Hello, I just bought this skid steer a week ago and just had a chance to use it today. (about 3 hours) Serial # CW901891 I could hear some noise like hydraulic motor loading while at idle and some noise when turning coming from left side, but not sure if this is normal as this is the first CTL I have owned. So I noticed the hydraulic oil was overfilled and drained that out to the green/middle level on the sight gauge. The noise seemed to actually be louder after this so I started to look at codes to see if I could see anything on the advanced display related to the hydraulics. Now when I was looking at the machine before I bought it, I remembered checking the active codes and I believe I also checked the logged codes but not sure, because I was not that familiar with the advanced displayit. At that time there were no codes. How long do the logged codes stay on there? Do they have to be cleared by the dealer or will they reset after a certain period with no events? I am trying to determine if they happened today or could have been there and I did not see them when I bought it or possibly the dealer had reset the codes just before I came to look at it. They Independent dealer I bought it from said that they had just replaced the harness that ran from the front QA to the back of the machine, the "harness for implement connection" . The service record said it was cut and causing an intermittent short. They also replaced the "on-demand fan solenoid" There were no 'active' codes, all the codes were under 'logged': E875-1 Low System Voltage Check Battery and Alternator E875-2 " " " " " " E569-2 Unexpected Left Motor Reverse Speed E570-2 Unexpected Right Motor Forward Speed 168-3 Battery Potential Power Input #1 Voltage Above Normal 41-4 8 Volt DC Supply Voltage Below Normal 144-5 Back Up Alarm Relay Current Below Normal 144-6 " " " " " Above " 350-3 Lift Linkage Position Sensor Voltage Above Normal 458-3 Tilt Cylinder Rod End Pressure Sensor Above Normal 1076-5 Engine Coolant Fan Bypass Solenoid Current Below Normal 1076-6 " " " " " " Above " 1627-5 Fuel Pump Relay Current Below Normal 2474-3 Left Joystick Forward/Reverse Position Sensor Voltage Above Normal 2475-3 Right " " " " " " " " 2476-3 Left " Left/Right Position Sensor Voltage Above Normal 2477-3 Right " " " " " " " " 3700-3 Loader Bucket Inclinometer Sensor Voltage Above Normal 3700-4 " " " " " Below " I have checked the voltage at the battery with a multimeter in 4 states: Key Off: 13.1 Volts Key ON: 12.7 Volts Running low idle: Immediately after starting it drops to 12.2 Volts and slowly climbs to 14.9 Volts Running high idle: 14.9 Volts I apologize for the novel, but just trying to figure out if I got taken, should take it to the dealer (not something I want to do) or if there is a set of troubleshooting steps I could go through. I will eventually get a service manual, but after just buying this was trying to not have to drop ~$1200.00 right now. Thank you for reading and any help would be appreciated.
They stay there until someone clears them. It is not automatic. IMO you should ask the selling dealer to do two things. I am assuming that they have access to Cat ET diagnostic software, it's not limited to just Cat dealers. 1. Download what's known as the Product Status Report (PSR). This is an Adobe pdf file that contains all the Code/Event you listed above and a whole lot more besides. Especially so because all the Logged Codes would have a time stamp (hourmeter reading) when each one happened. A very useful piece of info to have for future reference. 2. After creating the PSR, erase all the Logged Codes from memory so that anything occuring in the future (even if you don't spot it at the time) it will be obvious to you that the Code/Event occured during your ownership period. You could even go as far as having those same two steps done every year when you do annual maintenance. I can't see anything in your list above that is worrying. Examples - the fan solenoid Codes the seller already replaced it, lift/tilt sensors would be down to the harness issue (again replaced), the 3700-3 & -4 are common, etc, etc. The system voltages you measured in various states are nothing out of the ordinary.
Nige, Thanks for taking the time to read all of that and reply. I wasn't aware of what was available, but that is exactly what I was looking for so that I could determine when the code was set. I will call them tomorrow and see if they will pull the PSR for me and reset the codes. The repairs were done within 2 hours on the meter of when I bought it and I am 99% sure those codes were not there when I looked before purchasing, but I could be wrong. If indeed all of those codes were set after the aforementioned parts were changed and in the 3 hours I used it, what could I be looking at?
I would suggest to cross that bridge when you come to it. Get the memory cleared first and then see how it goes from there. Fingers crossed nothing comes back, but even if something does it’s not likely to be a list a mile long like you posted above.
I hear you, I was just trying to get as much insight as I could for when I am standing in front of the dealer who sold me the unit when I get the report in hand. I really don't think he was trying to hide something, but had I seen the codes when I looked, I would not have bought it. Time will tell. Thanks for all the knowledge and time you give folks, including myself, on this forum.
TBH even that long list of codes/Events should not have precluded you from buying it, they should simply have been cleared by the seller before you took delivery, especially if they did repair work on it prior to the sale. For all we know a lot of the Codes could have been created during the repair process and it is custom & practice to clear everything once the machine has been reassembled. With the level of electronic sophistication on these machines, despite their small size, Codes are a fact of life and do not necessarily indicate that anything is radically wrong with the machine. Get the PSR in pdf format (the standard is a CSV file and they are a pain to interpret) and post it up here. All will become much clearer once you do that.
Nige, Attached is the PSR. It threw the E507-2 event code today at 2107 Hrs. - If it matters, it also has a diagnostic code 168-3 logged, but I'm unsure when that was triggered. To give some context of what I was doing when it threw the code, I had a load on the forks, a (50', 1300 lb) rafter that I was setting down in a tight spot, so fine movements with the joystick, e.g. slowly forward while going right then reverse. Should I determine what is going on before using it again? I have read to start by pulling the speed sensor to check for metal, but I'm not sure if that is where I'm at with this. I could not tell from the other posts, where that was suggested as a starting point, if they were experiencing this error all the time or just randomly like mine. Thank you.
To start with this one. It is system votlage higher than "normal" limits. I think in this case it is over 15 or 16 volts, I can't remember which. Do you mean E570-2 (Unexpected Right Motor Forward Speed Detected).? All it takes to throw that Event is for the detected drive motor speed not to be in sync with the joystick input. Effectively what it is saying is that, for the joystick input at the time, the speed signal from the drive motor speed sensor is "not exactly what was expected". It's usually fixed by doing a calibration of the solenoid valves controlling FWD & REV signals for the hydrostatic drive system. Thanks for the PSR by the way. Always useful to have as a reference.
My apologies, yes E570-2 (Unexpected Right Motor Forward Speed Detected). It's hard to troubleshoot with incorrect information. I will read the attachment in its entirety this afternoon, but just glancing at it this calibration will need to be done by the dealer correct? I know this is a subjective question, but I have no point of reference. How loud should the hydraulics/pump be whining when turning without any external load? Is it normal to be able to hear it loudly over the engine? It is much quieter on a hard surface than on the dirt. Should I pull the speed sensor in the right motor to check for debris or get it calibrated and see if the event returns? Thanks for your help.
If you haven't done that already it would be the logical next step. That is correct. It will require ET of some sort, either Dealer or Custome version will do the job. TBH if you can live with the E570 popping up every once in a while there is no reason to have the re-cal done immediately. I have no reference regarding how noisy it should be. I imagine that it would depend a lot on the material of the surface (dirt, asphalt, concrete, etc) that the machine was being turned on.