Bobcat S175 Lift & Tilt light won't come on, pedals locked

I have an older S175 and when I start the machine and press the button the Lift & Tilt light won't come on and the pedals are locked. I've checked the codes and it says NONE. This has been an issue in the past and what resolved it was to jerk the machine back and forth a bit and then try restarting it. Sometimes it took 2 or three times to get it to work. The seat belt light is working and the bar light is working. I do not have a cab. One other thing. In the past I've found that if I leave the bucket off the ground a bit when I stop, the problem didn't occur. It always goes down to touch the ground but at least it wasn't bound up.

I tried disconnecting the battery and reconnecting. The seat belt light appears to be somewhat intermittent but I've never had to use the belt before. It always ran fine with just the bar down. It's a bit redundant anyway, don't you think......?

Please gentleman, I'm not a skiddy mechanic. If you have some idea of what to check, please be real specific about where the item is. I understand electrical things but don't know where things are on a skinny.

The light for the bar as well as the other two come on just fine. If I raise the bar while running, all go out. Then I lower the bar and push the button, 3 lights come on but not the Lift & Tilt Light. It's really a bummer because I can't even load it on a trailer to take it for service because the bucket won't raise.

An older S175, I suppose that would be a G series machine and not the newer M series machines. I'm curious about the last sentence, when you raise the seat bar all the LED's on the BICS panel go off, which they should, but then when you drop the seat bar that 3 lights come on but not the lift/tilt light. Somethings not right there, when you drop the seat bar, the seat bar light should come on, but you shouldn't see the lift/tilt and the traction light come on until you push the press to operate button.

When you power up the ignition to start the machine you should hear a beep from the alarm. Once engine is started, and you drop the seat bar, when you push the press to operate button do you hear three short beeps from the alarm?

That is the way it's working, you are right. I just didn't type it correctly. When I press the green button, 3 of the 4 yellow lights come on but not the Lift & Tilt one.

Ok, but the second part...

Do you hear three short beeps from the alarm?

OK,
Key first half way
One short beep
Start
Put bar down
One light comes on
Press green button
Only 3 of the 4 lights come on

Thought that the three short beeps were only for a problem of some kind. Like when you're low on fuel..... because I think the short beeps happen then.

Tried removing a Negative Battery Disconnect that I had installed a couple of years ago....No Joy. At least I can move the thing around now. Stupid Me, just take the bucket OFF which was dragging on the ground.

cyerger57 said:

OK,
Key first half way
One short beep
Start
Put bar down
One light comes on
Press green button
Only 3 of the 4 lights come on

Thought that the three short beeps were only for a problem of some kind. Like when you're low on fuel..... because I think the short beeps happen then.

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The way the Bobcat G series main controller (ECM) works. When you turn on the ignition you'll hear one beep from the alarm, this is part of the main controller doing a self test of all functions it monitors, also lets you know the alarm works. Once you start the machine to operate it, at any time you hear three short beeps from the alarm, those three beeps are warning you that the main controller is seeing a fault somewhere and that there will be fault codes. The Bobcat main controller is not like the ECM on cars/vehicles, they don't "store" fault codes, the Bobcat ECM only works with "active" fault codes, faults at that moment in time, once you shut it down it's all wiped.

Any time you hear three short beeps on that machine, stop, don't touch nothing else, don't shut it down. Instead, right then, push and hold down the headlight button, this will bring up the codes in the hour meter display for the fault that caused the beeps.

Thanks willie59, that's kind of what I thought the three beeps meant. So, I'm not getting any error codes or three beeps.

cyerger57 said:

So, I'm not getting any error codes or three beeps.

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It's the other way around, you don't get any codes unless you first hear three beeps. If you're not hearing the three beeps, yet your traction lock will release when you push the "press to operate" button but the lift tilt won't light up or release the lift tilt spool locks, then there's something wrong. Here's the thing, if there was something wrong in the wiring to the lift/tilt locks solenoids, or to the BICS valve on the main control valve, the main controller would certainly see that and beep the alarm. The fact that this is not happening on your machine sounds like the main controller is faulty. I can't say that for certain, but sounds like a possibility. In your case, now that you can drive it with the bucket off, I think you're going to have to take it to Bobcat and have it checked out.

Replaced all fuses and relays, a bit dirty and corroded. Pressure washed the entire unit - Now Working. Probably just postponed the issue. Thanks

So, gentlemen, I postponed the issue for a little over a year but it has returned. No Codes, Lift & Tilt Valve won't light, Pedals Locked and it will not move the bucket in any way. What are the possible causes of this. The machine has been great other than this issue.

did you ever figure out the problem? I'm having the same exact issue with a s185 controller and panels have been replaced to no avail.

cyerger57 said:

So, gentlemen, I postponed the issue for a little over a year but it has returned. No Codes, Lift & Tilt Valve won't light, Pedals Locked and it will not move the bucket in any way. What are the possible causes of this. The machine has been great other than this issue.

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did you check fuses again, or the starter relay? I'm having same problems. I'm trying to find a new relay and solenoid