Might as well start a thread on my new project. Went to Ritchie bros lot to look at a backhoe, lost it, but found and won this. 2016 Yanmar vio35, 7000 Hours, runs great but smokes white on startup. Compression was 430,450,430 so motor seems tight, no blowby. So I took out the injectors to get tested, shop replaced all nozzles. Said they were worn-out but new injectors and it still smokes. So now I'm thinking Injection pump, it doesn't appear to consume any oil?
After Paint
Every yanmar I've been around does that if not preheated. Mine all had "hold the key CCW for 10 seconds before starting". Does it smoke on a warm restart?
If I worked it fully to temp and let it sit 15 minutes, it would startup and smoke white again. I made a video below on how much it smokes.
That looks blue to me. Valve guide seals? What grade oil in there?
Does it consume any antifreeze? Maybe a small leak in a head gasket until it warms up?
How would I be able to check for that? I ran it about 2 hours now and don’t see any movement on the stick but makes sense with the symptoms. I’ll try to do a pressure test on the coolant system and see if anything moves there
Coolant held pressure, now I can just think of pulling the valve cover
Seems like the way the head drains some leaking valve guides are my problem
Not so much the valve guides themselves, but, rather the valve guide seals.
For a Yanmar, that rocker rack looks exactly like a Kubota. Right down to the valve stem caps.
So a rebuilt head is the best option I take it? Probably can’t mess with valve seals without removing the valve
Can't say foresure on your model, but have done Cat 3306 seals in place with air to hold the valves up. Simon C
I always use the stuff the rope into the cylinder through the injector hole to hold the valves to change the seal
That would work well also and is how I loosened a snowmachine clutch when I was a kid with rope on top of piston to prevent anymore up travel. You would want to stuff in a fair amount of rope to make sure the valve can't drop. Simon C
My Deere with Izuzu 4LE1 does this exact thing if you let it sit for a while . I've tracked it down to a fuel system that lets air get into the lines and it stutters and belches white/grey smoke for about 6-7 minutes while it gets the air out. It doesn't seem to matter the temperature - warm out or -10F, it's the same behavior, so it's air in the lines for me. yours makes me think the same thing - the big puffs of smoke, the slight stutter, then it quits or cleans up and runs fine the rest of the day. let it sit overnight, same thing again for 3-4 minutes. let it sit a week, you are better of letting the pump work a few times by turning the key on/off after each 'pre-pressure' cycle the pump does. this seems to help it a bit and reduce stutter-up to about 5 minutes rather than 10. I replaced all the copper washers on the banjo bolts and solved a LOT of issues that way, but.. this one still remains.
Have you done a leak-down test on all the cylinders? What does the smoke smell like? Oil, unburnt diesel, or coolant?
Have you ever put 1-2 psi on the fuel tank with an air blower into the tank with a rag ball over the top to hold back air somewhat controlled. Any leak will become evident, wipe every connection or fitting with toilet paper and Brakleen. Any joint after a minute or two that gets damp again on toilet paper is a leak that can suck air. Takes two people and a blow gun with a variable trigger. Fuel with 1 psi will leak through anytrhing. Worth checking. Simon C
I put a clear hose on the inlet today, no bubbles so now it just leaves the valve seals or the pump itself
Marry Christmas Yal! Update to the project, waiting on a couple more tools to put valve seals in for the smoke, but I added a showtimefab weld on thumb to her. Overall really happy with the quality
Did all the valve seals today. No change still smokes on startup till fully warm. Since Compression is good, I'm pretty convinced this is fuel related, Injectors have been changed and checked. No oil or Antifreeze note ably being used. Are there any checks I can do on the pump itself? I noticed if I cold start it and immediately start running the machine, no smoke, but as soon as machine has no load it starts smoking
Doesn’t sound the best. Might try timing the pump a little.
Totally agree. 2 degrees retarded will make lots of smoke that will disappear once very hot. Worth checking. Simon C
I just listened to the video again, and I agree that Yanmar doesn't sound right. You guys^^^are the mechanical experts (I mainly just run them). But I have lots of hours on those 3TNVV88/4TNV88's Our Deere 50D (4TNV88) currently has 7500+ hours and sounds a lot 'smoother' than the OP's... Almost like a slight extra 'knocking' (?) sound in the posters video
Have seen some that smoke like that for 2-3000 hours and nothing changes. Some blow up a week later. Without knowing the whole history of engine hard to say. Were the washers that sit below the injectors changed out or was 1 left behind and one cylinder has 2 washers. Were the injector nozzles OEM or aftermarket. Were the injectors done properly. Very hard to know without being there. Seen engines before that were timed according to incorrect manual. Have to agree. Are very good little engines normally. Simon C
I’m leaning towards injectors after listening to that engine.
I have more than one time installed new injectors only to find one no good. I usually remove the exhaust manifold and start up to see which cylinder is dirty firing. Swap injector to another cylinder and see if problem follows. If it follows the injector is junk. If problem does not follow the problem is in cylinder or Fuel pump. Simon C
Bingo, this was the issue. I took the pump loose advanced the timing a little and white smoke is gone and runs great!
If you had a shop manual on that thing in PDF form, would not hate to see it. Not sure what you had. Simon C
Sounds much better now. Not loaded up.
Sometimes the engines are 1/2 a degree retarded or more from the factory. Then all engine gear trains wear towards retarded. Not too hard to be 1.5 to 2 dergrees retarded and unclean burn when cold. Not noticed as much when hot. Simon C
Glad you got it figure out and fixed. Good info to hang on to also. Thanks for keeping us up to date on it.
When cold, did you have an extended crank at all? I've got a 4500hr Volvo ECR38 with the same engine. It's got an extended crank and smokes when cold, then clears up when warm. I gotta try the +1 ~ 2* of timing too!
Always start with about 1 degree to begin with, and if 2 doesn't change nothing, maybe something else is the problem. Simon C
Just use a scribe and mark a clear starting point.
Dang, Ya'll are the BEST, my Volvo is FIXED!!!! My latest auction score, a 2014 Volvo ECR38 with a Yanmar 3tnv88 3 cylinder with 4500 hours, was having trouble starting. It'd crank for a good 20 ~ 30 seconds before the engine started. When it finally caught and started, it would smoke REALLY bad for 5 or so minutes. I found that the glow plugs weren't working and I thought I nailed it after fixing the electrical issue. No change, long cranks and a lot of smoke My mind was going down the path of low compression, valve seals, cracked rings, uugh! I saw the timing adjustment fixed Fordman's issue and thought it'd be an easy place to start on my machine. I scratched a line on the pump housing so I could see my progress. The only mark I saw was on the timing cover with nothing the pump. I wasn't sure which way to rotate the pump (I found it in the manual later, doh!), so I tried the wrong way first. With the first attempt, it took a long time to start and ran TERRIBLE with huge amounts of smoke! Whoops After rotating the top of the pump away from the engine (advancing the timing), it now starts instantly and DOES NOT SMOKE !! It sounds so much better too! Injection pump timing drift seems to be a real thing and my high hour machine sure had some! I don't know how much I advanced the timing, but it seems to be a-ok now. Here's a picture of where the pump was and the final adjustment position. Thanks again!!
Volvo fixed!
From what I have seen it is usally about 1 degree of timing per 1mm of rotation. Would be good to check how many mm of rotation you moved it, cause if too far it may run very good but could be hard on the top of the piston. It is assuredly moved in the advanced direction, and that is why it runs better. All gear trains wear out towards retarded timing. Simon C