Air in the sediment bowl is probably just the agitation of moving fuel. At the moment, it doesn't seem germane. But after loosening the individual injector lines, the question remains whether or not the noise you don't like - went away. If no, then a bad injector is not likely your problem.

A leaky or blown head gasket can also be detected by visible signs of either oil in the radiator - or water in the oil pan. Unlike the sediment bowl, you definitely don't want to see bubbles in the radiator. On a cold tractor, remove the radiator cap. Assuming the coolant is at the correct level, look for black stuffl floating on the colored coolant. If in doubt, stick your finger in and see if it comes out will any telltale black oil on it. Then start the engine with the cap off, and watch the coolant circulate as the engine warms up. Bubbles will only appear when the water pump is churning warm (not necessarily hot) coolant.

Water in the pan is also checked with a cold engine. If necessary, make sure the drain plug is on the downhill side or corner - before you allow the engine to go cold. Then slowly loosen the cold drain plug just to the point where it starts to drip. Catch the first drips with your fingers. When oil and water separate, water goes to the bottom. So if there's any water in your pan, it will drip onto your finger before the oil will.

//greg//

When you get the analysis back check the colum on fuel dilution. If it's high you can bet then that you have a dribbling injector - still firing correctly but not closing completely, leading to over-fueling in a particular cylinder.

You are already getting advice from folks that are much more experienced than I, but I had a similar problem with my Farmpro 2430. I had white smoke at all RPM's that hung around and would actually float to the ground. I ordered new injectors but could not determine which one was bad based on cracking the hardlines. Cracking the line at all of the injectors made the RPM's dive. So, I removed all of the injectors and inspected each. All of the injectors had carbon buildup on the tip, but two of them were dry and had grayish/Black buildup and one was wet with diesel which made the buildup black. I replaced the one that was wet. The tractor started up with clear exhaust again.

Your situation is different than mine in that the smoke seems to be intermittent and you have low hours, my tractor had 130Hrs at the time so there was plenty of carbon buildup, may be hard to see a wet injector without some carbon to soak up the fuel. Hope you get it worked out.

Thanks Mr. Ray Barnes,

I'm about convinced now that my tractor problem
has to do with the injectors. I am grateful for the time
that you and so many others here have taken to help me out.
And you can bet I'm durned thankful that it's working at all
after I run it so much with the low oil pressure.
I did check the radiator for oil as someone so kindly suggested.
But was no oil at the top. Also started engine and
watched for bubbles in the radiator.
None there though. Still waiting for oil analysis results.
I would really like to replace the injectors.
Would they be available at a tractor dealer
or would I need to order from China?

Best regards

Patrick L.

There are member dealers here that live for those words sir. Injectors are pretty common in-stock items at most Chinese tractor dealers (as opposed to other brand name tractor dealers). Clearly you don't have one nearby, but these guys deal mail order regularly.

But before you put out money on a guess, you should actually confirm that your injection pump is actually delivering the right amount of correctly timed fuel to each injector.

//greg//

Aye Aye Sir.
(ex. BM3, USS Mt. Katmai)
That sounds like very good advice to me.
Quite honestly, I would not know where to start.
So I'm guessing that the best option for me
might be to try to replace one or maybe even all.
Do you think it might be good to have a spare around anyway?
LaiDong KM385BT, 1.53 liter, 18.4 kw, is all of the
engine info. that I could find. If there be anyone out there
looking to sell an injector or two, be happy to hear
from you. At least until I hear the price.




Best regards

Pat L.

We have the injectors in stock,send me a e-mail and I will give you pricing

tommy@affordabletractorsalesco.com


Tommy