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550 b dozer Using Oil
- Thread starter KMSEXC
- Start date
onecleverdude
New Member
leak?
check for leaks.
filter.
cooler
seal
blowby?
check for leaks.
filter.
cooler
seal
blowby?
surfer-joe
Senior Member
Your oil consumption isn't all that bad, however, that's only as long as someone competent checks the level every day and tops it off as needed. That relatively small engine doesn't have a lot of reserve capacity and if it becomes shy of much more than those two quarts, it could become heavily damaged.
You are also at the top of the basic design life for the engine. It varies of course as to how the machine has been used and maintained, but generally speaking, small engine manufacturers shoot for 8-10000 hours. Deere engines are better than most and I've found them to be rugged and strong with high hours of use, but, as I say, yours is there in terms of design life.
The John Deere/4045T engine is a wet-sleeve engine, which is advantageous for a rebuilder as the jugs and pistons can be changed out easily, which, along with a valve job on the head, new seals and bearings throughout, and a fuel system overhaul, gives you a like new engine. A person can change as much or as little as he feels he needs, which gives him some control over the cost, which can be considerable for a professional rebuild with a warranty.
Cat took the opposite tack with it's smaller engines and went with no sleeves, a design that is cheaper to manufacturer, but which does not lend itself to rebuilding well. However, a new Cat engine -- with a new warranty -- pencils out to about the same amount as a rebuild, and most all the parts are new. There is also a considerable time savings, with a shorter loss of production to consider.
So, it might be time for you to start checking around for local rebuilds, or, if you have the time, engine rebuilders, unless you want to take on the task yourself. If the rest of the machine is, as you say, tight, this may be a good way to go to freshen up your motor. But, you might also look at a trade up to a newer machine, or one with a lot less hours on it.
I once received in a shop, a 66A Cat D9G pushcat. That's all it had ever done and it had about 15000 hours on the original meter. It ran very well with no problems, but had been selected to go on a new long-term project and it was thought that it at least needed to be checked over. It did need an undercarriage anyway. It had been well maintained and looked as though it had not been abused. Very clean one-owner unit in a private fleet in Illinois. But, once the decision had been made from on high (owner) to rebuild, the deeper we went into the machine, the more trouble we found. In short, just about every moving component in that old tractor was worn out past 110%. It all had to be replaced and in the end, there is no doubt that we would have been better off to sell it as is. It cost about the same as the machine sold new, to rebuild.
So you may want to consider that if your engine is at it's design life, than the rest of the machine is too. This isn't to discourage you from keeping the old girl, it may still provide plenty of service. But you will want to consider how much you are going to work it in the future, and how much risk you can afford to take.
Good Luck!
You are also at the top of the basic design life for the engine. It varies of course as to how the machine has been used and maintained, but generally speaking, small engine manufacturers shoot for 8-10000 hours. Deere engines are better than most and I've found them to be rugged and strong with high hours of use, but, as I say, yours is there in terms of design life.
The John Deere/4045T engine is a wet-sleeve engine, which is advantageous for a rebuilder as the jugs and pistons can be changed out easily, which, along with a valve job on the head, new seals and bearings throughout, and a fuel system overhaul, gives you a like new engine. A person can change as much or as little as he feels he needs, which gives him some control over the cost, which can be considerable for a professional rebuild with a warranty.
Cat took the opposite tack with it's smaller engines and went with no sleeves, a design that is cheaper to manufacturer, but which does not lend itself to rebuilding well. However, a new Cat engine -- with a new warranty -- pencils out to about the same amount as a rebuild, and most all the parts are new. There is also a considerable time savings, with a shorter loss of production to consider.
So, it might be time for you to start checking around for local rebuilds, or, if you have the time, engine rebuilders, unless you want to take on the task yourself. If the rest of the machine is, as you say, tight, this may be a good way to go to freshen up your motor. But, you might also look at a trade up to a newer machine, or one with a lot less hours on it.
I once received in a shop, a 66A Cat D9G pushcat. That's all it had ever done and it had about 15000 hours on the original meter. It ran very well with no problems, but had been selected to go on a new long-term project and it was thought that it at least needed to be checked over. It did need an undercarriage anyway. It had been well maintained and looked as though it had not been abused. Very clean one-owner unit in a private fleet in Illinois. But, once the decision had been made from on high (owner) to rebuild, the deeper we went into the machine, the more trouble we found. In short, just about every moving component in that old tractor was worn out past 110%. It all had to be replaced and in the end, there is no doubt that we would have been better off to sell it as is. It cost about the same as the machine sold new, to rebuild.
So you may want to consider that if your engine is at it's design life, than the rest of the machine is too. This isn't to discourage you from keeping the old girl, it may still provide plenty of service. But you will want to consider how much you are going to work it in the future, and how much risk you can afford to take.
Good Luck!