Head Gasket on the 550 s4 XUV

[vanderrt]

Dane you were right I needed to watch out for head gasket problems. The 550 started backfiring yesterday so I emailed Gulf Trackor and it is probably the head gasket. Gulf Tractor said that John Deere is aware of the problem and told Richard they would fix head gasket problems up to 500 hours no matter the length of the warrenty. So if anyone runs in to this problem John Deere will fix it.

[Dane]

The good news is that the new head gaskets do not seem to have the problem so once new head gaskets are installed the problem does not seem to reoccur. I hope they replace both of your head gaskets while they have your Gator torn apart. Just getting access to the engine is the worst part of the job. It's amazing how much it looks like a plucked chicken with most of the body panels off.

[vanderrt]

I'll ask them to replace both. Thanks for the heads up. Plucked chicken is a good word for it I saw your pictures.