JD550 starts & dies

I have an old John Deere 550 that has always started easy and ran fine...until. It slowed down and died, then it would start up immediately , run for a couple of seconds, and die (seemed to puff a little white smoke and shut down all at once). I changed the fuel filter which had no effect at all. Then I ran a jump wire to the shut-off solenoid which made it run for 45 seconds then die and not restart. Replaced the solenoid and it started right up, ran for about 30 seconds and then resumed starting and dying. I hope its not a red herring, but if it sits for a while it would run a few seconds longer upon starting.

It sure sounds like a screen somewhere in the fuel line is blocked. That's exactly what my Cat did. Screens could be in a bango fitting or hidden inside a long hex fitting. Hopefully one of the JD experts could put up a pic. of the fuel system components. Other possibility is a screen or O-ring/seal in the injection pump. Not sure what injection pump you have but recall some have a fiber part that deteriorates over time. The pumpguy would know.

Thanks Welder Dave (I have a sweet old SA250 w/Perkins.) It's a Rosa Master (3 screw top cover with a o ring seal.) not sure if it's original. I was hoping The pumpguy would read my post and recognize what is up. It seems to die quicker than turning off the key and that seems odd to me as well.

It sounds like it is losing fuel between the fuel tank and injection pump. This could be from air bubbles in the fuel line, a small air leak, etc. I'd open up and injector line and make sure you are getting good fuel out of the pump to the injectors while cranking. With the age of the machine it is very possible your rubber fuel lines have become so stiff, they are allowing air leaks which then starves the engine of fuel.

Restart easy not losing prime could it be the alternator/wire losing power?

Thanks. lines are all steel and I have used the primer lever on the transfer pump to pump a flood of fuel to the bleeder screws working my way to the supply fitting at the end of the Injector pump to loosening the return line fitting. when is Was running I cracked injector lines and got a good steady pulse of fuel. When it dies it does not sputter or slow down RPM's it abruptly stops running.

Deere500a said:

Restart easy not losing prime could it be the alternator/wire losing power?

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when I'm with the machine again I'll run a jumper from the Battery and retry. Thanks

It sounds like power fuel you would find air ie sucking dry or long cranking. Good hunting bud.

Deere500a said:

It sounds like power fuel you would find air ie sucking dry or long cranking. Good hunting bud.

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I'm thinking it will be something simple... eventually

salesmanager1 said:

I'm thinking it will be something simple... eventually

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Put air to the tank opening while holding back the air pressure with a rag ball and see if it runs longer with 1-2 psi of air pushing the fuel to the pump. If someone holds the air pressure on for you with a variable flow blow gun you can check for any fuel leaks which will suck air. Let off gun pressure before removing rag or you will have a bath.
Simon C

Simon C said:

Put air to the tank opening while holding back the air pressure with a rag ball and see if it runs longer with 1-2 psi of air pushing the fuel to the pump. If someone holds the air pressure on for you with a variable flow blow gun you can check for any fuel leaks which will suck air. Let off gun pressure before removing rag or you will have a bath.
Simon C

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Thanks. Worth a try.

Still looking forward to "PUMPGUY" weighing in. Seems to know his way around these things.

You could try running off of a remote can to rule out the fuel tank. Some found out the problem was in tank when they did the test. Lots of little things to test.
Simon C

Could be something in the fuel tank or even a leak at the primer. Not sure if if it has a lift pump that could have went kaput.

Check the return fitting in the cap on top of the injection pump. It's supposed to have a ball and spring in it to hold a small amount of pressure in the pump housing but if it gets plugged the engine will die when the pump housing pressure is equal to the transfer pressure. The fitting can be plugged with bits of plastic that's coming off a part inside the pump called a retainer. I'm not familiar with the inside of those pumps but I've ran across a few problems like you're describing and that was the cause. Clean out the fitting ( you can drive a small pin punch through it, don't worry about the spring and ball ). The pump may have to be repaired at some point but I've done it and didn't have any problems afterward. Another possibility is a circuit breaker is opening behind the dash. I think there are two automatic reset breakers on a 550, one for the lights and one for everything else. It could be opening because a wire is on ground or the shutoff solenoid coil is bad or anything the breaker supplies power to. I think the first scenario is probably the problem. Be careful using a jumper wire on the shutoff solenoid, put a 5 or 10 amp fuse in the jumper wire so if something else is shorted to ground the current from the jumper wire won't burn the wiring.

To add to what @ohdeereme is saying, the check ball in that top return fitting is usually made of glass. If you take off the fitting and spray some carb cleaner through it, the cleaner should only go through it one way even though you can see daylight through it. If you really are generating plastic bits from a deteriorating retainer ring, a short term fix is to break the glass ball so the plastic bits can flow through and not build up backpressure.

Running a couple wires from a DVM sitting in your lap while starting can quickly let you know if your solenoid is the cause. And yes, running a straight jumper can fry other wires if you have a rubbing short somewhere else so the DVM is usually safest.

I had a JD 410C backhoe with those sympoms.
The Stanadyne injector pump has a return to tank line with a check valve. Took a while to diagnose. The ?flex ring? in the pump breaks down, sending debris into the check valve. Removing the check valve restored function until the pump could be rebuilt. If I recall the rebuild cost $250.

Willie B said:

I had a JD 410C backhoe with those sympoms.
The Stanadyne injector pump has a return to tank line with a check valve. Took a while to diagnose. The ?flex ring? in the pump breaks down, sending debris into the check valve. Removing the check valve restored function until the pump could be rebuilt. If I recall the rebuild cost $250.

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The consensus seems to indicate a check in the Return and that makes sense with the symptoms. I have to travel for a couple weeks before I can test it, but feeling confident. Thank everyone for sharing. I appreciate it.