# Introduction and help Needed



## elvallot (Jul 9, 2016)

Hi,

My name is Liz and I live in Louisiana, I have a 2007 Mahindra 3525 tractor. I mainly cut grass with my tractor, but have experience with light brush and use of auger attachment. I do not have much mechanical experience so I am very new at diagnosing problems

My problem - 

I just put some diesel in the tractor and it ran good for a while but now is sputtering and blowing white smoke.

Is the diesel bad, or is there something in the tank causing this. Or could it be an engine issue.

Never really had much problem with it prior to now. 

Thank you in advance for your assistance.


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## HarveyW (Sep 15, 2014)

Hello Liz, welcome to the tractor forum.

Most likely you got some water into the fuel system. Water in the fuel will cause spitting & sputtering and white smoke. Drain a small amount of fuel from the bottom (base) of the fuel filter into a glass container and have a look at it. If water is present, drain the fuel tank, flush it out, and add new fuel.

Does the white smoke have a sweet smell similar to antifreeze? If so, you have a coolant leak into the combustion chamber. Probably a head gasket or cracked head. Keep an eye on the coolant level and temperature gauge. 

If neither of the above resolves your problem, try this: With the engine running where it acts up/smokes the worst, loosen the injection lines one at a time at the injector. Note any changes in running and/or smoke production. When you loosen the injector line at the bad cylinder, there will be no change in running and the smoke will stop. A good cylinder will probably stall the engine. Tighten the injector line and move to the next. If you identify a bad cylinder, you will probably want to do a compression test.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Welcome to the forum Liz. Sorry to hear you are having issues with your tractor. As HarveyW mentioned, it sure sounds like bad fuel. 
Maybe you can give us a little more history of the problem. There could have been an issue with excessive condensation in the tank if the tractor sat with low or no fuel in it for an extended period for example. If you drain some fuel from the system as HarveyW stated, you can check to see if there is actually water in the tank. Fuel will float on the water. When was the last time you drained your fuel filter and / or changed the filter?


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