Bobcat 773 hand control problem

Hi all, I'm at the end of my rope with this thing. It's a '99 773 with the electronic hand controls (ahc). Here's what it does: some days- works fine all day; other days- when I try to lower the bucket nothing happens, and then it will not lift/lower/tilt up/tilt down any more until I shut it off and then restart the machine. It is totally an intermittent problem, which is what is driving me insane. I have checked the actuators by removing them and switching them. It still happens only during bucket lowering so I believe I can rule that out. I have checked the hand control switches by swapping the plugs on them, and then the opposite switch makes it fail. Also, when I turn the machine on, the error lights do not function correctly. The left light (the indicator for lift) never turns on at all... ever. The right light remains on when the machine operates, and sometimes flashes (3 flashes) when the machine stops functioning. I have checked the connections and fuses several times, however, I still do not quite understand the wiring of it. Additionally, the previous owner hired a mechanic to troubleshoot this problem, who indicated that it is "probably the computer". At this point I believe he may be correct, but they seem to cost $1500 so that is the last resort attempt. I hope someone can help, as there is no dealer on this island.... Thanks.

Go buy yourself 2 cans of electronic cleaning spray. Something like this ---- http://www.amazon.com/CRC-05101-QD-Electronic-Cleaner/dp/B000CCMLD0 ---- Then pull all your terminals off one by one and spray to clean them. Disconnect the computer and spray the socket and the plug. My bet is its a bad contact. If you see a difference based on temp or humidity i would put money on it

Impact-vector said:

Go buy yourself 2 cans of electronic cleaning spray. Something like this ---- http://www.amazon.com/CRC-05101-QD-Electronic-Cleaner/dp/B000CCMLD0 ---- Then pull all your terminals off one by one and spray to clean them. Disconnect the computer and spray the socket and the plug. My bet is its a bad contact. If you see a difference based on temp or humidity i would put money on it

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Thanks for your advice- cleaned every connection I could find with that cleaner you recommended. While it gave me peace of mind, I noticed no difference. Of course I got a little frustrated, so I sprayed it with water. About 10 minutes later it worked great for about a half hour of work, then quit again. So I just sprayed the interlock computer with the hose and it started functioning again. I'm going to investigate that angle further....

landshaper said:

Thanks for your advice- cleaned every connection I could find with that cleaner you recommended. While it gave me peace of mind, I noticed no difference. Of course I got a little frustrated, so I sprayed it with water. About 10 minutes later it worked great for about a half hour of work, then quit again. So I just sprayed the interlock computer with the hose and it started functioning again. I'm going to investigate that angle further....

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keep in mind that you are dealining whith atari like stuff, you can drop three grand on controlls and handles without blinkin an an eye, if at the present point it starts and runs lifts and tilts and drives , it has some resale value. get it why you can.DO not turn into a piggy bank. or you can cut a hole in the roof and drop all spare change here,, one mans opionion, (with 25 yrs at it) 15 on bobcats,

I had a similar problem with AHC machine. It took awhile to find that the problem was just a bad ground in the cluster of small ground wires attached to the starter. I traced the bad ground wire back to the metal AHC computer.

biggie said:

I had a similar problem with AHC machine. It took awhile to find that the problem was just a bad ground in the cluster of small ground wires attached to the starter. I traced the bad ground wire back to the metal AHC computer.

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Thanks for the advice, I already cleaned those grounds, but I didn't check to see if any of the wires themselves were actually corroded- I'll get to that tomorrow.