A coworker of mine has an early 80's International 1600 diesel tractor (I believe its a large garden/utility tractor).
He says that when he starts it, he gets a ton of white smoke for 3-4 minutes until it warms up, then its just clean air after that (well, as clean as diesel exhaust could be). It only runs rough before it warms up, other than that he says it runs really good. But he's getting concerned about the smoke, which he says its been doing since he bought it. Its not losing any water, and the oil looks good. So I told him it was likely just condensation in the motor slowly burning off, and nothing to really worry about. Anyone with more knowledge want to offer up some advice? Thanks.

 

No knowledge for ya but maybe some comfort.

Our (81 or 82 I think) JD 4240 white smokes bad when its cold and has for a long time with no ill effects. And or ( 03 I think) JD 6715 grey smokes at idle no matter if it is cold or warm.

If I was him I would not worry about it.

 

More than likely he is loosing his fuel prime. Either from a cracked hose, leaky fitting, bad return valve etc. Could also be an injector leaking down after setting. If it runs good, I wouldnt worry about it.

 

almost every diesel tractor i have ever run will blow white smoke if started when cold. (say 30 degrees or less) just let it run at a slightly fast idle for a while until it warms up. i'm pretty sure that it is just unburnt fuel due to the engine not being up to operating temperature.