350b crawler loader smoking a lot from the blow bye

[JPS]

I have a 1976 350b crawler loader. I have done a lot of work on her and but haven’t used her for much work it’s mostly a play toy. I live in Newfoundland and this winter was a hard one. Used her to plow snow and parked her in the garage when done and after a few days went to get her going but she wouldn’t. I ended up draining all the fuel from the tank, blew out the fuel lines. Changed the fuel filters. Installed a new lift pump. New starter. Blew out the return lines. Cleaned out the check valve on the return lines. But still wouldn’t start! Checked out the fuel pump and no mouse turds. Anyway after about 6 weeks I finally got her going. I used her a couple days ago but there is a lot of blue smoke coming out of the blow bye and appears to be coming out of the dip stick. She never done this before. Also she doesn’t have the power like she used to. Any ideas on what the problem could be?

[LeonardL]

Well I hate to be the one to give you bad news but it sounds like an engine overhaul is in your future. At the very least I suspect you have compression rings that are bad and causing the blow by. You could also have one or more valves bad as well. Low compression is also the most likely cause of your hard to start issue. Diesel engines require compression to run. When this is lost then you loose not only the power when running but also the ability for it to start running in the first place. Check your compression or have it checked and you will find at least one cylinder will be low. Most likely it will be all three cylinders. Sorry I can't be more optimistic but I'm sure this is what you will find.

[JPS]

I figured as much but was hoping for a easier fix. Lol. Do you think that something happened to her while I was using her? Never ever had a issue with starting before and she never smoked like this before. Easy to start now also but lots of smoke just not out of the stack. Also the reverser whines in reverse only any ideas about that? Thanks for the advice! this is a great site

[LeonardL]

It would be hard for me to venture a given opinion on whether or not you did anything to cause this issue. Not knowing you as an operator or knowing the machine in general it would be hard to say. Couple that with not knowing how hard you pushed the machine or the conditions you were running it in would make that impossible for me or anyone to do.

It would be my guess that it either has broken or collapsed a compression ring on one or more cylinders. I would also venture a guess that your engine has a lot of hours on it since it is getting some age behind it as well. Even if it has been gone into sometime in the past it is likely that it has a bunch of wear inside the engine. As in the rings are worn out and probably a lot of taper in the cylinder walls along with some piston wear. It could be a valve, however either way my suggestion would be to pull it and open it up. It has issues.

You could start by pulling the head off first just to see if it is a valve or not. But personally... I would pull it and go through it top to bottom. Then you know you have a good motor. The ole girl is closing in on fifty years old. It may be a good time to go through it from one end to the other. Especially if you are going to depend on it in your climate. I've never been to your part of the world but I hear it can be brutal at times. It's bad enough here in Missouri. We go through extremes here from well below zero to well above a hundred degrees. And then there is our relentless humidity! That in itself has its challenges.

Your reverser is most likely okay. They do whine in reverse because of the way the counter shaft is configured inside the case. Dozers / Loaders are meant to push going forward. These 350's were engineered with the counter shaft in the best position to do that. The down side is it makes them whine in reverse.

[JPS]

Thanks for the info. I myself don’t run her hard she’s more like my baby lol. However I know the original owner and he is hard on everything. I’ve owned her now for about 8 years. I’ve done a pretty good restoration on her but haven’t touched the motor. There’s 6865 hrs on her. I guess I’ll have to pull the engine and do her completely. Wife won’t be happy about that lol. I appreciate the info not many 350s around here now or people who worked on them. Thanks again

[LeonardL]

Hey no problem. Give us a holler if you run into something you need. I also understand the wife not being happy. I think it may be a woman thing. They're not all that way but most of the ones I know are. I know what you mean about no body left who worked on these older crawlers. I get calls all the time wanting me to work on this older equipment. I'm supposed to be retired but I work more now than when I did it for a living.

Good luck with it and keep us posted on what you find.

[gregjo1948]

I think LEONARDT has said it all. If I were you, and could afford it, I'd get the complete rebuild kit for it which includes everything you'll need for the head.

[JPS]

Yes I’ll have to price them out. Getting it to Newfoundland is the problem with shipping and duty. Thanks