Excessive crank case vent smoke

[mikehenya]

I just replaced my head gasket, ran the tractor for 1/2 an hour then re-torqued.
Everything seems great EXCEPT I am getting a good bit of white steam/smoke from the PCV type crancase vent tube. I am being paranoid since this is my first time replacing a head gasket, so how much smoke is too much? The tube is fairly stiff when the tractor is cold, but is VERY soft when it runs for a few minutes.There is no smoke from the exhaust, it starts right up and I mowed for 1/2 an hour. The temp gauge only goes up half way even after 1/2 an hour of mowing. It seems to be running quite well. What should I look for?
Thanks in advance!

 

[kenmac]

If it's white steam . It can't be anything but water. Mabe some water got in the engine when you had the head off & will clear it's self out

 

[HoyeTractor]

I have never seen any diesel engine that did not have at least a little "blow by". It is hard to say what is too much though. Normally if it starts easily & does not burn oil then I would not worry about it. Once it gets hard to start I would investigate further. If it is steam then that is a whole different matter though as kenmac said.

Aaron
Parts@HoyeTractor.com
(940)592-0181

 

[Normmm]

Have you lost any coolant. If you find milky oil then anti freeze is in the crankcase. If the oil is ok then uou have blow by and will have to change the oil more often.

 

[mikehenya]

The oil looks fine. It is running better than it has since I bought it, but there was never that much "steam" coming out in the past. The reason I changed the head gasket is, water was coming out the exhaust (black nasty water). Everything looks good now except the steam.

 

[svcguy]

Nasty black water might have been nothing more than condensation. Unless you were losing coolant, it probably wasn't needing the head gasket. Now that you have replaced it though, you will probably be fine. I have replaced hundreds of head gaskets and they don't often fail. If the head is good, cleaned, torqued correctly and retorqued, there is no reason why anyone won't have success. I wouldn't read too much into it until you actually find you are losing coolant. I agree with Kenmac, run the engine under load, work your tractor and see if it goes away. Residual moisture will steam off.

 

[mikehenya]

It was losing the entire radiator in about 30 minutes, through the exhaust. The oil never got milky. I know what water in the oil looks like, I was very surprised it was all going out the exhaust. The goof that worked on the tractor before me didn't torque the center 4 bolts right. The outers were fine, but the center set was about 40 ft lbs! I'll change the oil today and keep an eye on it!
Thanks!