26XL Almost Dies Randomly With Blue Smoke

ChevyNo1

New member
Hello! First time tractor owner here with a 2017. I've only had it for about 3 months and have a random issue. In the 3 months I've owned it, 4-5 times it does what the title states, for about 2-3 minutes, after which it pulls out of it and rpm's return to normal. During the sputtering, the rpm's fluctuate up and down, as low as 500, and most of 1500, even with wide open throttle. No lights on dash. When it was received, all servicing had been completed. These instances have happened in temperatures between 50F and 85F.

Admittedly I am new to tractors, but in my experience, blue smoke usually means burning oil. Would that be a possibility here, and if so, what could be the root cause?

I took a video of it but I don't think I can post links until 10 posts in.
 

bczoom

Senior Member
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Welcome to the forum.
So it's doing it when you first start the tractor for a couple minutes?
Is there any smell to the smoke? If it's truly blue, the smoke should smell like like an asphalt driveway or roofing tar.
Did you check the easy things? Check engine oil via dipstick. Correct level? Does it smell at all like diesel fuel? If wrong oil was added, it can give the blue smoke.
What gets me is that it's sporadic.
The sputtering and revving up and down can also happen if your fuel filter is getting clogged.
 

ChevyNo1

New member
Thank for the response and welcome!

Actually it never does it when cold. This usually occurs after running 10-15 minutes. Up to that point, runs perfectly. And again afterwards.

I did not notice any smell to the smoke. Engine oil level is correct and not smelling like fuel. All oil and filters (including fuel) were changed about 15 hours ago, by a local tractor shop. Pretty sure it's blue, it's not black (like when first fired up).

The randomness is also confusing me ...
 

ChevyNo1

New member
Here is where I uploaded the video. Just piece it together to get the complete link.

https: //rumble.com/v3rfqxv-26xl-stumble .html
 

ChevyNo1

New member
The tractor was taken to a local dealer. They were unable to reproduce the issue, but advised me to always run at a minimum of 2000rpm. They suspect it is loading up. This seems odd to me, that I cannot even idle it at 1000rpm or it will cause this issue. Is the dealer blowing smoke or what?
 

bordercollie

Gold Site Supporter
Gold Site Supporter
It almost sounds like when my diesel Roxor has a clogged up EGR except that I had a check engine light on. I did add some high quality injector cleaner to the fuel - beside removing the EGR and testing with block plates. All is good now with it. Wondering if this is fuel related in your machine? This is what I used- if you want to research it.. ..

Archoil AR6400-D Diesel Fuel System Cleaner
 

ChevyNo1

New member
It almost sounds like when my diesel Roxor has a clogged up EGR except that I had a check engine light on. I did add some high quality injector cleaner to the fuel - beside removing the EGR and testing with block plates. All is good now with it. Wondering if this is fuel related in your machine?
I think it is fuel related .... just not sure yet what is going on. I should probably run some cleaner through it too.
 

ChevyNo1

New member
Just to follow up - an obstruction was found in the tank. I just bought this tractor used, and the previous owner pushed the filter right into the tank! It has been removed and it is running fine now.
 
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