coming from the crankcase vent directly into the turbo inlet tube. Like I said before the vane in the turbo was VERY loose and rubbing on the housing. Did not mention before there was also a drip of oil coming from the actuator shaft on the turbo? Very wet inside the exhaust pipe but just soot in the exhaust port going into the turbo from the engine.
Turbo intake hose. You can see crankcase vent tube location at about 1100 in the picture.