Cracked ring?

Married2Allis

Well-known Member
I have a 1980 AC 5030 utility tractor. Japanese 2-cylinder diesel with about 1500 hours. Had it for 17 years and been a great little tractor for landscaping and mowing. I started it up yesterday and didn't notice that the throttle was set halfway (usually set at idle). Motor went immediately up to about 1500 rpm before I could grab the throttle lever down to idle. Everything seemed fine. Warmed it up until the temp gauge was in the run zone, then drove it on level ground for about 100 yards. All of a sudden it started puffing white smoke and looked like (and smelled like) engine oil drooling from the exhaust (was not coolant). First thought was -- that's all she wrote, this thing is done-for because new engine parts are mostly not available. I haven't looked in the oil or the coolant or done any pressure testing to find out what's causing the oil in the exhaust. I don't want to invest much money or time into it -- was ready to part with it anyhow. Question is ... if it's a cracked ring, how long will it last and is there anything I can do to keep it going? - thanks
 
White smoke=vaporized coolant. You may have a blown head gasket or (much worse) a cracked head. Depending where the crack or blowout is, the coolant could be co-mingling with the engine oil and both fluids could end up being sucked into the cylinder and burned/blown out the exhaust.

A broken oil control piston ring would cause billows of blue smoke but the engine should run OK otherwise. A broken compression ring should cause a noticeable drop in engine power or uneven running (vibration) since one of the cylinders can't do its share of the work.
 

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