I need Help!!! JD 550G Torque Converter

[darrenrudolph83]

Hello All!

I am beating my head against the wall, hoping someone out there can help me understand this.... I have a JD550G torque converter machine, it is remote so I am trying to gather all the parts I could need prior to heading out for the repairs. The issues is that its leaking transmission fluid at a good rate from the bottom of the torque converter housing, so my thoughts are it is the front oil seal that is leaking... The problem is that I can not find a part number for the seal AND the local JD dealer is telling me there isn't one in there, even though I see it in the manuals. I will try to upload some photos from the manuals for reference, please if anyone can weigh in on this id would greatly appreciate it.

[darrenrudolph83]

Seems I am unable to post photos

[B Town]

Have you looked at the on-line Deere parts manuals. I’m not a 550G or torque expert. But here is a link.

https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sid ... /400930491

Best regards,
Bruce

[darrenrudolph83]

Have you looked at the on-line Deere parts manuals. I’m not a 550G or torque expert. But here is a link.

https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sid ... /400930491

Best regards,
Bruce

Hi Bruce,

Yes I have used that, this one however does not show the seal. If I could upload a photo I could show from the manuals where this seal is. If there is no front seal then I would be pulling the engine for no reason.

Thanks
Darren

[Jim B]

Hi Darren,

Didn't we go through this before? I have a drawing from the TM1403 manual marked up with the seal and bearing numbers. I thought I sent it to you before via email, sorry if I didn't, or it was one of the lost emails we were experiencing at the time. Anyway, I just uploaded it to my gallery on the site's picture server so it is there for future reference. Here is the marked up drawing.



I found one has to use all three pages in the parts catalog to find all the numbers. I think the seal you are questioning is YZ101641 which subs to YZ106527. It shows up in the catalog on the "Torque Converter Pump Drives" page as item key number 7. Why it doesn't show up on the "Torque Converter Housing" page is beyond me, it took some hunting and figuring the first time I went through this in making the marked up the drawing. Here is a link to the page the seal in question is on: https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sid ... /402691564. You can run this by your JD parts guy and see if it helps, I might not have it all correct. Study closely where the lines show the parts going, and to me that line puts #7 and #9 on the pump drives page on the convertor hub, the way I read it.

That would be the seal I would expect to find leaking if there is amber/brown oil coming out the bottom of the torque convertor housing. The other place would be the F37030226 O-ring. If the oil was black, most engine oil is black after running a bit. Black oil to me would mean it could be the rear main seal of the engine. You might want to have that #9 bearing with you as well. HTH
Jim

[darrenrudolph83]

Jim,

Yes we did go through this last fall haha, sorry but I have slept a bit since then.. I wasn't able to make it out and pull then engine when I had hoped to last year, so I am gearing up to head out Tuesday of next week and wanted to take the parts with me I could possibly need. I have found everything besides that front seal.... It is definitely trans fluid because I have had to add that a few times. The dealer is all but convinced I am crazy and there is no seal in the front, Really?? I just cant seem to find the part number, I think you got it though Jim.

I will reply to the email you sent now.

Thanks
Darren

[Jim B]

Glad you slept some, I was scratching my head thinking this sounds familiar and had to do some digging to refresh my mind. And found it looks like some emails failed to go through on some things. Maybe it will work out this time.

Well if they had put that seal and bearing on the page with the bulk of the torque converter components it would make more sense to me, than finding it where I did with the pump drives. It doesn't help you, but it is good the JD guy is having issues figuring it out as well. This can be a learning experience for all of us. Maybe you can get a few bucks off on the parts once you explain it to him. Keep us posted on your progress.
Jim

[JWB Contracting]

Could be the seal or could be a cracked converter. We did one this past winter and swapped the entire torque converter assembly with a 650G one from a burnt machine we wrecked. The seal is shown in the torque converter assembly page, it’s on the wrong side of the picture. If I find my receipt I’ll text it to you.

I would recommend air testing your converter as per the technical manual. Yes I did some reading and asked a former deere dealer mechanic who I work with. This is the first one we did and went well. We pulled the motor and torque converter as one assembly. I don’t think it can be done by just pulling the engine. It’s a tight fit, we had to remove the starter side torque mount to get it out. Plus needed a major air wrench to get the torque converter mounting bolts out.

There are some wear rings / bushing between the engine flywheel and converter. I swapped mine with the good used as the original ones did show a fair bit of wear.

[Jim B]

Good point on possibility of a cracked convertor and the need to check it. Thanks for mentioning it, Jason.

I'm curious, are you looking at a hard copy parts catalog or the one on line? I can not seem to spot that seal anywhere but on the page "Torque Converter Pump Drives". And if I search but the original part number, YZ101641, that is the only page it goes to and has the note that it subs to YZ106527.

[Jim B]

Good morning,

Jason,

I think I found the drawing you were looking at showing the seal on the wrong side of the picture. It shown that way in TM1404 manual page 06-0651-13, item key #15.

Darren,

The seal shows in the cross section view in TM1404 (same location as in the drawing I marked up). The drawing is on page 06-0651-2, it is item key # 14. I think showing this drawing, with its component list, and the one above in my note to Jason, should clear up the issue for your JD parts guy. The pressure test Jason mentioned is in that torque convertor section as well (page 06­-0651­-11).

Jim

[darrenrudolph83]

Jason, Jim

I apologize I did not see your reply's until just now, for some reason I did not get a notification and I haven't been on since early May. I wanted to update you and say thank you very very much for all the help!

My son and I flew out May 4th to remove the engine and torque converter from the machine, it took all day but we got it out! The worst part for us by far were the 4 engine mounting bolts, the two in the rear had horrible access and were a nightmare to break loose. I had pre ordered all the seals and then some so we could possibly get it back together before leaving for Vegas and then Texas for my brothers wedding, however.... When we removed the torque converter housing the converter looked like it had been beaten all over with a hammer, there were 3 of the bolts that hold the two halves together broken in half and beating around inside, the suspect seal looked to be in good condition but the hub on the converter had a ring on it and I could feel an ever so slight groove. I decided NOT to put the dozer back together until I either had a new converter ($5500) or went through mine.

I took the converter back to town to a local converter shop, I was not getting a good feeling from the start with this guy. I wanted him to pressure test it and replace all the seals, basically just make sure its good to go. Long story short he thought he could do it and right away said he would be putting 150psi to it and that would tell him if there were any leaks lol, I said the manual states 10psi for pressure testing so lets not do that. I ended up leaving with my converter, took it home got a tote full of water, a rubber chemical glove and some hose clamps and made my own pressure tester. It was not leaking but since I had it out and did not like the looks of the hub I ordered the seals and new hub and my son a I went through it.

We got back home from our trip on May 17th, we headed for the cabin to put the dozer back together on the 19th. Everything went back together very smooth, had one pretty good leak from a smashed O-ring on the hydraulic pump but after fixing that it ran great and no leaks! The next day I pushed hard with it for 2 hours just to make sure haha but so far so good.

Thanks again
Darren

[Jim B]

Hi Darren,
I was wondering how you were making out with it and if the parts guy agreed now there was a seal in there. It's good to hear you got it working, thanks for letting us know. Right or wrong advice, good or bad results, we can all learn some from these things. More than once over the years I've learn what not to do the next time. Take care, enjoy the machine, and keep us posted.
Jim