ANybody know anything about a John Deere 550 dozer?

[Smart]

Year is 1983 I believe. My lease has one on property that the landowner used to use to push cedar during an eradication program back in 2005-2008. It's been running well until recently. It runs for about 20 minutes and shuts down. We let it rest for 15-20 minutes and it does the same thing over and over. Its not overheating and its not leaking any fluids. I told him it was probably fuel related so he changed the fuel filter out and no improvement. I was thinking maybe the next step is a fuel pump.......but wanted to pick the minds of the TBH braintrust problem solvers for some info to see if anybody had some direction.. I know nothing about them mechanically so I'm all ears.


The LO SIL mentioned that the transoil pressure does get low occasionally when it shuts down but there are no leaks and the fluid level is fine. strange.

[Preacher Man]

How old is the fuel?

Have the fuel lines been looked at?

How long since it’s last full tune up?

[sendit]

So when it quits running how does it die? Does it spit and sputter a bit and lose power or dies it simply quit running . I have similar problems with both my dozer and tractor and both were fuel problems. On the tractor it would run fine and then suddenly start loosing power and would hardly idle and die. I finally found the problem, it was grass or small sticks that got in the fuel tank when I left the cap off while shredding. Seems the tractor would run fine but the usage would draw the debris into the the fuel line and clog it. Let it sit there awhile and it would repeat. I wound up having to drain and flush the tank out and found the problem. The dozer had kinda the same problem, I found a blockage in the fuel line going into the filter just before the injector pump.

If you machine acts up and looses power like mine did I would look into the fuel system.

[waterdog]

check the little fuel filtering screens.

[Drycreek3189]

So when it quits running how does it die? Does it spit and sputter a bit and lose power or dies it simply quit running . I have similar problems with both my dozer and tractor and both were fuel problems. On the tractor it would run fine and then suddenly start loosing power and would hardly idle and die. I finally found the problem, it was grass or small sticks that got in the fuel tank when I left the cap off while shredding. Seems the tractor would run fine but the usage would draw the debris into the the fuel line and clog it. Let it sit there awhile and it would repeat. I wound up having to drain and flush the tank out and found the problem. The dozer had kinda the same problem, I found a blockage in the fuel line going into the filter just before the injector pump.

If you machine acts up and looses power like mine did I would look into the fuel system.

I would check this. I once watched a good mechanic almost go nuts trying to keep a scraper running only to find out there was a shop rag in the fuel tank. He exhausted all other fuel fixes and then pulled the tank off. Each time the tank would get low the rag would suck over the fuel line and the engine would die.

[Smart]

ANybody know anything about a John Deere 550 dozer?

Thanks for the replies fellas.

check the little fuel filtering screens.

Where are these screens located?

So when it quits running how does it die? Does it spit and sputter a bit and lose power or dies it simply quit running . I have similar problems with both my dozer and tractor and both were fuel problems. On the tractor it would run fine and then suddenly start loosing power and would hardly idle and die. I finally found the problem, it was grass or small sticks that got in the fuel tank when I left the cap off while shredding. Seems the tractor would run fine but the usage would draw the debris into the the fuel line and clog it. Let it sit there awhile and it would repeat. I wound up having to drain and flush the tank out and found the problem. The dozer had kinda the same problem, I found a blockage in the fuel line going into the filter just before the injector pump.



If you machine acts up and looses power like mine did I would look into the fuel system.

It was spit and sputter, I’ll check to see if it still is. It was worse yesterday I’m told with the every 20 minutes compared to longer before. I didn’t ask when he told me about this last session. Did yours spit and sputter?

How old is the fuel?



Have the fuel lines been looked at?



How long since it’s last full tune up?

I’ll ask him... let me check on that.

[Gerald G]

Take the fuel line loose where it goes in to the fuel filter, if no fuel is running out, line is stopped up between there and the tank. Probably rust if it has been sitting a lot without being mostly full of fuel.

[Smart]

ANybody know anything about a John Deere 550 dozer?

Take the fuel line loose where it goes in to the fuel filter, if no fuel is running out, line is stopped up between there and the tank. Probably rust if it has been sitting a lot without being mostly full of fuel.

when it shuts off right after it stops?

