2010 diesel runs on 3 cylinders until warm

dodgeaspen · Apr 30, 2017

I have a diesel 2010W that runs on three cylinders until it warms up. As it begins to warm up the exhaust pops slowly at first then more often until the fourth cylinder is firing. Could this be an injector? I currently don't have the tools to do a compression test but that's on my list of things to check. The valves are set correctly and there doesn't appear to be any blowby out the breather or blue smoke out the exhaust. It has always done this for as long as I've had it but the time it is taking the fourth cylinder to warm up and fire is getting longer. Any ideas?

Thanks

Dieseltech · Apr 30, 2017

A bad injector won't work right hot or cold, I'd suspect low compression on one cylinder. A diesel may run OK hot with 250 PSI, but won't hit cold when it's that low.

teddy52food · Apr 30, 2017

Top ring is broken on that piston.

David G · Apr 30, 2017

A pop is usually indicative of an exhaust valve not opening, check your clearances.

JDEM · May 1, 2017

Most likely low compression. Since it is a 2010, I will assume from cylinder-piston wear. In the 80s - at
the Deere dealership I worked at - we had a mess of brand new tractors did exactly the same thing. Mostly
350 crawlers and 2940 ag tractors. I had one brand new 350 that ran on two cylinders if started at temps
colder then 50 F. Smoked like crazy and ran terrible until it got warm and then was fine. Compression check
on that showed no problem. I took the exhaust manifold off so when started - I could see which cylinder the
smoke actually came from. It was #3. A Deere engineer worked with me and we tore it all apart. Never found
anything wrong with it. We had a mess of new tractors with the same problem. Deere's fix it seems was to
switch to engines built in Saran France and they ran great. No more Dubuque engines in those 350Cs. Deere
later claimed the problem was with machining at the factory and low piston stand-out. Deere came out with a
special high-head piston kit to fix the 2940 tractors.

JDEM · May 1, 2017

Just an added comment. I have a GM IDI 6.2 diesel that has Bosch pintle-injectors that are worn. Causes the
same symptoms as you describe besides they also make one heck of a knocking sound until the engine gets warm
and smooths out. Deere rarely used pintle injectors though. I know the 2010 did come with big (not pencil)
injectors made by Scintilla et. al. I doubt you have an injector problem but it IS possible. Easiest way to
find out is swap two injectors around and see if the skip changes cylinders.

dodgeaspen · May 3, 2017

According to the service manual they are pintle type injectors. My plan is to check compression then swap injectors if the compression looks normal. I've never checked compression on this machine so I guess I need to find a rubber piece that snugly fits in the injector hole and hold it there? Seems hard to do at 300 psi. The injector is not threaded in- it mounts on a flange. Any thoughts?

2010 diesel runs on 3 cylinders until warm

dodgeaspen

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David G

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dodgeaspen

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