I have an L200 with the Z1100 2cyl 25 HP engine with an aftermarket loader and back blade. this winter I put the blade on the bucket and added a 100LB weight to the 3point hitch for extra traction. I have had trouble starting inthe cold weather so had installed an inline rad heater and battery blankets on the battery and the fuel/hydraulic tank. The engine has always leaked some from the oil filter cover panel and the front of the engine where the speedo cable cover is...but it has started and run just fine except for what seems like a knocking in the engine when it was at lower RPM and a tapping which seemed to come from the hydraulic pump if I tried to lift too much weight in the bucket. it has about 2600 hours on the clock. all was fine until I started seeing some cinder type sparks coming out of the exhaust when plowing at night. then one night the engine just started slowing down and would almost stall if I was in any gear but the lowest. Would seem to start OK if I left it for a while. I replaced the fuel filter and bled the system but nothing improved. the first time it happened I also checked the oil level and it was very low. Now I have a substantial knock in what seems to be the upper engine area and it is hard to start. It seems to put out a lot of black smoke unless rpm's are high. there also seems to be some vapor coming from the blow by pipe on the side of the engine that I don't believe was there before. It did not overheat and the oil light never came on.
any ideas?
any ideas?