bobcat 331 hydraulics keep locking out

[rwbequipment]

S/N 234317544 new to us customer. The original complaint was that customer suspected the switch on the arm was bad. he said it would operate fine for 5 or 10 minutes then lock out. you could raise and lower the arm to reset and then it would do the same thing. I replaced the switch and did a PM service, noticed the hydraulic tank was low. when I took the cap off it hissed at me so clearly the vent in the cap is plugged, so we need a new cap. However now the thing is locking out almost immediately, and it wont reset by just cycling the arm you have to shut it off and restart it to get it to reset. I also noticed the battery light coming on even though the alternator is charging. and we cant read codes because only the lower half of the display is working. Does anybody have any ideas? I have a service manual but there really isn't much in it for troubleshooting.

TIA

 

[Simon C]

Changing an arm switch does not guarantee it is fixed. Testing the loop of the switch with a 5 amp bulb would check it to ensure it is 100% okay. Then checking the wires that feed the pilot solenoid would be a good check.
But firstly it would be a good idea to check and test the battery positve cables, negative cables, alternator output cable, alternator output you said you already checked, how high was it, alternator AC leakage, frame to battery negative cable and cab to battery negative cable.
Would be wise to test all the fuses, in case 1 is loose and do the test with a test light, check all relays.
Sounds like it is the safety circuit shutting you down , but it could be the computer acting up, but that is often a result of something else telling it to do so. How many hours on the unit, anything soaked with water lately. We are not there so just asking questions.
Simon C

 

[Simon C]

Forgot to mention that you could be getting shut down by something on the lower half of the display that has not or cannot be seen so as to address the problem.
Simon C

 

[Welder Dave]

The hissing/pressure release from the hyd. cap may be normal. A lot of hyd. systems have positive pressure of a few PSI to prevent cavitation. I have to wait about 10 seconds or so for the pressure to bleed off when I take the cap off my track loader.