New member here, certainly no Bobcat (or any other skidloader) expert, hoping for some help/advice. There is this 873 I'm called on occasionally to help out on with minor stuff. Hydraulic oil leaks, belts, hoses, etc. That sort of thing. One complaint for a few years now has been the park lock not engaging. I've looked at it a few times and concluded the problem is not electrical, but mechanical. Simple looking setup really. No power applied, plunger drops down into a notched disc and the machine won't roll. I've had the solenoid unit out a couple times and it seems fine. 12 volts and it sucks in, power gone it pops back out. In practice, it pops down into a notch in the disc, and does it's job as expected. Problem is when the machine rolls against it, and later power is applied the plunger retracts as required (retracts) but somehow gets in a bind and won't drop back down when required again later. If I loosen the mounting screws the spring loaded plunger pops out as expected and works fine again. Works a few times and eventually it happens again. Is this simply a sign of a defective unit and I should just replace it? Seems like there's nothing wrong with it when it's out and operating, so $150 experiment is the next step unless someone has seen this before and found another solution.
