I have a Timberjack 460 log Skidder with a cummins 6bta 5.9 that blows a lot of thick sooty black smoke and I am looking for ideas on where to start it also seems under powered and very sluggish when trying to go up hills and taking off
Air filters and turbocharger might be where I would start.
X2 on air filters esp. Inner filter, if it has turned gray it needs replacing. Also check for air leaks between turbo and intake. The intake bolts are open to intake so if any are missing the boost will escape. Check clamps and boot from turbo to intake. Also intake gasket.
cant remember if the 5.9 has an aneroid on the injection pump with that plastic hose going from the intake to the governor. Those like to split and leak on the old 8.3's
Does the engine have an air to air or air to liquid aftercooler? If the air filter replacement doesn't fix the issue, and the aneroid tube is still sound, I would look to the liquid aftercooler located in the intake manifold. I ripped a wood chipper apart that had the cap for the air filter installed incorrectly causing the entire air system to be plugged with wood dust. Engine was one smokey SOB leading me to believe that the customer ran it like that for more than a week or so.
Air filters are both new and turbo is working properly also the plastic hose on the injection pump is newer and in good shape is it possible it is a problem with the injection pump the machine also starts hard on first start of the day
Injectors? more likely and less expensive than injection pump IMO. Timing "slipped"??? What injection pump, rotary or inline?
I think it's safe to assume it is an inline pump, because it's aftercooled. There is a better chance it's a P-pump than a VE because they had a longer run with intercoolers than VE models.