A old 455-E help.

[RAMSr]

I’m a newbie here and I’m not really good with computers, so please be patient, thanks.
My brother purchased an older JD 455-E, I have no idea how old it is. Tried looking on the internet but couldn’t find anything. Anyway he started it up the other day while standing on the tracks and it took off with him. I used to be a mechanic many years ago so I’m a little rusty. I took a look at the safety switch and it has jumped and the wiring has been butchered over the years along with the gauges. I’m trying to find a complete wiring diagram for this crawler.
The S/N is TO455EX741473, Please if anyone has any information about this crawler or where I can get a wiring
schematic I would truly appreciate anything I can get on it
Thanks for your time to read this and for any help.
RAMSr

[Jim B]

Welcome to the Boards.

A bit of housekeeping. Do not be surprised to find your thread on your brother's 455E moved to the Late Models Board. A 455E is not considered an old machine by most here, as many here have machines 1010C, 2010C and prior machines that are covered on this Early Models Board.

Looking at the serial number you posted compared to some for sale online, I am going to say your brother's machine is a very late 1987 or a 1988 machine. There aren't the open published lists for industrial equipment that are readily available for Ag and Turf tractors.

The 455E uses a two-volume manual set, you really should have both manuals. For the electrical info you need John Deere technical manual TM1330OP (Operation and testing). This manual has the testing and diagnostic info for the entire machine (it also covers the 450E crawler with dozer blade). the schematics are broken into several systems; they didn't use just one complete schematic for the total electrical system.

The repair info (the wrench turning) is in JD technical Manual TM1330RE (Repair). You can find the manuals (pre-owned) on eBay at times. You can get new manuals direct from the John Deere Construction and Forestry Bookstore. Below is a link to it.

https://www.johndeeretechinfo.com/

Type 455E in the model search box and click the search icon found at the right of the Search Term box. It should give you the recommended manuals for the 455E. There is a phone number on the home page if you want to talk with a representative of the bookstore regarding ordering. The manuals are not inexpensive.

[RAMSr]

Thank you very much for your information. I was way off on guessing the age of this crawler as I thought it was an early 70’s machine. I think my brother bought one of those books and I will definitely look for the other one.
The wiring has been chopped up badly and so far I have the gauges working properly now by following each circuit out from sensors to gauge and at 73 and 21 back surgeries it’s slow going . On the neutral safety switch, it only has one wire, where there should be two, so it’s been bypassed and it has a added single red wire going to the fuel solenoid and the other end is a alligator clip . It’s a mess but I use to enjoy dealing with these kinds of things. But Thank you very much for your reply and help, Take care Sir

[Jim B]

Along with correcting the wiring to the neutral start switch you may find the shifter linkage needs repair. wear in the linkage often leads to the switch not working correctly and could be the reason someone bypassed the switch, rather than fix the actual issue - linkage wear and or adjustment.

[RAMSr]

Thanks for your input on the neutral switch and yeah that thought crossed my mind. I first have to find the hot wire that goes to the switch. It has a black wire on one side but nothing on the other side. I’ve found about 6 wires that are floating around not hooked to anything ‍♂️. I’m wondering if some of those wires are for optional equipment that this doesn’t have. I believe there was an electric operation of the clamshell, but I don’t have a lot of knowledge on JD. I worked for Cat a few years and I believe they had that kind of options. I’m going out this morning and start at the starter and work my way back . A lot of the wires have faded making it a little difficult but I’ve got all the gauges working now.
You said you thought this was a mid 80’s crawler, is that from the s/n I posted? Reason I asked my brother who doesn’t know anything about this kind of equipment said to me yesterday when I told him that it was in the 80’s, that he thought it was older because of the pedals configuration. I’m going to see him and ask what the pedals had to do with the age, do you have any idea what he could be talking about? Like I said he doesn’t know anything about equipment like this ‍♂️.
Thanks again Sir and I agree the linkage might be why the switch was bypassed , but I have to find the wires to be certain, thanks Jim

[Jim B]

Unless you go to a dealer or find someone with a serial number book like salesmen use for buying and selling and get them to check the serial number for you, the only way I have found id to check the online auction sites for the same models. Some will show the year and the serial number. From the couple 455Es I found the serial numbers were a bit lower than yours and they were shown as 1987 machines. Based on that I am saying your brother's 455E is near the end of the 1987 run or it is in the 1988 production run. 1988 was the last build year of the 455E. The 455G followed the 455E, they skipped the 450F/455F designation. The G series started in 1987 so there is some overlap in the build years of two.

They offered two methods of steering. The lever steer models had a clutch pedal on the left and one brake pedal (works both brakes for stopping) on the right. Steering levers controlled the steering clutches and the brake applications for steering. The pedal steer models had a clutch on the left. The center pedal controlled the left steering clutch and brake. The right pedal was the right steering clutch and brake.

[RAMSr]

Ok, that settles that, I believe it’s a 87 and thank you again for explaining that. When I saw this morning the first thing I did was ask him what he meant by that comment and he said he thought the newer ones had lever steering and what you said answered that.Jim I really appreciate all the input you gave me. You’ve been very helpful and if you have anymore suggestions, advice I’ll happily accept it all . I’ve been out of heavy equipment game for over 40 years and then I work for Blanchard caterpillar in SC. and then I got lucky and got on with a large Power Company in SC. where I stayed for 23 years. I worked on some one of a kind machines but no more earth moving equipment.
Again Sir Thanks

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

TractorData.com is a good resource for year info. Says the 455E was 85-87. And the 455D was 83-85. Before 83, they called the loaders 450, 450B and 450C same as the drawbar crawlers and those equipped with dozers.

