I have a 98 model deere 550G that keeps losing oil pressure I was grubbing last week and saw the gauge drop so I immediately shut it down and found oil leaking out a hole in the pan so I ordered a new pan put it on filled her up and started it. Had good pressure for about 5 minutes then started dropping again dip stick is showing full it will keep about 20#'s when throttled all the way any ideas what my problem could be?
I would hook a pressure gauge and double check,
I'll second the second opinion on the pressure gauge. If a diaphragm gets a pinhole leak it will show actual pressure until the oil pressure equalizes on both sides of the diaphragm. Shut it off for a while and the pressure will equalize again to zero and it will show close to actual pressure again when first started up. That is quite a coincidence though, how low was the oil after you shut it down the first time? You did check the pickup screen, right? Not to sloppy with the RTV?
It was 2 gallons low the first time, yeah pickup screen was clean, didn't use any RTV used new gasket. Have not put gauge on it yet all I have are 1/4" no 1/8" gauges
put gauge on and it is reading the pressure right, now I have what sound like valves knocking up high in the motor or a rod or something knocking guess I will tear into it and see what I can find.
Sorry to hear the bad news. At least you know now.
Yeah, sorry. Better now than later with holes in it.
Well everything up top looked good so guessing its gonna be in the lower, can you pull crank and all inframe or do I have to pull the engine?
You can not pull the crank while in the machine. If this is a torque converter machine, it is actually easier to pull the radiator, engine, tc and all in one assembly. Be sure the loader frame is up.
Update....had yellowhouse look at it and she was toast! Put in a new motor (minus a small fortune) and back to work.