1985 CAT D3B White Smoke?

[CATCRACKER]

Ok guys i need some help with my latest project. it is a 1985 CAT D3B with 3200 original hours on it. it has a 3204 natural aspiration with liners and 2ring piston we bought the machine for 3500 dollars. the previos owner had been pushing with it when suddenly it started loosing power, so he pull it to the side and killed it. that is where it sat for the next year. it would not crank until we went out there last week and sprayed 1/2 a bottle of ring freeze into it. now it cranks up. here is the situ it blows lots of white smoke and at high revs sounds like there is a slight miss. we drained the fuel and changed the fuel filter still white smoke. the smoke at full throttle gets heavier than at idle even after the engine is warm. it is not a real heavy white smoke at idle but very noticeable the old diesel that came out of the tank was black. the radiator is nasty. we have not changed the air filter yet.



where should i go from here the slight miss concerns me along with the white smoke what should i do?.



Possible thiing i guess it could be:



-pitted piston liner letting coolant in? i guess i should get an oil analysis? any other way to check



-blow headgasket letting coolant in? i heard that if you use to much either it will blow the headgasket b/t 2&3. how can i check to see if head gasket is bad?



-still has bad fuel in it? should i put in some type of cleaner like marvel myst. oil?



-could an injector be bad? how do i test for that



-i think he may have overheated the machine b/c the muffler is broke and blowing the exhasut right into the radiator. when a machine overheats and loses power what might be wrong wtih the enging now?



-or could it just have water in the system and has yet to burn out?

sorry so long

 

[Andy Morrison]

Well I would start by adding some fuel treatment that prevents/kills alge in the fuel system. Alge is what usually makes fuel turn black . Change fuel filters again and maybe even flush the tank. That bleck mess can really cause problems.

You also said that the coolant looked bad -what color was it?



Open radiator cap while running - be very careful- look for bubbling in there this could mean you have bad head gasket, cracked head or cyl liner.



Hope this helps a little.



Andy

 

[CPjMech]

Well first off the 3204 & 3208 are not called 32 'O Smokes for nothing It's pretty common for the injection timing to come a little retarded, really helps to adv the timing 3 or 4 degs. Also the injection pump and gov are all lubed by fuel if they sit for a long time the pumps can stick(rust) nozzles too, but they usually wont run at all. As already sugested I would start with filters. Feel free to PM me if you want. Good luck.

 

[CATCRACKER]

what filters can i change?



what is the best way to run a biocide through the system to kill the algae



i need to clean the radiator , i am familliar how to flush one but how do you clean out a complete dirty system.



how hard is it to advace timing on these machies?



how much are the fuel pump and injectors cost?



thank for help!!!!!!!! i am still learning so much!! it fun!!

 

[Grey Wolf]

I'll bet the original owner got a slug of water in the tank by the way your describing it. I had that happen to a gen set one time, spent all day and part of the night with a fuel cleaning company getting the water out. The end result no major damage, however on start up that engine would always run a little white until it got fully loaded. The company didn't want to change injectors so that's the way it stayed... ... .....

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Adjust the valves

 

[CPjMech]

There should be 2 fuel filters, the primary(water sep) is prob a glass bowl type that just pops off, and a secondary spin on near the hand priming pump (prob CAT part #1R-0750)



You don't want to know the price of a pump, nozzles are around $80-90.



Timing is not hard to change, but does require a couple special tools.



What part of the country are you in?

 

[MMiller]

I don't think 3204 have liners. I know 3208 dont. Do you have bubbles in the radiator? A very methodical bubble would indicate head gasket or head. Injectors are under the valve cover. There is a plate on the side of the pump to remove and a plug in the flywheel housing. You just pin time the injection pump. Have somebody turn the engine over with a WRENCH until a small bolt or pin will fall into a hole in the flywheel. Then go look at the pump and see if the pin will go into a slot in the pump. If not in the pump turn the engine 1 revolvution and try the pump again. We never advance timing on these, just pin time it.



The cracked exhaust it pretty typical. 3204 just don't run very smooth.



Michael