3B is very smoky (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Nov 30, 2023
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24
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78
Location
Reaford, NC
It's been awhile since I've been on here and I hope the holidays were good to y'all. I getting used to the Donkey and have relaced the front calipers and stooping have improved immensely. Frozen piston on the ones it came with. Power steering system is still very weird and keeps on their toes..
Now to the 3B. It starts right up but blows light blue smoke for as long as it idles. while driving the exhaust is clear. Had my son follow me to check. No real smoking at stop signs or lights. I'm a noobie regarding diesels.
What should I be looking at or for?
Thanks guys.
 
Not a diesel guy, but I would check the compression and clean/service the injectors.
So is this unit old enough to need the sulfur that was in diesel to lube the pump? There is some additive you can put in the fuel to make up for the low sulfur diesel they sell now. There might be a good additive to help clean the injectors. Make sure you have a clean air filter.
 
It's been awhile since I've been on here and I hope the holidays were good to y'all. I getting used to the Donkey and have relaced the front calipers and stooping have improved immensely. Frozen piston on the ones it came with. Power steering system is still very weird and keeps on their toes..
Now to the 3B. It starts right up but blows light blue smoke for as long as it idles. while driving the exhaust is clear. Had my son follow me to check. No real smoking at stop signs or lights. I'm a noobie regarding diesels.
What should I be looking at or for?
Thanks guys.

That is normal. Diesels need heat to burn clean and at idle there is no load on the engine especially after a cold start.

If it’s gone after driving and getting warm, no worries at all. I wouldn’t however cold idle these very long. It doesn’t really warm it up. If you are wanting to idle Becuase it’s really cold, bump the idle to 1100-1200 rpm’s once it smooths from a cold start for a minute or 2.
Then drive nicely at first and you’ll be good to go.
 
Blue smoke is caused by engine oil burning which a good engine should never do to the point of making visible smoke.
Leaky valve guides are quite common cause of this, but it seems like it's fairly minor at this stage - watch how much oil you're getting through per 1000miles.

Blue and white smoke are often confused though too so watch out (white is unburnt diesel, usually caused by a lack of compression when cold).
 
Is the smoke white or blue? What does it smell like?
 
Well, guys, thank you for the comments. Donkey runs mostly like FJBen says. If I start moving as soon as throttle response is smooth, the smoking quits. If i'm messing around and letting it idle, I get a lovely cloud. I also forgot to mention that oil level is steady, and pressure is good. Pressure is also good.. My neighbor is a diesel mech and hasn't come runnin over to say anything negative about it. He has said it's a torquey little bugger.
 
Well, guys, thank you for the comments. Donkey runs mostly like FJBen says. If I start moving as soon as throttle response is smooth, the smoking quits. If i'm messing around and letting it idle, I get a lovely cloud. I also forgot to mention that oil level is steady, and pressure is good. Pressure is also good.. My neighbor is a diesel mech and hasn't come runnin over to say anything negative about it. He has said it's a torquey little bugger.
Yea for sure. Diesel is a great engine to learn with if you're learning manual transmission. Not much chance of stalling my HJ45 ha
 
My first diesel was a Ford with a 7.3 IDI and it would smoke when first started. The Wife did not like it and She had to be in the cab with door shut before I started it. The only other time it smoked was on the mountain passes but I learned to down shift to get more air across the head. When the injector pump needed to be replaced that was a high altitude pump it was replaced with a higher output pump that would produce a haze on the grades.
 
My intro to diesel was my 1968 deuce and half with a Hercules big bore 6 cylinder multi-fueler with the wacko tranny. In the German winters I ran 10 to 20% MO gas - she always started and ran good. Then they took it away from me and gave it to a guy that was used to the small bore turbo with a regular shift pattern tranny. So he was racing a beer truck on the autobahn and accidently down sifted from 5th to 4th - threw the # 5 piston out the bottom of the block - he said it was still running when he got the cab cleared of smoke enough to pull over onto the shoulder - reminded of the PW's in a P-47.
 
Plenty of diesels here in the UK. Buses and taxis have been diesel forever. Trains are mostly diesel electric, and cars are maybe 50/50 split. There are plenty of good German diesel cars around especially, and I run a 3L diesel Jaguar (Ford motor) - much smoother than the HJ engine though! Oddly both have 8 gears though if you count hi and low on the truck.
 
HA. True about 1st diesel experiences. M35A2C (the turbo!) Then nothing til a Jetta TDi. Common rai and high-ish revs. Last one I was given to put prototype vision systems on = M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Aside from the normal preventative services on the M35 I didn't really mess with the others.
The Bradley was the most fun. Being a contractor, all I had to do with the vehicle was track tension. A good grease gun did it.
 

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