JD550 starts & dies

Question

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.

HeavyEquipmentFix · Accepted Answer

This is a fuel starvation pattern, not electrical — and your own troubleshooting already proved it. The jump wire to the shutoff solenoid *increased* runtime, and swapping the solenoid also let it run longer before reverting to the same die/restart pattern. That points away from the solenoid itself and toward something restricting fuel supply between the tank and the injection pump that a fresh "slug" of fuel temporarily clears.

Per the exact thread on Heavy Equipment Forums for this machine, other users landed on "It sure sounds like a screen somewhere in the fuel line is blocked. That's exactly what my Cat did." On these older mechanical injection setups, screens hide in unexpected spots — screens could be in a bango fitting or hidden inside a long hex fitting. A partially clogged screen would explain your "sits and runs a little longer" observation perfectly: fuel seeps past the restriction while parked, giving you a head start each time, then the pump outruns the restricted supply and the engine dies abruptly (matching your abrupt stop with no rpm droop).

Other things to rule out on the same forum thread: air ingestion from age-hardened rubber sections of an otherwise steel line, and fuel starvation from the tank side — "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."

Since you're already cracking injector lines and getting good pulse, next steps:
1. Pull and inspect every screen in the circuit — bang fittings at the tank outlet, lift pump inlet/outlet, and the injection pump inlet banjo. These clog with degraded rubber line particles or tank sediment.
2. Test the tank vent — a plugged vent can create a vacuum that starves fuel as it runs, then re-equalizes while parked.
3. Run off a remote can/jerry jug teed into the line before the injection pump to isolate the tank and its pickup entirely, per the forum suggestion above.

Continue the thread on Heavy Equipment Forums (heavyequipmentforums.com/threads/jd550-starts-dies) — it's active and other mechanics are chasing the same fault with you in real time.

**Sources:**
- [JD550 starts & dies | Heavy Equipment Forums](https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/threads/jd550-starts-dies.124592/)

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JD550 starts & dies

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