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  #1  
Old 08-29-2005, 09:18 PM
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loss of power and overheating.

I have a small tractor with the B&S Vanguard 3 cyl.turbo diesel. The engine has about 350 hours on it and has always ran great. my son was mowing his grass, about a 15 min job, and when he finished he cut the machine off for a few minutes and when he cranked it back up it knocked. He loaded it on the trailer and brought it home. When I cranked it up to unload and check out, it seemed low on compression, spun over faster than normal, and I had to give a squirt of either to crank it. I have never used either on this engine before. Anyways, when it cranked, it was blowing a white smoke, at first I thought steam but think it was actually unburnt fuel. I unloaded tractor and drove straight into garage and shut it down. At this time it stated pukeing water. Temp guage said 180 degrees. Tractor might have ran for 5 min from crankup to shut down. My first thoughts where blown head gasket or cracked head. There doesnt appear to be any oil or fuel in the radiator and it was full of water, including the overflow jug, before I cranked it up. Machine definitly has a loss of power but it didnt knock like my son claimed it did when he cranked it. Machine is out of warranty about a year ago. It has always cranked fine and doesnt have history of running hot. Any opinions before I pull the engine as to what might be the problem or things i should check before I start tearing the engine apart. I have built many gas engines but diesels are not something I have much experience with.

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  #2  
Old 08-29-2005, 10:37 PM
t walgamuth's Avatar
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Lafayette Indiana
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at first blush

i would suspect a blown head gasket or cracked head. to verify you have to either do a compression test or tear it apart. sorry.

tom w
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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.
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  #3  
Old 08-30-2005, 08:43 PM
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That is my first thoughts as well. One thing I have observed with cracked heads or blown gaskets is pressure in the radiator. I dont seem to have any prssure or little bubbles circulating inside the radiator. Which is why I am wondering if something like an injector spraying to much fuel would cause overheating. I havent had time to check the machine out as I am away from home. I just want to eliminate the cheaper options before I tear into the thing. I will lossen the injector lines one at a time and see if i can determine which cylinder is causing the problem and then do a compression test on that cylinder. If the compression is up to snuf, I will then swap the injector with a cylinder that seems to be firing correctly to see if an injector might be stuck. If anybody has any more suggestions, I am all ears.
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  #4  
Old 08-31-2005, 12:02 AM
t walgamuth's Avatar
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sounds like

a sound plan.

good luck

tom w
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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.
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  #5  
Old 08-31-2005, 01:08 AM
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Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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did your son,,,

run over any tree roots? white smoke indicated IP timing problem, which would also account for loss of power and hard starting. My old neighbor hit a tree root with a gas powered lawn mower and (I know totally different engine) knocked the valve timing 180 degrees out of wack. Needless to say that lawn mower wouldn't start until I tore into it.

Good luck


Marty
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  #6  
Old 09-01-2005, 04:32 PM
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Ah, you know kids, might have but wouldnt admit it.

did talk to dealer today. Best case senerio, bad injector, second best, blown head gasket, third best, cracked head, and you dont even want to know about worst case.

I am going to stick to my plans of checking injectors first and then pressure testing the coolant chamber to see if I can determine a leak. The pressure test isnt that hard to do with a tractor. Just unhook the radiator hoses and plug and then pump in a little air, watch the pressure guage to see if it leaks off. Dont get carried away with the air pressure, about 14 lbs is plenty, to much and you can blow out freeze plugs. If you try this in an automobile be sure to unhook and plug the heater hoses as well. If it doesnt leak any air at first, I will crank it up and let it get warm and then pressure test again. Any air leak is a sure sign of a water leak and then its time to tear it down. No air leak and then I will be stumped as what to do next. I just about believe it has a blown or cracked head but it just doesnt act like a gas motor would if it had a blown head gasket or cracked head. The bad part is that this is my busy season and now my tractor is down and since it is a specialty tractor none of my attachments will fit another tractor type. Meaning I just cant go rent another tractor and everything will work. I have a two point hitch set up with a front pto instead of the usuall three point and rear pto.

The machine shouldnt take long to fix as it is fairly simple, its just waiting on those durn parts. New engine is $4500, seems awful high for an overgrown lawnmower.
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  #7  
Old 09-02-2005, 10:51 PM
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Just thought I would post an update incase anyone else had this same problem.

Started checking the engine out today. Loosen the fuel lines going to the injectors one at a time to see if one cylinder wasnt fireing as it should. First line loosened and the engine started running ruff. Fuel sprayed out of loose line. Loosend second line and engine started running ruff, foam sprayed out of line, Though to myself must have air in line but it never cleared up. Tighten line up and engine began to knock. Loosened third fuel line and fuel sprayed and engine ran ruff. Went back to second line and lossend line again, engine stopped knocking but line still spewed foam . Swaped second injector with third injector and repeated checks. The second cylinder now would spew fuel and not foam. Third cylinder spewed foam and would knock when I tighten line up. Problem moved to different cylinder's as I moved the injector. Problem is bad injector. Engine would start/stop knocking intermittly. I orderd a new injector and this should fix the problem. I didnt do a compression check because my tester didnt have the right adapter to screw into the head. but when engine didnt knock, all smoke would clear up. I also ran engine for about 1 hour mowing and such and it never ran hot. I ran engine for a long time without a radiator cap just to see if it would puke water but it never did. I also thought the engine had an aluminum block and head but I was wrong, both are cast iron. Wife admitted to using fuel out of a can that had been setting for a long time, (Outside), without a cap on it. I suspect water was in the can and is probably what messed up the injector.
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  #8  
Old 09-02-2005, 11:26 PM
t walgamuth's Avatar
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good luck for you

a bad injector is about as simple as it could be.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.
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