JDcrawlers Messageboard

There was an inspection tool (JD268A) years ago that allowed for a quick check of track components. As far as I can find out those are no longer made. I believe John Deere may now have a full track inspection kit that covers all their machines now instead the old gauges (JD266, JD267, JD268A) for di...

Hi Will, My personal thought on the wear I see on the housing in your photo is that is the result of material passing between the housing and the sprocket over the years. It appears to be on the sprocket side of the housing, in line about center of the bottom roller, which is in line with where the ...

Yes this will screw into the end cap under the spring so you won't need a nut(s). My comment on the nuts was meant to cover the times where one needs nuts with the all thread; the grade of the nuts is important as well. You're headed in the right direction from what I see. It will be a big help to h...

Hi dtoots1, I would agree with you about a possible issue with all thread, but it looks like he got an Allen bolt (socket head bolt). If that is correct those are normally better than grade 5, the fastener shop should have been able to tell him that and it should work if it has the length of threads...

Good morning, Sounds like you will be busy for a while. You can find details of the T16678 bolt at JohnDeereParts Homepage if you search that part number. It is basically a 1" coarse thread bolt about 15-1/2" long. It is available for about $250.00, from what I saw when I looked. They show a materia...

Parts manual shows a 1/4" pipe plug. A quick search on the web for 350B steering clutch housings and look at images, turns up photos of each a left and right housing at Wenger's. One has the plug visible and the other doesn't. The view isn't the best, but one without a plug doesn't appear to have th...

Some slippage may be there when you start and as it warms it quickly gets to the point it is very noticeable. Somethings it could be caused by are restricted filters, suction problems, worn clutches or other components, leaking seals, worn pump, low pressure, valve problems; any one of these or a co...

Based on the information, on line in the introduction to the 550 parts manual, your serial number breaks down as follows: 550 = crawler model (This should be a "Straight" 550 crawler.) C = In this case C is not a series designation. It means it has a 6405 Bulldozer (The blade setup on the crawler. I...

Hi Amos, I have seen it other places where John Deere used a letter to designate something as part of the tag and that was added to a base model number. In this case if you look at the introduction section of the 550 parts "book" on line you will see that the C was for a 550 with a 6405 bulldozer, D...

You say the plate is on the side of the machine. This would be a plate on the end of the battery compartment, below the transmission shifter, correct? Stan Disbrow has a post in the FAQ section that lists the 550 serial numbers by year, this may help you identify your machine using the numbers on th...

The fan and water pump are at the front of your engine, flywheel/clutch at the rear. Sitting in the seat as you would to operate, left and right are the same sides as your left and right. I would look at the top, left rear of the cylinder head for the engine temp sending unit. That is where they are...

Have you got a local radiator shop you have used? If not check with some local contractors and see if they have someone they recommend. I would have it checked and get an estimate before I just write it off to getting a replacement. A good shop should be able to re-core it if the tanks are good and ...

Thanks Lavoy. R1PERK, I apologize for my error in my earlier post; your 550 oil cooler is in the bottom tank, so yes it could get coolant into the transmission oil. Are you seeing oil in the radiator? Often the oil pressure is higher than radiator pressure and would force some oil into the coolant.

For a 550 you might get more responses to your problems if you move to the late model support forum. There may be some similar cases over there that might help you diagnose this. It sounds like you may have a couple issues, an engine cooling system issue and a transmission issue. The bubbles in the ...

It was good it only went to 7 psi. You noted in your first post that the previous owner said he had installed several caps to no avail. Not all parts store interchanges are right, you may need to get a John Deere cap to get the right length. It is possible the length of the replacement caps have bee...