I swear this things is just giving me one problem after another. Just got it back from dealer last week for continued valve backing off issues on new valves and excessive smoking. Thread on it on here already. New issue: Went out to start and plow some snow off my 2200ft gravel drive. Ran it the other night without issue. Trying not to confuse issues...it snowed6 inches, skid steer is covered under a machine shed area. Went to start and turned the key and batter was dead. Crap, new battery less than 1 month old. Charged battery and it started right up. Let it idle as it was cold for 15 minutes and cleaned out lots of snow that had blown in, we had almost blizzard like conditions here.I jumped in like normal, lowered bar, unlocked the foot control lock. pushed the "Green" button in upper left area that releases traction control (usually it makes a loud "Clunk" when pushed and it did not this time. The SKid steer up and down hydraulics arms and bucket work but traction still locked in place. No forward or reverse movement. I covered cab area with a heavy duty tarp and placed an electric heated in open cab of skid steer and left it there for several hours thinking maybe water had floor switch or safety bar switch froze up. Did not work. Today has been much warmer and I started the skid steer after check all of the fuses in the rear of the machine (all good looking). I played with the floor swtich and raised and lowered the safety bar many times and it the Green button will not unlock the traction. On the back wall of Bobcat all the lights are green except the traction lock one that flashes off and one periodically It is under my machine shed with a very low roof so I cannot raise the cab up. Unsure which switch or other part it might be Bobcat 863-F #514430349 Pictures to follow
Help Support SkidSteer Forum:
I checked all connections I could get to. I do not want to call dealer again as they are already into me for about $9k
I repainted it and want to sell it but will not sell it with a known major issue and could not sell if it cannot move around to show it functions correctly.
I repainted it and want to sell it but will not sell it with a known major issue and could not sell if it cannot move around to show it functions correctly.
bobbie-g
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2004
- Messages
- 577
Dave, can't help with the photo posts. Maybe a moderator will fix the links. Traction lock: in my experience (limited as it is), the BICS box on the cab rear panel will issue the traction unlock command when the necessary conditions are met: seat bar down and "foot brake" switch deactivated. There apparently is no seat switch on your 863F (none on my 863G either), if there were, there would be a seat switch light on the BICS panel. It should not be necessary to push the "traction unlock" button (which is probably on the forward upper left part of your cab?) to get the machine to move. You seemed to indicate that you pressed it each time to unlock the wheel locking solenoid before the machine would move. That switch is intended for moving the machine when there's no operator in the seat, I believe. Think backhoe operator, seated on the backhoe in front of the machine, needing to move a few feet, reaching back to press the "traction unlock" button, then moving the joysticks just a tad. Previous to your problem today, would the BICS traction lock LED come on when the lap bar was down, or did you always have to press the traction unlock button to get the machine to move (and did that turn on the BICS traction LED?) -- Way back when, I had a "foot brake" switch get flakey. I messed with it long enough to finally get it to think the foot pedal was not pressed down, and I've never pushed the foot brake again, not even once. It's redundant with the BICS traction lock command. Maybe your foot switch thinks it's depressed (depressing thought, isn't it?), even thought it's not. If you need to talk thru this, get my email adr from my profile and send me your phone number.
---Bobbie-GBCATMECH25
Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2018
- Messages
- 16
Okay the brake issue there are a few things to know and check. There are 3 different circuits. You have the ground circuit,the pull circuit and the hold circuit. The ground circuit is obviously goes back in around about way to the battery and to the BICS controller behind your right elbow when in the seat. The pull circuit provides 12 volts for about 5 seconds when you hit the green button on the dash and it controller by a brake fuse and a brake relay. Once the brake solenoid pulls the brake plunge (thus causing the clunking sound) the hold circuit takes over and keeps 12 volts the the brake solenoid form the BICS controller. Depending on how many times the green traction light flashes will tell you generally what to look for. One flash means the traction lock hold coil circuit is open. Two flashes mean the traction lock hold coil circuit is shorted to battery voltage. Three lights flashing means the traction lock hold coil circuit is shorted to ground. Four flashed mean the traction lock pull coil circuit is open. Five flashes mean the traction lock pull coil circuit is short to battery voltage. six flashed is the traction lock pull coil circuit is shorted to ground. It has been my experience that possibly the brake coil is bad. You can check the ohms to see if it is bad.the wires on the brake solenoid have the words pull and hold on them. The pull wire which I believe is the red wire to the ground wire should measure around .3-.6 ohms. Measure the hold circuit the white wire to ground and it should measure around 10-11 ohms. Also the BICS controller could be shorting out internally or the connection is loose. I hope this helps.
Bobby G - Thank you The Green button does not light up. I believe it used to light up previously but I cannot remember. The foot switch, for me this becomes a game of replacing certain things as I lack the experience to test these (I wish the photos would have embedded correctly). The footswitch seems the like the easiest to replace. ******Bcatmech - it is very clear that you have a solid understanding. I will have to try to start the machine and count the light flashes. I did do this and it flashed once, then a couple of seconds later it flashed a single again....this is how it went as I let it run with the foot lock off, the bar down, and the Green panel button pushed without me being in the machine. yep, I am sure this is not safe.......I can clean battery ground contacts and also just remove and replace foot switch.
bobbie-g
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2004
- Messages
- 577
Somebody fixed the pix links
Someone else on the forum recently had a traction lock issue and said a new brake solenoid coil was only about $30. --- If you need to move the machine, it's fairly simple to open up the cover below the solenoid, pull the plunger up manually and put a hose clamp on it to disable the brake. Be really careful if you do so, because it will roll (slowly) where ever it wants to. Oops, you said you couldn't lift the cab because of the low roof. Sand under the tires and just drag it outside so you can open the cab? Keep us posted on progress! ---Bobbie-GBCATMECH25
Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2018
- Messages
- 16
I have to agree with Bobby G that you need to pull it out so you can lift up the cab. Okay with just one flash that means your hold circuit to the brake solenoid is open. The wire is a red color that runs from the BICS controller by your right elbow when you are in the seat down threw the cab harness then eventually to the brake solenoid in the center of your chaincase. With the machine on you should get 12 volts on that wire. One more thing to throw at you like you don't have enough. On the engine above the starter is a rpm sensor. The rpm sensor is tied into the BICS controller. The rpm sensor tells the BICS controller the machine is running. I have ran into problems where the wires in the engine harness break internally causing the rpm sensor not to read. It seem they like to break right at where they come out of the harness. Sometime if you pull on the wires where it comes out of the harness the outer plastic coating will turn a whitish color which means the plastic covering is stretching because there are not any strands of wire holding together. If you have a multimeter you could check continuity on the wires and measure voltage. Any auto supply store should carry one. keeps informed.
Thank you both......snowing now so it muddy so would not be able to get the traction I need to drag it out. Funny thing is I bought a new 3500 in July and took my old Warn 12.5k winch off and have not mounted it to the new truck yet. That would come in handy right now I will sort a way to get it drug out and replace the park brake solenoid. I have a really good multimeter but have to re-teach self to re-use it each time I need it. I will look at the easiest first. Some part of the Green button works as it activated the arm and bucket hydraulics so I am hoping its a brake controller. Yes the list keeps growing so I need to keep it simple to start