[waterdog]

http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=2239

[Smart]

http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboa...pic.php?t=2239

Excellent link. Thanks WD.

Need to see if I can find some pics to send them or take down with me next weekend.

[tex4k]

Agree with the fuel system answers, that has been the number 1 cause of mysterious failures on our equipment from backhoes to tele-handlers sludge, debris, and just general crap in the tank?

[Smart]

bump...

[GarGuy]

May be a dang fuel tank vent. I had that exact problem. Run for 15 minutes until it sucked a vacume on the fuel tank.

[RifleBowPistol]

When it dies, what do you have to do, to get it started again? Diesels can be pretty hard to get started once they loose prime on the fuel system. It really sounds like either the injector pump is getting air in it and or starving or fuel. If the lift pump pushes air up to the injector pump, it will either run like crap and or die. It can get air in the lines from cracked fuel lines or bad lift pump. Then there may be something that is preventing fuel from getting to either the lift pump or the injector pump. Such as a plugged screen or collapsed hose, or plugged hose.

I would check to see if it has fuel coming out of the lift pump, after it dies. Then check to see if there is fuel coming into the lift pump, after it dies. If there is plenty of fuel going to and from the lift pump, I would wonder about the injector pump. They typically leak some fuel from the injector pump, but if there is a noticeable amount of fresh fuel leaking from the injector pump, it probably needs to be rebuilt. If there are any signs of air getting into the fuel lines or lack of fuel to or from the lift pump, I would also probably check the engine oil, to see if you can detect any diesel fuel smell. It would probably take a lot of diesel fuel in the oil, before you cold smell it, but you might. I know a commercial diesel engine, such as a bull dozer engine, will hold a lot of oil, so it would take a lot of fuel to mix with the oil, before it would be overly obvious that you have diesel in the oil.

I don't know that engine in that dozer, so I don't know if it's possible for diesel to leak into the oil, but with the diesels I have worked on, sometimes when either lift pumps or injector pumps leak, they will leak into the engine. If it leaks diesel fuel into the oil and enough of it, then with a bit of engine wear, you can get a run away condition, which is usually very bad. Then having fuel in the oil, is not good for bearings or anything else the oil is supposed to lubricate.

If you have been having to either bleed out the injector lines or use either or some other spray in the intake to start the engine, after it dies, you may be getting air in the injector pump and or lines.

On the mechanical injection diesels I have worked on, they usually have return lines on the tops of the injectors, that are usually sealed with O-rings. Those can leak at times and get air back into the system.
A diesel is pretty simple for the most part, the injector pump, is one of the most complicated pieces on the whole engine or the most complicated piece and one of the most expensive pieces. As long as the engine is hot, the compression is good, the injector pump is functioning correctly, not leaking internally, in time and there is no air getting to the injector pump, plenty of fuel, a diesel should run continuously. More recent mechanical injection diesels, usually have a fuel cut off solenoid on/in the injector pump. When you turn the key off, that's what kills the engine. Basically shutting off the fuel to the engine, is how you kill most mechanical injected diesels. My old Massey Ferguson, with a Perkins engine, does not have glow plugs, to start it, nor does it have a fuel cut off, to shut the engine off. That Perkins just has a good design, high compression, to get it started. Then it has a choke, just like a carbureted gasoline engine, that is used to shut off the air, to kill the engine. That dozer may have a choke to kill it, but by 83, it may have a fuel shut off, that could be done mechanically or electrically.
Basically to kill a diesel, you either have to shut off the air or fuel. You might also check to make sure there is nothing restricting air flow into the engine. That may be more of a possibility, if the engine will start back up, without having to bleed out the injector lines or use either to start it. Not knowing that dozer, I don't know what the air filter looks like or the intake tubing.

Giving us as much info on how it dies, then how quickly you can get it restarted and what you have to do to get it restarted, would help diagnose the problem with it.

[Gerald G]

when it shuts off right after it stops?

That would be a good time to check, but anytime, there should be a good flow of fuel coming out of the line.

May be a dang fuel tank vent. I had that exact problem. Run for 15 minutes until it sucked a vacume on the fuel tank.

Another good idea from Garvey, when it goes dead, loosen the fuel cap slowly, if it sucks air, the vent is stopped up.
The vent could be on the tank or in the fuel cap.