997 ztrak yanmar diesel white smoke

[bud4410]

i have a 997 ztrak that puts out a lot of white smoke on the first cold start of the day. it smokes and runs a little rough for appox. 5 to 15 seconds then clears up. at first i thought it was the cold weather but now the temperature is warmer and it is still doing it. really smokes up the inside of my garage. one time wife thought i had a fire. any one else have this problem and what was done to solve it? thanks for any help............bud

 

[Ed L]

Check your coolant, white smoke on a diesel usually means an internal leak, probably a head gasket.

Coolant leaking into a cylinder of a diesel can be very bad. The coolant will vapor blast the cylinder walls, causing a loss in compression, when it gets bad enough, it will hydraulic the engine.

Ed

 

[rsewill]

How many hours on your machine? Might just be showing its age. I wish I could justify a Diesel zero turn.

 

[ctlguy]

This is not unusual for the 997 for smoking on cold start up.

 

[bud4410]

thanks for your interest. just got it new over the winter. only has about 20 hrs. did not do this at first. i'll eventually take it back to dealer if it continues. thought i might gain some insight into the problem before that...............bud

 

[Wnc3]

Here is what I just went through on my 997 and some of my repairs may fix yours....

Mine would white smoke and stall , then sit a minute and restart.
I replaced both fuel filters.
Then I replaced the fuel line clamps with worm drive hose clamps,
At this point I was convinced it was sucking air.
Still stalling ,
I decided , mad at this point, to pull the fuel supply line (not return line)
Out and to my surprise was the obvious problem...the screen on the end was gummed up.
I cleaned it off and reinstalled. problem solved.
The mower was only used 2 times last summer due to drought.
Runs great. I would check the fuel line clamps and fuel line pickup screen.

 

[r8nger]

I also know someone that had one one and the fuel line was kinked in the middle, under something and it had a severe loss of power.

 

[TimS]

Bud, the first poster had it right - I don't quite know why these other folks are describing solutions that might apply if you had different symptoms. You very likely have a problem with coolant getting into one or more cylinders, possibly due to a bad head gasket or a cracked block. Since the unit is virtually new, take it back to the dealer and make it their problem. The first poster was also right that if you continue to run it, you could be causing major damage.

Tim

 

[Wnc3]

We will know who is right when it is fixed....
Keep us posted.

 

[Angsguy]

Wnc3, did you get this puff of white smoke before stalling? My cold starts are OK, but my 997 just started stalling contiuously yesterday just as I finished cutting. I get a small puff of white smoke, it stalls, and will start again after a minute or so. My mower has only 200 hours on it. I bought it used. I sure as **** hope your are right and not the coolant problem! Know that I will try your suggestion first. I'll keep you posted.