B3200 bluish smoke on cold start

[TJP440]

I have a b3200 that i have owned since new. Has ~ 600 hours on it. The day before yesterday when I started it I was engulfed in A LOT of bluish smoke and a noticeable misfire that slowly disappeared as the smoke cleared out and it ran for a few minutes.
Seems to run fine until the next cold start. A little puff when restarting warm. No loss of power or other symptoms. Battery is new.
I did start it via a battery charger before replacing the battery. My initial thought was the fuel had gone bad but that was flushed out and fresh fuel put in with no change.
I will test the glow plugs After it sits over night.
Any other suggestions / advice
TIA

 

[Trash Panda]

Blue means it’s burning engine oil, and the fact that it is a significant amount at startup leads me to initially think valve seal.

Any blue smoke while operating the unit, or is it only on startup?

 

[beckmurph]

Try keeping the glow plugs on for a few seconds after
it starts on a cold start.

 

[Trash Panda]

Try keeping the glow plugs on for a few seconds after
it starts on a cold start.

That unfortunately won’t do anything to mitigate the actual issue causing the smoke.

It’ll just drain the batteries and needlessly run the glow plugs.

 

[beckmurph]

This was a known problem and fix for B3200’s.

 

[GeoHorn]

This was a known problem and fix for B3200’s.

Yep. White smoke is coolant being injected or burned. Black smoke is excessive fuel. Blue smoke is engine oil…in this case, a common B3200 issue, usually from oil seeping past valves after shut-down.

If it disappears shortly after start…. don’t worry about it. If it continues after warm up…. time to repair.

Hope this helps.

 

[Trash Panda]

This was a known problem and fix for B3200’s.

Running the glow plugs isn’t a “fix”, it’s just an attempt at masking the actual problem.

Blue smoke is oil in the combustion chamber, and glow plugs running more won’t fix that.

 

[beckmurph]

B3200 smoke-out on cold start

I bought a B3200 earlier this year - after having a BX23 for about 7 years. One thing I've noticed with the B3200 is that the thing smokes like crazy on startup when it's cold. I don't recall having this problem with the BX. Both tractors are kept in an unheated fully enclosed garage. Neither...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[Trash Panda]

B3200 smoke-out on cold start

I bought a B3200 earlier this year - after having a BX23 for about 7 years. One thing I've noticed with the B3200 is that the thing smokes like crazy on startup when it's cold. I don't recall having this problem with the BX. Both tractors are kept in an unheated fully enclosed garage. Neither...

www.tractorbynet.com

That thread is discussing normal cold start behavior for a diesel engine, not blue smoke indicative of an oil leak into the combustion chamber.

 

[beckmurph]

deleted

 

[TJP440]

Thanks to all that replied.
The color of the smoke is hard to determine as there is a lot of it I would say a grayish blue / black.
I'm puzzled as this just suddenly started after sitting for a day or so in a 70 degree shop.
As mentioned there is an erratic misfire as the smoke clears out after which the misfire goes away and all is normal.
As the amount of smoke lessens the misfire does as well. After a minute or so all returns to normal.
No power loss or other anomalies. Subsequent starts during the day are also normal.
Another forum leaned towards a bad glow plug which I will be checking today and report back.
Thanks again for the responses

 

[Trash Panda]

Thanks to all that replied.
The color of the smoke is hard to determine as there is a lot of it I would say a grayish blue / black.
I'm puzzled as this just suddenly started after sitting for a day or so in a 70 degree shop.
As mentioned there is an erratic misfire as the smoke clears out after which the misfire goes away and all is normal.
As the amount of smoke lessens the misfire does as well. After a minute or so all returns to normal.
No power loss or other anomalies. Subsequent starts during the day are also normal.
Another forum leaned towards a bad glow plug which I will be checking today and report back.
Thanks again for the responses

Black/gray would be soot from unburnt fuel, and would be odd to see on an engine starting at 70 degrees ambient.

Definitely share what you figure out!

 

[Russell King]

Could be a leaky fuel injector???

Leaks fuel as it sits so on start up there is excess fuel in the cylinder. That then burn off and clears up as it warms up and burns up the excess fuel. Then may cause misfires as it injects badly while running.

But I would expect that to be black smoke.

 

[TJP440]

Back with the diagnosis completed. I am quite familiar with Gas engines ( 55+ years) but have little to no experience with diesels. I can only recall one vehicle in those 55 years that suddenly started leaving a trail of bluish smoke. A 12.00 vacuum modulator was the cause. It's diaphragm had gone south and was feeding automatic trans fluid to the engine.
For all that were convinced the motor had suddenly started consuming oil I'd love to say you were right and I verified it by draining all the oil out and it immediately stopped smoking. the slick 50 oil treatment is doing as claimed.
(for those that can remember the scam)
BUTTTTTT that's just a little joke LOL,
the problem was the glow plugs were only seeing ~ 9.3 volts.
Disconnecting the buss bar showed full battery voltage. I bypassed the relay with another and all is well . May look into locating the actual relay and replace it or leave it as is. I actually didn't realize there was one as I've never heard it activate (click).
Per a dealer friend it is not uncommon for todays fuels to cause the blue smoke.