Lots of white smoke when starting

[BillVV]

I have a 2011 B3200 with only 55 hours on it. When starting it spews out white smoke and runs rough for a few minutes before clearing up. Stored in garage where temp always stays above freezing. Dealer tells me this is normal - find this hard to believe. See Youtube video below. Is this normal? If not, what might be wrong? Thanks.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__X3zjkZHcc&feature=youtu.be

 

[B7100]

As soon as the glowplug light goes out don't start it, turn off the ign switch and back on again .this will give it two lots of heat ..see if its a little smoother?
dave

 

[bosshogg]

After watching your video...I don't think something is right. Mine has 150 hours on it, stored in the garage, and doesn't have any white smoke when starting and doesn't idle rough. Something off with the timing I suspect. Your dealer isn't doing much to gain your trust and respect...find another one if possible.

 

[rparkinson]

I have a B3300su with 2 hours on it. It does smoke when cold and runs a little choppy when really cold, but comes out of it with in 10-12 seconds.... I know there is a issue with pump timing on some of these. I am very interested to see how this works out.....

 

[motorhead]

My 2010 is stored outside and it gets down to 30 at night. I glow it and it pops right off with only the usual puff of black smoke. Two things can be suspect. Fuel timing and a glow plug bad. Yes with only 55 hours there could be a bad glow plug.
We bought a brand new 2012 VW jetta Sportwagen in October 2012. Brought it home from the dealer 350 miles away and the next morning we had a check engine light. Had a bad glow plug.

 

[Bulldog]

I haven't followed the progress on the B series but it seems they have always been harder to start than the other series tractors. My old 7100 wouldn't even start in the summer without using the glow plugs a little and in cold weather it smoked like a freight train.

If it was cold when that video was made it didn't seem that bad to me. Being in a garage made the smoke look much worse than it really is. If it was sitting outside the smoke would have been able to blow away from the tractor instead of hanging all over it. That's just my thought anyway.

 

[Frank minarchi]

I have a B3200 with 10hrs on it and has done it from day one worse now that it is cold out. Its also stored in a heated garage and does the same thing.So i called up my dealer and its going in tomorrow to be checked cause it should not be doing this. According to them the timing might be out and they have to remove a shim under the injection pump to restore the timing back to factory specs. Why they rejust it is beyond me. But when i send that kind of money it better be running smooth.

 

[rparkinson]

If you would, let us know what happens Frank-

 

[BillVV]

I will try the cycling of the glow plug to see how that works. If not I am going to bring the tractor in to the dealer and will keep updated with what they do. Thanks for the advice/comments.

 

[rparkinson]

Vic- do these machines have a glow plug timer? I know in the owners manual it says 3-5 seconds. It does not seem long enough to me either..

 

[Apogee]

You might want to be careful regarding the heating cycles.

Agreed 12 sec is short heating cycle unless they're using lower voltage glow plugs with a short cycle on purpose so they don't burn out. They will get much hotter, much more quickly, but will fry if left on for the 1 minute that we're used to on the older models.

Would be nice if we could verify with Kubota engineering somehow.

Just my $.02,

Steve

 

[motorhead]

Maybe I am wrong but my 2010 B3200 does NOT have a glow timer. I hold the key about 20 seconds and start it.
On the pump timing... Removing a shim ADVANCES the timing. adding shims RETARDS the timing.
PLEASE let us know which way the dealer goes on your timing.

 

[Frank minarchi]

I'm not sure what Vic is talking about my 3200 has no timer on it for glow plugs i can go 5sec. or 5mins either way it does not make a difference.But i will let you guys know how i make out. What i dont understand is kubota service departments know there is a problem yet they all play dumb when questioned just fix the issue and you will have alot happier customers.The alberta rep for kubota knows all about this and the isolator issues for the floor boards to help with the vibration these tractors have also yet i had to find all this out.Why dont they just do this stuff before delivery?But thats my 2cents.

 

[Bulldog]

I know it's a different series but on my L3000 I never heat the glow plugs over 3 or 4 seconds. I use them just to be easier on the engine. I have yet to have it get cold enough that it wouldn't crank on it's own without them. The coldest so far has been -11 a couple of years ago and it started without using them even then.

 

[Kubota Newbie]

The smoke and running characteristics in the video don't seem all that out of the ordinary for a diesel started cold. I mean.... doesn't it run smooth and efficiently once it warms just a little? From other posts it sounds as if it is a common cold start symptom with this engine. It could be due to a lot of things with this engine series, maybe the position of the glow plugs or injectors in the combustion chamber, position of the valves, injector timing compression ratio, etc. etc., all things which are compromises in the overall engine design. If it checks out with-in specs with the dealer/mechanic then odds are you just have to live with it. There are reasons why every school bus and highway department garage north of the Mason-Dixon line have power outlets to plug all their diesels' block heaters into every winter. It's just a diesel thing.

 

[Lil Foot]

Even at zero degrees my B7100 doesn't smoke & kick like that.....unless maybe I try to start it cold with no glow plugs. I would suspect your glow plugs are not working or at least not working well.

 

[kuboman]

Going by the video I would wonder if it has a glow plug that is dead or weak. Otherwise it seems mostly normal.

 

[motorhead]

I'm not sure what Vic is talking about my 3200 has no timer on it for glow plugs i can go 5sec. or 5mins either way it does not make a difference.But i will let you guys know how i make out. What i dont understand is kubota service departments know there is a problem yet they all play dumb when questioned just fix the issue and you will have alot happier customers.The alberta rep for kubota knows all about this and the isolator issues for the floor boards to help with the vibration these tractors have also yet i had to find all this out.Why dont they just do this stuff before delivery?But thats my 2cents.

The vibration issue is supposed to be somewhat subdued by a timing change. The B7800 that used the V1505 engine like ours was said to not have as much vibration as the B3200. They ARE timed different. I am going to experiment with mine this spring by changing the shims. The B7800 timing is retarded a few degrees than that of the B3200.
I had a VW diesel for 19 years and it had a "Cold start" knob that only advanced the fuel timing. Starting the engine cold without pulling the cold start knob caused it to stutter and smoke like yours does. I did a lot of tuning on them and we adjusted the base fuel timing up about 2-3 degrees advanced. They ran better and started cold better too.
Diesels run smother with a odd number of cylinders. The three cylinder is always more smooth than the four cyl.
I have a 1977 240D Mercedes 4 cyl diesel. It has vibration that the 300D, 5 cylinder engine doesn't
Some of Kubota's bigger displacement tractors still use a 3 cyl engine.

 

[Apogee]

I was listening closely to the video and it sounds like it's occasionally missing on one cylinder. Makes me wonder if you have a bad or funky injector... It also appeared to puff white smoke when it "missed".

Just a thought.

 

[bosshogg]

I know it's a different series but on my L3000 I never heat the glow plugs over 3 or 4 seconds. I use them just to be easier on the engine. I have yet to have it get cold enough that it wouldn't crank on it's own without them. The coldest so far has been -11 a couple of years ago and it started without using them even then.

My L3400 is exactly the same way...4 seconds and vazoom.