Hitachi digger white smoke?

[Big Kev]

As above Hitachi 490 (Izuzu engine) digger starts in morning lumpy and a lot of white smoke for about 5-10 minutes. Runs fine then but in around the 2 hr mark it cuts out at full throttle, like diesel starvation symptoms. I have to grind it over for about 20 seconds before it starts again and it goes like a pig rest of the day as if its being starved of fuel. It will probably cut out about three times in the day. New fuel filters when this started and new fuel lines as well after problem arose. anybody have any ideas how to pinpoint the problem? I was thinking a cold start device is causing smoke in the morning but I started it two or three different days just to move it and no white smoke but if I work it all day, the next morning its starts with tons of white smoke and lumpy as if its slightly off a cylinder or cylinders.

[Big Kev]

Meant to add as well last night that white smoke is definitely over fuelling. consumption gauge shows digger running between 200 and 300 percent fuel when white smoke is present at tick over rather than the 20-30 percent at tick over normally. Misspell last night as well as its a 470 not a 490 mot that that makes any difference I'm sure

[Wazza]

Meant to add as well last night that white smoke is definitely over fuelling. consumption gauge shows digger running between 200 and 300 percent fuel when white smoke is present at tick over rather than the 20-30 percent at tick over normally. Misspell last night as well as its a 470 not a 490 mot that that makes any difference I'm sure

Sounds like a injector pump issue ,havent had water through it recently have you ?

[Big Kev]

Sounds like a injector pump issue ,havent had water through it recently have you ?

Possibly could have been Wazza, fitter was out to it and changed filters after it first displayed fuel starvation problems, after cut outs and white smoke he came back and replaced any rubber fuel lines that were hard and brittle and blanked off EGR. still doing same thing, he said theres a charcoal type sealed primary filter on the machine which he personally doesn't like. He was to come back and change it to a bowl type but haven't seen him since.

[Big Kev]

just to add I did run the drain at bottom of the tank but it seemed water free, I will try the primary filter again on Monday as mechanic disabled it in case it leaked the tank contents out, theres a small butterfly valve above drain turn handle i think he has turned off but I need a screw driver to turn it which I didn't have with me

[Big Kev]

Anybody know where the diagnostic plug is on this machine or what protocol it uses?

[Muz]

Are you sure youve found all the filters ? . Wouldnt be the first time Ive found one in the lift pump that others have missed. NEXT check all banjo connectors as flakes of paint from fuel barrels get stuck in them and will shut off flow. Any fitter worth their salt will prove fuel belting out of the feed to the pump ..anything less isnt good enough .. even then you can have floating obstructions in the tank .. the list goes on.. but you need to start from the tank and work back .. dont waste money on expensive fixes like pumps when the solution is 'usually' a simple one

[Wazza]

Yep do what Muz suggests ,and also give the diesel tank a good dose of a quality injector pump lube , if its a sticking rack in the injector pump it might help.
Or not .

[Big Kev]

Found all the filters Muzza, four in total on machine with three changed barring the charcoal primary filter which I suspect might be the culprit, When I get time I will check the primary as I think fitter disabled drain as nothing coming out when I turn the drain handle( fitter wants to change it next time he's back to a bowl type) and banjo bolts, must be at least 6 or 8 of them I can see from top side, To be fair to company fitter has a lot on his plate and we are 1 hour from his base at head office so he's reluctant to travel too often. I never got a chance to run machine before he arrived last two times as it takes 2 hrs work before issue shows up. I wasn't with him the two times he was with the machine so I cant confirm if he checked for a good flow to high pressure pump. Engine is common rail

[Wazza]

Engine is common rail

Oooh one of those fandangled things , Does it have a suction control valve "SCV" ,if faulty those things can cause fueling problems

[Big Kev]

Oooh one of those fandangled things , Does it have a suction control valve "SCV" ,if faulty those things can cause fuelling problems

Thanks Wazza, I haven't got a clue but I will find out, with common rail it is more complicated and more need to get diagnostics hooked up but I dont even know where the plug is and what it would look like? I have a couple of diagnostic tools but depends on whether they can read it or not

[Muz]

Found all the filters Muzza, four in total on machine with three changed barring the charcoal primary filter which I suspect might be the culprit, When I get time I will check the primary as I think fitter disabled drain as nothing coming out when I turn the drain handle( fitter wants to change it next time he's back to a bowl type) and banjo bolts, must be at least 6 or 8 of them I can see from top side, To be fair to company fitter has a lot on his plate and we are 1 hour from his base at head office so he's reluctant to travel too often. I never got a chance to run machine before he arrived last two times as it takes 2 hrs work before issue shows up. I wasn't with him the two times he was with the machine so I cant confirm if he checked for a good flow to high pressure pump. Engine is common rail

Yep .. when you get some work before a shut down.. its a sign of obstruction and accumulation due to flow ... 'usually' .. ive even seen some polythene stuck in a filter body head , as they have 90 degree bends too , and thats where the stuff gets trapped .. just have to clear it all the way back to tank

[Big Kev]

Finally got time to look at digger on wed, found the bottom filter(secondry filter quarter full of water, then primary filter was very little fuel coming to it so i blew the line back through to tank. Fuel flow was a bit better but nowhere near what it should be so looks like tank off for clean when fitter gets here. I will try to run her before fitter arrives to see if fault persists (White smoke next morning after days work)

[Wazza]

found the bottom filter(secondry filter quarter full of water, then primary filter was very little fuel coming to it so i blew the line back through to tank. Fuel flow was a bit better but nowhere near what it should be so looks like tank off for clean when fitter gets here.

Water is the kryptonite of diesels, especially common rail as you would already know. I dont know if you get the bacteria{diesel bug} over there that grows in the diesel water interface ,it can block suction strainers and filters ,even plug fuel lines if badly contaminated.

[Big Kev]

Never heard of that bacteria Wazza, filter will have to be changed as its paper and according to fitter If they become contaminated with water they need to be replaced. digger will run just ok in eco mode and like a pig in power mode so that makes sense of the shortage of fuel I found