rcalhoun
New member
Hi,
I have a Vermeer FT-100 (same as ASV/Terex Posi-Track PT110 Forestry) with a Perkins 854E-E34TA (Tier 4 interim) engine that is putting out white smoke as it warms up. I'm about ready to send it to the shop but I wanted to make sure there isn't something obvious I'm missing.
Background: I use this machine for forestry mulching. It was working fine on the last run, when I ran it until it got low on fuel. Machine was filled up the following week (to the very top, a habit of the delivery guy) and sat about another week before I started it again. Ambient was around 20F. On start I got the (expected) condensation out of the exhaust system followed by (unexpected) white smoke, with the smoke fairly thin but worsening as the engine remained on.
It is a burning smell, not a sweet smell, so unburned fuel seems the most likely cause of the smoke. This suggests blocked airflow or bad injectors. Looking on the airflow side, I found the air filter was dirty with both dust and milkweed fluff etc. Secondary air filter had a little dust on the outside, but it was clean inside. I disassembled the Enginaire centrifugal filter to inspect a rattle to find that two of three fins were broken; it wasn't doing its job. I suspect the centrifugal filter has been broken as long as I've owned the machine, so there was probably more dust in the filter than the expected for the number of hours since filter change (about 30). There is no evidence of secondary filter failure, but I can definitely believe airflow was impeded. Last mulching run was as saturated, frozen ground was thawing, so water drops getting sucked into the air filter and freezing is also not impossible.
Two weeks ago I replace the Enginaire centrifugal filter, the main air filter, and the secondary air filter, then started it. Ambient temp was about 60 F, so there was no condensation. Initially there was no white smoke, but as the engine warmed up I started to see smoke again. It is thinner than when I started at 20F, and it is not coolant-in-the-engine terrible, but it's not good. Here's a video:
I tried starting it one other time a few days later, just to see if this some temporary glut of fuel in the cylinders from when the airflow was poor that would resolve itself. Same result: thin smoke that gets thicker as the engine warms up.
Here are the possibilities I've considered:
Bad fuel: seems like a possibility because the problem started with the refueling. This is my number one candidate. But I buy (ULSD offroad) fuel from a reputable supplier and all fuel is ULSD so I don't see how I could have received a bad or incorrect product. Should I send a sample out for analysis?
Old/low oil: I about 3 mm above the "min" line with engine cold. It does bother me that the oil level has dropped, since it had held consistently at the max line for quite some time before that. Oil leaking into the combustion chamber? (Shudder.) I suppose I could send oil out for analysis with the fuel.
Clogged injectors: seems possible. Also seems pricey; I'd better address whether fuel quality issue first. (Related question: do any of the fuel-injector-cleaning snake oils sold at the local auto parts store actually work?)
Temporary excess of fuel due to overfilling: i.e. something that will go away after I've used a few quarts. A much as I'd like to believe this, I don't see how fuel overfilling could lead to problems in on a common-rail engine.
"Something bad": coolant in the engine, engine oil in the engine, black walnuts in the engine etc.
I've kind of talked myself into sending fuel and engine oil samples out for analysis just to bring a few facts into the situation; any other suggestions?
Thank you,
-Rob
I have a Vermeer FT-100 (same as ASV/Terex Posi-Track PT110 Forestry) with a Perkins 854E-E34TA (Tier 4 interim) engine that is putting out white smoke as it warms up. I'm about ready to send it to the shop but I wanted to make sure there isn't something obvious I'm missing.
Background: I use this machine for forestry mulching. It was working fine on the last run, when I ran it until it got low on fuel. Machine was filled up the following week (to the very top, a habit of the delivery guy) and sat about another week before I started it again. Ambient was around 20F. On start I got the (expected) condensation out of the exhaust system followed by (unexpected) white smoke, with the smoke fairly thin but worsening as the engine remained on.
It is a burning smell, not a sweet smell, so unburned fuel seems the most likely cause of the smoke. This suggests blocked airflow or bad injectors. Looking on the airflow side, I found the air filter was dirty with both dust and milkweed fluff etc. Secondary air filter had a little dust on the outside, but it was clean inside. I disassembled the Enginaire centrifugal filter to inspect a rattle to find that two of three fins were broken; it wasn't doing its job. I suspect the centrifugal filter has been broken as long as I've owned the machine, so there was probably more dust in the filter than the expected for the number of hours since filter change (about 30). There is no evidence of secondary filter failure, but I can definitely believe airflow was impeded. Last mulching run was as saturated, frozen ground was thawing, so water drops getting sucked into the air filter and freezing is also not impossible.
Two weeks ago I replace the Enginaire centrifugal filter, the main air filter, and the secondary air filter, then started it. Ambient temp was about 60 F, so there was no condensation. Initially there was no white smoke, but as the engine warmed up I started to see smoke again. It is thinner than when I started at 20F, and it is not coolant-in-the-engine terrible, but it's not good. Here's a video:
I tried starting it one other time a few days later, just to see if this some temporary glut of fuel in the cylinders from when the airflow was poor that would resolve itself. Same result: thin smoke that gets thicker as the engine warms up.
Here are the possibilities I've considered:
Bad fuel: seems like a possibility because the problem started with the refueling. This is my number one candidate. But I buy (ULSD offroad) fuel from a reputable supplier and all fuel is ULSD so I don't see how I could have received a bad or incorrect product. Should I send a sample out for analysis?
Old/low oil: I about 3 mm above the "min" line with engine cold. It does bother me that the oil level has dropped, since it had held consistently at the max line for quite some time before that. Oil leaking into the combustion chamber? (Shudder.) I suppose I could send oil out for analysis with the fuel.
Clogged injectors: seems possible. Also seems pricey; I'd better address whether fuel quality issue first. (Related question: do any of the fuel-injector-cleaning snake oils sold at the local auto parts store actually work?)
Temporary excess of fuel due to overfilling: i.e. something that will go away after I've used a few quarts. A much as I'd like to believe this, I don't see how fuel overfilling could lead to problems in on a common-rail engine.
"Something bad": coolant in the engine, engine oil in the engine, black walnuts in the engine etc.
I've kind of talked myself into sending fuel and engine oil samples out for analysis just to bring a few facts into the situation; any other suggestions?
Thank you,
-Rob