Ford/New Holland 555E

[Ray450]

Just bought a 555E backhoe with 4n1, 3300 hours 4wd, and quick connect WB rear bucket at auction. It's my first piece of heavy equipment other than farm tractors. I have 144 acres of mixed hay fields/woods and usually run a offroad M/C race a year on it, with a small M/X track. Have rented a dozer (JD 450) a couple times and had a buddies skid steer out once. I've only had about an hour on the backhoe so far, still trying to get a feel for the controls. A couple of issues, that may not be issues. 1) Once revved, there seems to be a lot more pump noise/rattling from under the seat/under the B/H controls. Normal? 2) I was also a little surprised that if in 4th, and revved in gear to try to go, it basically won't move but makes a lot of that same noise. At 16,000 pounds though, I'm guessing that's normal, my tractor would probably have a hard time moving in 4th/high and it's 1/3 the weight and only 20 H/P less. Before spending much time on it or getting it anywhere near my inclines, gullies and creeks, I want to fix the E-brake which doesn't work, and the accelerator pedal that doesn't return. I had assumed it was just packed with crud and not returning to idle, but after messing with it, it's broke and in pieces. So, once I fix those issues, I also want to do a lot of regular maintenance (I have a book), fluids, filters, a million grease fittings ect ect. Where's a good online source for these type of parts? Anything I should focus on at these hours, or not worry about? Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Billrog]

I don't think 3,300 is a lot of hrs. & not wanting to move in 4th gear from a stand still would be normal. As for the rest I've never owned and JD.

 

[Delmer]

I don't know Fords, but I'd think it should start off in fourth and NOT make unusual noises doing it. Same with revving it, the noise from the engine should be the main difference, noise anywhere else sounds bad to me.

 

[El Hombre]

OP, when you stick it in first and drive around, do you get the noises? How about the other two gears?

Fourth gear on a hoe is mainly good for down hill with a tail wind; if you get it up to speed in the lower gears, fourth mainly lets you maintain it, not go faster. First time you get it rolling in fourth and it starts bouncing on the tires, you'll wish you hadn't got it going that fast. Real white knuckle time over about 20.

 

[rondig]

Yep backhoe and grader bounce two things not fun at all.. I owned a Ford backhoe many years ago
The torque converter will engage but mine would not move either....way to high a gear to start with anyways...did you clean your suction filter and hydraulics filter replaced? Advantage of cleaning/changing filters reveils if metal present...no metal no.problem. ...plugged suction will cause more noise at rpm because pump starves and cavitates

 

[Ray450]

Yes, noise is directly related to RPM, nothing else. It's not the motor, although it is a diesel kinda knocking type noise. Motor starts easily, runs great and no smoke. I assume it's the pump or something else located somewhere near under the backhoe controls. A rattling/knocking noise. In my one hour of use, I dug about 20' of ditch. Hydraulics seem strong, and I didn't really even need to bump the idle up much at all, not high enough for the rattling to even sound unusual. When you accelerate hard, like when I was trying to go from a stop in 4th or 3rd (just experimenting, probably won't ever even use 4th at my property, 3rd is pretty scary), is when it was most noticeable. I have not had a chance to really do anything with it yet. That was one reason I was asking about a good online source for stuff, I plan on replacing all the filters and perform basic service maintenance soon.

 

[x-ray]

Sounds like your loading it down. 4th is as was stated only for like dead flat roading the unit. On my 655 it will disengage the 4wd anytime in 4th. I would stick to all work in either 1st or 2nd for light work, only 3 and 4th for roading it. If you try too long in 4th you will smell a bad smell and usually your torq light hi temp light will illuminate. You did check the trans level? (near the oil dip stick). Do you get the same vibes when doing front end work, while driving it around? It has a combo front, rear pump in one unit which get priority to steering when its used. If you have a manual look under section 8. Parts for Fords are cheap comparably and IMO easy to come buy.

 

[jimg984]

loud noise

I have ford 555A that does the same thing,, when trying to execrate in too higher gear,, it got be a relief valve to keep from building to much pressure in the fluid drive,,,i don't worry about it just back off throttle a bit,,,these are built to move dirt and then drive truck to beer store lol

 

[NH575E]

My 575E won't do any work in 3rd. I just use it to move to the work site. Tried 4th once to make sure it worked. No need to go that fast on land. I assume as others have said it is just a road gear. 4th gear on our old Farmall Super A was always called the road gear by my granddaddy. I use 3rd to get to where I am going to work then shift it to first and leave it.

Not sure on the rattle but I wouldn't worry about it too much if the machine is working. Mine has a rattle in the shifter at certain RPMs. Probably just loose linkage pins.

Make sure you remember to throttle it back down from the hoe control before you put it in gear to move. That was a newbie wake up call for me once.

 

[Ray450]

I changed the oil, tried hitting all the grease fittings I could find, changed out the big hydraulic filter, and a smaller one, fixed the accelerator pedal and the E-brake. There was a wire off the alternator, and when I plugged it in the dummy light for the battery came on. The volts at the battery don't seem to go up while running, so I also assume I need to replace the alternator. I added hydraulic fluid, but didn't replace the old. Kinda wished now that I had, although it was low and I ended up wearing a couple gallons, I probably ended up replacing half of it. Anyone have a service manual? I have the operators book that has a lo of basic maintenance stuff in it. There's one more filter (tranny I think) and the fuel filter I'm going to replace, then I'm checking the axles. Any other must-dos I need to hit before I start playing around with it? I was thinking about pulling the cover off and checking the valve lash. At 3,300 hrs, is this usually necessary?

 

[El Hombre]

There is a service manual swap on this forum, might find a free download there. Ebay has a lot of photocopied manuals for not much money. Just the money you save not replacing a good alternator will probably cover the cost of a manual. I was a wrench and the first thing I bought was the manual, as I had no experience with diesels, hydraulics, and all the other unique stuff you'll find on a hoe that you won't on a car. Butcher something that is a couple of thousand dollars to fix because you didn't know, that gets old real fast.

 

[xtriggerman]

For parts go to http://www.messicks.com/ They are very helpful finding the right part over the phone if you cant find it on their page schematics. Iv got a 2WD 555E early SN and its a great machine. Bought it with 2900 hrs last year. Mine is pretty quiet running cold but a slight whine picks up once its hot. I changed out all the filters and the trans fluid with the liquid gold NH label. The big torque converter works great in first and second but slips a lot in 4th. I had a bad Low engine oil pressure warning light/whistle constantly after warm up. Changed the OP sensor and it was still there. mounted a gauge on the dash and got nearly 60psi cold and 38 hot all the time so I twisted the little black whistle speaker off the fuse board. God that was annoying! Got a couple hundred hours on the machine now and love it. Those Italians built one hell of a BH! I Ebay bought the reprinted shop manual from that Poland outfit. Not bad but could have been a better shop manual on "how to's" and its very repetitive on all the variations but still way better than the owners manual. Good Luck with it