I remembers 1982 as the year they changed over to 455 for the loader crawlers, and TD says 83. so close enough, I suppose.

I don't see a 455 past 87. Did they revert back to 450 for the loaders after 87? Our family JD dealership went dark in 1983, so I wasn't seeing what JD was doing past then. We were both Ag and Industrial, but JD wanted us to split that. And then have a new building(s) right when things were black for the Ag business. So, we opted to drop JD for Ford until the massive loss of farms caused that to close down as well.

Whenever the wiring is a mess, I tend to just make up my own replacement wiring. nEliminate all the cracked insulation, mouse chews, funky connectors, etc.

Stan

[Jim B]

Hi Stan,

The 455G (1988 to 2000) followed the 455E. They skipped having a 455F series. The G received a 4-speed power shift transmission in place of the HLR with the 4speed gear transmission. I am not sure, but they may have dropped the 455G and did not replace it. The 555 models may have run a bit longer with the 555G. Neither the 455G nor 555G show a successor model. Currently I think they only offer the 655 P-tier and the 755 P-tier crawler loaders.

[RAMSr]

Thanks again for your help, it’s great to have a forum like this . I’m just about to the point of doing what you suggested and make my own wiring. I’ve got several things put together and working but I’m having trouble with the neutral switch. There was only two black wires hooked up on one side of the neutral switch and I’m trying to find the right wire for the other side of the switch. And there’s about 6 wires that are flopping around the switch area and I have no idea where they belong . Do they use the same harness on different models of the 455? I’m thinking that there maybe different options, like electric for hydraulic valves and some of these wires are for these types of options ‍♂️.
My brother thinks all 450 & 455 are all about the same. So I asked him to get a book, he gets a 450B book and the schematic doesn’t show what I have in front of me . He’s to damn tight to get the right book. But with you guys help I’ll keep on digging. Thanks guys for all your support .

[RAMSr]

I tried looking on TractorData. Com and I only saw farm tractors and lawn tractors ‍♂️. Am I looking at the wrong place?

[Jim B]

What are you looking for on Tractor Data? They have very limited info on industrial crawlers and equipment.

Sorry, but I disagree with your brother. The 455E is quite a bit different than the earlier 450, 450b.450c, and 450Ds. A 450B service/technical Manual covers a dry steering clutch machine, the 455E has wet steering clutches. The electrical on the 455E is a good bit more and different than the 450B electrical system.

Some of the extra wires you see could be for rear lights. Do you have the transmission oil temperature gauge sender hooked up? It is on the other side of the transmission, but that wire may run through that same harness.

You need the John Deere TM1330OP technical manual as I posted a link to the JD Construction Bookstore for you in an earlier post. The wiring diagrams are not as simple of a line drawing as the 450B drawings are. The 450E/455E systems use a number of plug-together connectors throughout the harnesses. I have a 450E dozer, and I purchased the TM1330OP and the TM1330RE technical manuals because I could not find them free on the web to download (the current price at the JD bookstore is less than what I paid for them a few years ago). The electrical drawings are multiple pages (some fold out) along with the key info needed for the drawings and testing components. I would be leery of purchasing the cheap CDs and USB offerings on eBay and Amazon.

It looks like the neutral start switch has a ground wire on one terminal They show the terminal just going to ground at the switch, but it might go back in the harness and ground away from the neutral switch. The #21 black wire (to A 3 pin connector) and #27 black wire (to starting aid) are both on the second terminal of the neutral switch.

[RAMSr]

Thank you Jim, that is great information and I’m going to copy your last post and send it to my brother to hopefully make a believer out of him . He hates to spend money on a book when he thinks they’re all basically the same machine and he so dog gone hard headed . I believe he doesn’t have faith in what I’m doing, but I know exactly what I’m doing. He thinks I should have all the wiring done in 1-2 days which could be possible only if I have the proper book to work with. I finally found what I believe to be the right schematic but you can’t make out the small text on it so it makes it rough and after what you said about the neutral switch wiring, how the other side of the switch goes straight to ground, that is exactly what this schematic shows if only if I could read the darn thing . I’m not sure if I can but I’m gonna try to attach a picture of what I found. As far going to that Tractor date site, someone on suggested to take a look at it, they were just trying to help me and I do appreciate it.
Jim Sir you really don’t know just how much I appreciate everything you have shared with me. Hopefully by sending him your last post he will believe someone else’s knowledge of the importance of having the right book. I tried telling him “ it’s like a road map, if you don’t have the right map it’s extremely hard to get to where you want to go . Thanks and I’d like to buy you and your wife dinner, if I knew how to send it. I’m going to send and hopefully he’ll get the right book . I’m 73 and have had 21 surgeries on my back and climbing around on this machine has been working on my nerves and I frustrate with him at times . Thanks again Sir

[RAMSr]

Sorry Jim I’m not very good with computers and I couldn’t attach the picture ‍♂️. I guess it doesn’t matter because you can’t read the fine print ‍♂️, but thanks again

[Jim B]

To post pictures here you need to use a third-party hosting site. The site has a dedicated picture server which can be used for that by setting up an account with Lavoy, however it is currently down. Imgur and Postimages are a web couple sites that can be used as well.

If it opens for you below is a picture of one of the drawings in my TM1330OP manual, I put on Postimages. There are a number more and the point-to-point key sheets for them. The quantity of pages of info and having them in the right order is what makes me say getting the manual is best. If I was only going to get one manual it would be the TM1330OP operation and testing manual. It has the diagnostic, testing and specification info. The "wrenching" info covered in the TM1330RE manual is more basic to all repairs and does not include the info in the testing manual.

https://i.postimg.cc/YqxWChxZ/450E-drawing.jpg