What does it mean if there is a whitish smoke that coming out of this breather pipe. Sometimes it looks worse than others. When the engine is running hot it does it more. Is this normal or is something wrong going on?
Cylinder Head Cover Breather Pipe
- Thread starter JimB20
- Start date
Normal cold, hot not so much. That could be a sign of high blowby, coolant in the oil, or the oil overheating. The last two cases would only prevent themselves after the oil has warmed up however. If it does it constantly it's probably blowby and thus a cracked ring or worn out liner. A compression test will tell you more. How many hours are on the motor. Did this onset suddenly or has it been a gradual thing? Does it smell like coolant, oil, or exhaust?
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Some vapors are acceptable, just depends on how much.
I look at it this way; they put a vent there, if nothing was supposed to come out there would be no vent.
Plus, a test on cars with a PCV valve is to pinch the hose, the back-pressure created would cause the engine to stumble. Guess there's a bit of pressure there.
Monitor oil consumption between changes. Needing to add 20% (1 quart in five) would be the limit of acceptable oil loss.
I look at it this way; they put a vent there, if nothing was supposed to come out there would be no vent.
Plus, a test on cars with a PCV valve is to pinch the hose, the back-pressure created would cause the engine to stumble. Guess there's a bit of pressure there.
Monitor oil consumption between changes. Needing to add 20% (1 quart in five) would be the limit of acceptable oil loss.
Difficult to asses but has the tractor had a lot of short runs? An engine that has not been warmed up and run long enough to evaporate the condensation in the oil will spew vapor more so than one that has run hot long enough to get rid of the condensation. What kind of use has it had?
It all depends how much time I have to run the tractor. I do run it for only 45 minutes at times but I also run it for 3-4 hours as well. But lately it has been for shorter periods of time because it seems to be overheating on me. I am going to flush the radiator or have it boiled out as well as change the tstat and water pump and belt also I will put a new radiator cap on while I am at it. Hopefully that will fix the overheating issue or I will have to dig deeper. On a side note I recently changed the oil and after a couple of uses it looks really dark again. Is this normal or is something going on. I use 10w-30.
Diesel oil gets black pretty quickly. I would say that mine gets black within 10 hours of use after an oil change ---- be sure to use an oil that's rated for Diesel use.
Diesel oil always looks like that. They produce a lot of soot and due to the high compression ratios you get a lot of blowby that tends to end up in the oil. That soot is one of the primary reasons diesels require different oil from gas engines.
I'm not sure I'd go as far as replacing the water pump without more information but the thermostat is probably a good start. What tractor is this in reference to? Again I'd smell what's coming out of the breather and see what flavor it is.
Edit: Hah jinx
I'm not sure I'd go as far as replacing the water pump without more information but the thermostat is probably a good start. What tractor is this in reference to? Again I'd smell what's coming out of the breather and see what flavor it is.
Edit: Hah jinx