Hi, I bought a 743 a few moths ago & was using it the other day for about an hour and while using it to clear some debris I heard a sound like a plastic bottle popping and then my motor slowly shut off. I tried to restart it but it wouldn't. It would almost start but not quite. Can anyone please help me figure out what happened.
Clearing debris? There's a good possibility that the plastic bottle popping sound was just that, you ran over a plastic bottle, and coincidentally the engine developed the problem at the same time. Engine stalling out, then trying to run upon re-start, almost run but just won't get up and go, classic symptom of lack of fuel supply for a diesel. Common possibilities; failed lift pump, clogged fuel filter, rupture in fuel supply line, and specific for Bobcat problem with pick up tube inside the tank. You need to check your fuel supply system.
Sounds like the fuel pickup tube.....at least on a 743 it's easy to get to. Ed
Two 1/2 inch bolts at the front of ROPS then lift cab and tilt back. Wish I could have done that with the JCB Robot185 we also had. Best was the 1845C Case, undo a few easy linkages and a hand full of fasteners with the boom up slide cab/ROPS forward and it was like working on the whole thing sitting on a bench! I know our 743 did have some problem with the fuel tube in the tank many years back.
A JCB Robot is one of the hardest machines to change a starter that I have EVER done! You can see the dang thing just fine, but unless you're Stretch Armstrong you can't get to it. :Banghead
I've done that at least twice on ours. What really sucked is I had to pull the engine to replace the plastic drive disk on the flywheel one time then after getting it back to work a couple days later the starter failed! Then about a week before I retired the starter failed again, had the guy who was finally given about three weeks to learn everything about equipment repairs and service do the job! He did have the advantage of me telling him how to reach the mounting bolts and the two specially modified wrenches I made for the job.