Caterpillar D4H low power smoking black

[Phil P]

Hello All

Caterpillar D4H low power smoking black

D4H S/N 9DB04186

Operator said unit was performing well but suddenly lost power and started blowing black smoke.

The engine is running smoothly and no indication of a miss fire.

I have removed the air filter and the rubber hose from the filter to the turbo charger and made sure the turbo was running.

Removed the side and upper covers to make sure the exhaust leak I noticed was not at the turbo exhaust connection etc.

There is no apparent change.

All input is accepted.

Phil P

 

[heymccall]

Does turbo vanes spin when running?
Black smoke and loss of performance are from lack of air, and point to seized turbo shaft/ impeller.

 

[Phil P]

Thanks heymccall

Yes I removed the rubber hose from air filter to turbo to make sure it was running and I did turn it with my finger before running the engine.

Phil P

 

[Mark250]

excessive oil in the flywheel housing can give symptoms like this.
cause can be convertor leakage or scavenge pump blockage or malfunction

 

[Vetech63]

Make sure you havent popped a turbo boost hose or a intake manifold gasket somewhere.

 

[tljohnson05]

Would start simple with fuel filters, and make sure if its equipped with a waste gate on turbo its operational.

 

[Phil P]

Mark250 Thanks for the information.

Now how do I check that?



Vetech63 Thanks for the suggestion.

There are no hoses between the trubo and the engine it is all hard piping there is no Intercooler.



Tljohnson05 Thanks for the suggestion

the personal on the ranch change the filters including intake air no change in performance and there is no wastegate.

Phil P

 

[Nige]

Mark250 Thanks for the information.

Now how do I check that?

Get underneath and pull the big drain plug #16 from the bottom of the torque converter housing. This may require the lowering of one of the belly guards. BTW has anyone checked the transmission oil level.? If the converter housing was full of oil the transmission could most likely be low on oil.

 

[heymccall]

Had a bad aneroid diaphragm on a 330B or C. Can't recall. Same thing, tons of smoke and low power. I can't determine if that injection pump has an aneroid control or not.

 

[Dave Neubert]

A head gasket blown between two cylinders can cause this

 

[Phil P]

Niger Thanks you again

Heymccall Thank you I will check on that pump the thought had crossed my mind that it could be the injection pump.

Dave Neubert Thanks for the idea this engine is running smoothly I would think it would have a miss on at least one of those 2 cylinders.

Just to let you all know I have volunteered to help the brother of a fellow that has passed away. I had done some work for the owner and now the estate that is being managed by his brother and sister.

They have made it very clear that I am not working for free and have been paying some times in excess and I have refused to take the excess.

This entire fleet has been poorly managed for a number of years. The equipment I have sent to the dealer for repair because the job just required equipment that we did not had access to has run high in repair cost.

Another person has also volunteered to help with the management of the live stock.

The biggest problem we have is the personnel at the ranch do not speak English and the people I am doing business with live a thousand mile away from me in opposite directions but do speak English.

So please be patient with me if it takes time to get some of the information you all may ask for.

Phil P

PS: Walking up to this fleet is like walking in to a room that you know you have to clean out and it is so full and disorganized that you can’t make up your mind what to pickup first. LOL

 

[Phil P]

Hi

I stand corrected on the turbocharger outlet to the intake manifold. Got to it to with a bright light and there is a short about 4 or 5 inches long hose just out board of the turbo. Still no problem with that.

Checking with owner and the operator they have not had to add oil to the transmission.

The injection pump is buried behind the frame but got the best pictures I can and don’t see any tag on it.

Here are some pictures.

Phil P

 

[Phil P]

Here is data tag

 

[Mquinista]

Hey Phil,
I own a D5H , no so diff from a D4H besides size and guts... I had a similar problem to yours, it happen to be a simple thing, in my case one rubber lip between the filter housing and the particle separator end up clogging the intake, resulting in very poor performance and a lot of smoke, not dark but brown and dense.

At the time i though something was going wrong with turbomachinery and did not noticed the problem , ended up checking valves/ compression/ turbo/ blow by/ injectors etc , everithing was perfect for the age and condition of the machine. Anyway convinced myself the motor was damaged somehow and failed to folow the "diesel engine troubleshoot check list" as its just a diesel... if its smoking is one of two things " too much fuel or too less air" .

I´d sugest u pick up a reading on Intake Air Pressure, "under load" that will point to some direction...

good luck

 

[Phil P]

Mquinista Thanks


We have run this engine in the configuration you see in picture #2 it made some change but not much.

The only thing left is a blockage in the tubing between the turbo and the intake manifold.

I have never had an injection pump go rich in fuel feed all I have ever had to change went lean or no fuel at all.

The owner of this machine has a D4 on his farm in another country and he is familiar with how they operate.

The one thing about this unit is all of the markings are in some kind of language that looks like Arabic to me and the owner has no idea what it is either.

Phil P

 

[Nige]

The one thing about this unit is all of the markings are in some kind of language that looks like Arabic to me and the owner has no idea what it is either.

The build data doesn't indicate anything in the way of "alternative language" instruction films.
Post some photos of the stickers please, especially if there is a Part Number on them........

I´d sugest u pick up a reading on Intake Air Pressure, "under load" that will point to some direction...

Agreed. Get a pressure gauge on the intake between the turbo and the engine and measure what you have for boost pressure with the transmission stalled against the brakes in 3rd speed.

Remove plug #3 to tap in a pressure gauge. BTW there are two flexible hoses (#8 & # 11) between the turbo and the engine intake. It might be well worth someone's while to go back and have a really good close look at both of them.

 

[Phil P]

Here is the picture someone ask for.

Phil P

 

[Nige]

Here is the picture someone ask for.

Phil P

It's Japanese. This particular machine was originally manufactured for the Japanese home market.

The ROPS plate translates as follows:-



If the owner wants english films/decals all you have to do is take some photos and ask you dealer for English equivalents.

 

[Phil P]

Thank you Nige

Hope to do manifold pressure check this afternoon.

Phil P

 

[Phil P]

Good morning

What pressure am I looking for?

Phil P