JD 550 Starter Help

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Sam58
MC crawler
MC crawler
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat May 05, 2018 11:51 pm

JD 550 Starter Help

Post by Sam58 » Fri Aug 10, 2018 3:09 pm

Bought a 1981 JD 550c crawler and it has been working well for me as a newbie. Starting is a little hit or miss and I saw the dents on the solinoid when I bought it. Noticed the pos bat cable was getting hot when trying to start. Got the click with a bad solinoid so changed it along with new cables and ground and replaced the disconnect switch. No more clicking but starter turned slow and would not start. Have the bat on a charger now will try again. I have a starter on the way and my question is pulling the lift cylinder out of the way like the service book said. Looks like I need to drive out the roll pin holding the pin to remove and raise the front of the cylinder. Am I correct and is the retaining pin directional.

Retired and having fun learning a new skill in 10 acres in Wa. Any help would be appreciated

Jim B
350 crawler
350 crawler
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Location: western Maine

Re: JD 550 Starter Help

Post by Jim B » Fri Aug 10, 2018 5:32 pm

Good evening,

I don't have a 550 but am some what familiar with the pin arrangement as other models use similar. My thoughts are yes, you will need to drive the roll pin out, It should be able to go either way. Also check both ends of the pin as in some locations there were roll pins in both ends. I think most were in open slots not holes. If that is the case removing one roll pin will let you get the pin out. As far as being directional pins I think they are not. I believe they can be removed in either direction as long as there is room between the end of the pin and the side of the machine.

I believe your machine would be a straight 550. If you have 550-C on the serial number tag means it is a 550 with a (C) 6405 inside blade. This has been discussed before; they made 550's, 550B', then jumped to the 550G, there were no C, D, or E models. The C, D, E used after the 550 designated the blade model only. You should post in the Late Model Crawlers forum for your 550; you will likely get more responses to your questions there.

Sam58
MC crawler
MC crawler
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat May 05, 2018 11:51 pm

Re: JD 550 Starter Help

Post by Sam58 » Fri Aug 10, 2018 9:48 pm

Correct on the straight 550 with the inside blade for the C designation. Thank you for the response and I hope the starter swap goes smooth.

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