JD 2010 white smoke

Just recently the exhaust from my 2010 started containing a good bit of white smoke. It did get hot recently (bad thermostat) and I assume this caused the problem. After I last ran it for an hour or two I pulled off the throttle to let it cool down before shutting off. The white smoke stopped when I reduced the throttle -- perfectly fine exhaust.

Any ideas? Start by replacing the head gasket?

More specifically - - JD 2010 Diesel

White is water in some form or another...condensation, coolant leak into the combustion chamber.

Since it stayed with you, must be more than condensation in a cold combustion chamber.

Your bad thermostat comment could be the smoking gun as you mentioned.

Mark

A bad head gasket is probably the most hopefull problem you could have. The heat may also have baked the o-rings that seal the liners....
I'd probably pull the oil drain plug first thing in the morning, carefully, and see if there's any coolant in there. If there is... I think I'd plan on tearing it down. If the oil is clean... probably pull the head off in hope that the head gasket is the only problem. Also check the head for flatness and cracks...

Rod

I would do the test for exaust gas in the radaitor. It cost around $50.00 but them you know what you have going wrong. Getting a motor hot can lead to head or head gasket problems.

On a diesel I would first off change the fuel filter or filters also add a water remover to the fuel and see if the problem goes away. You could have a bad batch of fuel. Also remove the radiator cap and watch for smoke and a real strong smell od diesel in the coolant

If you pull the head have it resurfaced and magnafluxed for cracks since it ran hot, also have the top side of the block where the head sits magnafluxed also for cracks around the threaded holes etc. There is a dye you can use for locating cracks also which works great but not sure where to purchase it. Keep us posted on what you find.

Thanks to all for the info & advice. . I'll work on it one weekend at a time. Thankfully the mowing is done (from my perspective) for the year.

Well you might just get to go to the college of learning about why most of us tell people to RUN from a JD 2010, gas or diesel.

Things to check/do:

1) Like Old posted, change the fuel filters and drain the diesel fuel out. Replace it with fresh clean fuel. You could have a batch of bad fuel causing the issue. I really doubt it but this is the cheapest thing to try.

2)Bring the tractor up to operating temperature. Slowly remove the radiator cap. Look in the radiator and see if you have any air bubbles. If you do then you have a leak between the compression side and coolant side. The cheapest thing would be a head gasket but I would bet that the head is cracked. These sleeve decked motors where notorious for this problem. Also the white smoke quiting when you reduce throttle sounds like a cracked head. When you have the engine at higher speed it is pushing compression into the water jacket.

3) I you do not have any bubbles than you may have a leak in the lower part of the engine. Meaning the o-rings around the sleeve deck. To check for these you need to pressurize the cooling system. You need the type that replaces your radiator cap with an adapter that has a hand pump and pressure gauge. You can pressurize the system up to 8-10 PSI. You will need to drain the oil first. Then put the system under pressure and if you get water out the drain you have a problem in the sleeve deck area. Pull the oil pan and locate the leak. It can be just an o-ring on the outside or it can be a cracked block or sleeve deck.

Since you got it hot you more than likely have a serious problem. These engine where one of the worse JD ever made. The diesels are worse than the gas but neither are real good. They are expensive to work on and much harder to do than a conventional sleeved engine. I hope it something simple but I would not hold much hope for that.

The 2010 engine besides being prone to cracked cyl heads were also prone to the blocks cracking at the top between cyl holes.