Well I finally had the weather and time to change fluids and filters on the “new to me” 1975 JD 555a. When I pulled the transmission screen I was happy for a moment because it didn’t look too clogged with sludge, but then came the bad news.
I pulled out a lot of crushed pieces of a long narrow spring, and a rubber seal broken into a lot of pieces. One piece of an o ring. I took pictures if it helps, I’m hoping someone with experience inside a transmission can tell me if they have a guess or know where exactly they came from. Is it common? Does it sound like this thing is about to give up the ghost?
It generally runs strong, on occasion the trans pressure drops and it slips some. Just won’t move. Let it rest a while and it’s back to normal. I’ve only operated it about 5 hours before changing all the filters and fluid today, and only spent about a half hour on it afterwards
Straight 550 transmission
Straight 550 transmission
Roger
555 Crawler
555 Crawler
Re: Straight 550 transmission
In general, you do not read anything good about the 550 transmissions. I would say you are looking at a tear down, sorry.
Lavoy
Lavoy
Parts and restoration for antique and late model John Deere crawlers.
Owner and moderator www.jdcrawlers.com
Owner and moderator www.jdcrawlers.com
- Stan Disbrow
- 350 crawler
- Posts: 2904
- Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:13 pm
- Location: Raleigh, NC
Re: Straight 550 transmission
Hi,
Hmmmm. Well, oil get thinner as it gets warmer. I suspect there is an internal oil leak due to the spare parts you have found. So, the operating pressure is likely close to Not Working even at the beginning. Then, it doesn't take much to cause things to stop.
I agree with Lavoy here.
Stan
Hmmmm. Well, oil get thinner as it gets warmer. I suspect there is an internal oil leak due to the spare parts you have found. So, the operating pressure is likely close to Not Working even at the beginning. Then, it doesn't take much to cause things to stop.
I agree with Lavoy here.
Stan
There's No Such Thing As A Cheap Crawler!
Useta Have: '58 JD 420c 5-roller w/62 inside blade
Useta Have: '78 JD350C w/6310 outside blade
Useta Have: '68 JD350, '51 Terratrac GT-25
Have: 1950 M, 2005 x495, 2008 5103 (now known as 5045D)
Useta Have: '58 JD 420c 5-roller w/62 inside blade
Useta Have: '78 JD350C w/6310 outside blade
Useta Have: '68 JD350, '51 Terratrac GT-25
Have: 1950 M, 2005 x495, 2008 5103 (now known as 5045D)
- Al Swearengen
- 440 crawler
- Posts: 128
- Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2010 8:01 am
- Location: Sierra Nevadas...Gold Country!
Re: Straight 550 transmission
Boy, no kidding. How did they muff this one up so bad? Was it a complete redesign failure?
'99 450G 6-Way
Re: Straight 550 transmission
Like many other aspects of all crawler, lack of maintenance is what I often see talked about as a reason for failure, specifically not changing the trans filter because it is hard to do. This probably means that the fluid did not get changed much either.
Lavoy
Lavoy
Parts and restoration for antique and late model John Deere crawlers.
Owner and moderator www.jdcrawlers.com
Owner and moderator www.jdcrawlers.com
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