Bobcat S250 Lift/Tilt Not Working

Hi, I have a new to me Bobcat S250 S/n: 521311251, everything worked prior to removing the hydraulic control block to replace some leaking seals. Got all the seals/orings installed and the block back in the machine, but now my lift/tilt doesnt completely work. After lowering the lap bar and pressing the operate loader button I can operate the foot pedals which puts load on the engine, but the lift/tilt doesnt work correctly. I can see the hydraulic lines flex each time I press the foot pedals, but it wont lift or tilt, just a slight jerk of the cylinders and acts like its at full extension/retraction. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Check your hoses first and make sure you don’t have 2 or more in the wrong place. That is the most common thing when a hydraulic function worked before something was tore down. Are you talking about the hydraulic control valve that you resealed?

Vetech63 said:

Check your hoses first and make sure you don’t have 2 or more in the wrong place. That is the most common thing when a hydraulic function worked before something was tore down. Are you talking about the hydraulic control valve that you resealed?

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Thanks for the reply, I've double checked the hoses to pictures I took before hand and believe I have the lines hooked up correctly. Yes I resealed the hydraulic control valve, and am wondering if it has something to do with the main relief valve. I installed the new orings that came with the control valve seal kit, but it seemed extremely tight when reinstalling. I plan on pulling it tomorrow and checking the orings to make sure, just not sure if that could be the culprit or not.

Check the electric coil / stem in the center of the valve, that is what locks and unlocks the lift tilt. If that stem is not opening it'll bog the engine down and just bump the lift and tilt as you're describing.

Bswwood said:

Check the electric coil / stem in the center of the valve, that is what locks and unlocks the lift tilt. If that stem is not opening it'll bog the engine down and just bump the lift and tilt as you're describing.

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Will do, is there a bench test to determine if the coil is faulty?

You can, pull the stem and from the bottom you can push the plunger up (spring down) and make sure it's not sticking, while it's out attach the coil and send 12v to it and see if the plunger is moving.

Bswwood said:

You can, pull the stem and from the bottom you can push the plunger up (spring down) and make sure it's not sticking, while it's out attach the coil and send 12v to it and see if the plunger is moving.

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Alright pulled the stem and coil, the plunger moved freely and would move when I applied 12v power, so I checked the connector on the machine side and I'm only getting 3.6v out of the connector. Any ideas why it wouldn't be getting 12v?

Was it plugged up when you checked it and after you pushed your press to operate button? Use a ground straight to battery and check for power and see what you get

Yes it was connected and the operate loader button was on, I took the connectors apart and cleaned them with electronics cleaner, now I am getting 10.9v and my battery is putting out 11v I have it hooked up to a charger, what is the minimum operating voltage for the coil?

That was the problem, not enough voltage to engage the plunger, after charging the battery up everything works, thanks again for the help, much appreciated.