Fluids / Lube New to me Ford 550

[Soundguy]

Are you really a soundguy? I'm a retired touring musician.

Yep, real soundguy BTDT.. bunch of name acts.. journey.. foreigner, whitesnake, lots of single acts.. lou rawls, bertie higgins, lee greenwood, rita coolidge .jason scheff of group chicago ( bassist since 85' ). heck.. way way too many to list or name. ton of 60's acts., lovin spoonfulls. drifters, coasters,peggy march, the chiffons . etc.... not much country.. vince gill, some opry stuff with the tillis's,

hardest people i've worked with was charro and lee greenwood...

Done some network contract work ( fox ), and local tv audio as well.

 

[Chrisofman]

Soundguy,
very impressive resume... I did FOH work, LD work and tour managed a few bands. Mostly small metal/ hardcore bands. Even TM'd a rapper once.... what a mess that was. I am a drummer and I did extensive touring throughout the US , Mexico, Canada, and Europe with my own band as well as others. I ended my run as a drum tech for a band out of Mass called Unearth and we toured for 6 weeks with Slayer.... Now I am a family man and a home owner... LOL it was fun while it lasted!

 

[Chrisofman]

For you cold starting issue: Some of the 550s had a cold start pre-heater. See if your ignition key turns to the left. If you have the pre-heater the key will turn one click to the left to warm the heater then again left and the engine will turn over. If it starts this way make sure you turn it back to the right after a few minutes other wise the heater will run and waste fuel. At 15f it may still not start but worth a shot.
Working on a diesel is simple. At least you know that if it does not run, it is not the spark plugs.

My key does turn left and then a little further to start. Where is this heater located? Very curious about this now.

 

[Chrisofman]

I think to change all the fuilds it is close to 50 gallons.

50 GALLONS!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY SHITBALLZ BAT MAN!! LOL

Does anyone have the operators manual for the 550 or 555...

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Our 60HP JD 310B requires 22 gallons but it is hard to drain and remove 10 gallons as it is in the 'system' for the most part.

 

[Soundguy]

I TRY not to get stuck doing LD work.. but it comes withthe teritory. Mainly strand or Jands boards. Back in the day I did some spot op fill in work.. monitor work from stage side.. etc.. try to stick to A1 stuff now.

Soundguy,
very impressive resume... I did FOH work, LD work and tour managed a few bands. Mostly small metal/ hardcore bands. Even TM'd a rapper once.... what a mess that was. I am a drummer and I did extensive touring throughout the US , Mexico, Canada, and Europe with my own band as well as others. I ended my run as a drum tech for a band out of Mass called Unearth and we toured for 6 weeks with Slayer.... Now I am a family man and a home owner... LOL it was fun while it lasted!

 

[Chrisofman]

OK so I now know what UTF is and that is goes in every hole other than the engine block. What should I use in the engine considering it age? Would synthetic fluids be completely out of the question? I use synth in my cars and trucks with Lucas additive.
I love the Lucas... it really is good stuff. Also I use Amsoil.....

It also has 4500 hrs on it

 

[Gale Hawkins]

We use Rotella synthetic 5W-40 because it works well for diesels and our old big block Ford and Chevy gas engines without the roller cams. It is about $22 a gallon at WM. Cheaper 15W-40 can be had. I swear the 1976 265 MF is a tad quieter running the 5W-40.

 

[Soundguy]

in a cold area.. you actually might benefit from a 5w40 C synthetic.. otherwise I'd run a (whatever) 15w40 C rated oil.. etc. whatever you put in it now will be better than what was available when it was made...

 

[Chrisofman]

Does anyone have the owners manual for the 550? Aslo how many quarts of oil will I need and what kind of oil filter is it?