Mahindra 3015 HST ran when parked and now smokes but won't start.

rowapollos · Feb 4, 2014

I have a Mahindra 3015 that was parked for about 2 months and when I went to start it, it will puff smoke and no fire. No water or trash in filter bowl. Electric fuel pump has good flow. I loosened the injector lines and had fuel. Took out injectors and had them tested and all OK. All heaters appear to be working. Disconnected them and tried to start on ether directly in the intake and it did not fire. I need help.

George2615 · Feb 4, 2014

First of all, Welcome to TBN.
I don't know where you are located whether it is North or South country. I'll guess it's cold where you are. Since it is cranking over all of your safety switches are working. Things to check for are a plugged air filter, gelled fuel (cloudy build up in the fuel bowl), If they are OK you'll probably need to pull and check the glow plugs with an ohm meter. The 3015 hasn't been made in a few years so its possible the glow plugs are bad. I have a 2004 2615HST and have replaced mine three times. Check each one individually with the meter. they should have a resistance reading and not show open or shorted. The last time I did mine I also replaced the timer as an upgrade. My original timer only kept the glow light on about 5-6 seconds. The new one keeps power to the plugs about 10-15 seconds. Check how long your light stays on. If its for the short 5-6 second you can ask your dealer for the upgrade timer. I bought mine from Lawalls. Galen is a member here and he helped me out with mine. Plus according to his books I found I had the wrong glow plugs too.

Gary Fowler · Feb 4, 2014

Puffing white smoke usually means it is getting fuel but not enough heat to fire off. Try putting some hot air into the intake air. I find an electric hair dryer works well for this. If it still doesn't fire and it is pumping fuel to the injectors, perhaps the timing of the injector pump slipped (very unlikely). I am thinking that your glow plugs aren't heating properly. Do the hot air at the intake and see if that works for you and let us know what happens.

rowapollos · Feb 4, 2014

Gary Fowler said:
Puffing white smoke usually means it is getting fuel but not enough heat to fire off. Try putting some hot air into the intake air. I find an electric hair dryer works well for this. If it still doesn't fire and it is pumping fuel to the injectors, perhaps the timing of the injector pump slipped (very unlikely). I am thinking that your glow plugs aren't heating properly. Do the hot air at the intake and see if that works for you and let us know what happens.

I checked the glow plugs and they are working. It has it's own air heater in the air tube. Pulled injectors today and had 160-180 psi on 2 and 3 cylinders and 80-90 psi on number one. Lots more work ahead. Pulled head and it looks fine but so does the cylinder walls, guess I'll dig deeper. Thanks guys.