Hello, have a bobcat 773 C series that boom lift & tilt are locked out by BICS interlock system. On the BICS lights all are lighted up but the one for control valve, it blinks a code of 3 flashes. I purchased 2 different service manuals that said they were for bobcat 773 serial numbers 500000 and up ( mine is 509639321 ) but both manuals of show BICS info for later models with digital gauges ( mine are analog gauges ) but they say if control valve light flashes 3 times that there is a issue with BICS control valve solonoid and shows it being a removable valve assembly by 6 bolts on control valve? My control valve doesn't have a removable valve assembly nor BICS solenoid there. Where would the BICS lockout solenoid be on my 773 C series ser#509639321 machine with foot controls, as to neither manual I purchased has any info that I can find for my machine. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Did you try disconnecting the battery? The longer the better. Sometimes a 'reboot' will clear and reset. Could have been a glitch. If it comes back, then go from there.
On a C series machine 3 flashes of the lift/tilt function at the BICS module is circuit is shorted to ground, most likely cause is lift/tilt lock out coil at main control valve has lost its smoke. The lift/tilt lock out valve would be located right about the center of the main control valve. There would only be 3 electrical coil connections to the main control valve on a C series machine, 2 coils are at the top of the main control valve for the auxiliary circuits. The lift/tilt lock out is below that, in the center of the main valve body.
That is where in the manual showed it to be, but the control valve on mine is a configured different than one shown in manual. Tomorrow I will take photos of it and attempt to upload them . But the 2 auxiliary Hydra solenoids I see on top , like on the photo in manual, it just doesn't have one on side center, nor even removable valve body assembly. Will try to get some photos uploaded tomorrow. Thanks
TOOK COUPLE PHOTOS AND HOPEFULLY GOT UPLOADED, THE ONE WITH NUMBERS ON IT IS FROM MANUAL AND IN CENTER IS THE BICS SOLENOID. BUT IN MY PHOTOS YOU CAN SEE THERE ISN'T ONE. THE 2 AUX SOLENOIDS AT THE TOP AND TO THE BACK OF MACHINE THERE IS A ALUMINUM BLOCK WITH HYDRO LINES GOING TO IT THAT HAS A THIRD SOLENOID ON IT. ALL OF THESE SOLENOID HAVE 2 WIRES GOING TO THEM AND WITH MACHINE RUNNING HAVE CONTINULTY TO GROUND ON BOTH WIRES. THE 2 AUX SOLENOIDS HAVE 11.4 OHMS RESISTANCE AND THE THIRD SOLENOID ON BLOCK TO THE BACK OF MACHINE HAS 9.8 OHMS RESISTANCE. IS THE BLOCK TO THE REAR OF CONTROL VALVE WITH SOLENOID THE LOCK OUT FOR LIFT @ TILT? AND ONE REPLY SAID SHOULD UNHOOK BATTERY, AND DID SO OVER NITE , BUT HAD NO CHANGE TODAY WHEN RECONNECTED IT. SHOULD BOTH WIRES GOING TO EACH SOLENOID HAVE CONNECTION TO GROUND? SHOULDN'T ONE WIRE HAVE POWER TO CREATE MAGNETIC ENERGY IN SOLENOID OPEN THE LOCK/VALVE? [ SORRY FOR CAPS ON, DIDN'T NOTICE TIL NOW ]
Plug to the coil should have one wire positive and one negative. Did you try using a test light to see if there is power and ground at the plug?
I don't have a manual for a 773 C series, and I haven't worked one like yours, but I'm pretty sure your BICS lock valve is the valve just behind the main control valve in your first pic. You can see two wires going to it in the pic.
I attached alligator clip of test light to a positive power source on machines, then probed each of the 2 wires on all 3 solenoids, and all 6 wires light up test light, each wire was a source for ground.. the black wire on solenoids should be the ground correct? But what would cause both the black and green wires to test grounded?
I'm the same as Willie and don't have knowledge of your machine, just going over some basic electrical checks. If you did not unplug the connector at the solenoid while probing the wires, it will show ground as the ground will back feed through the solenoid coil. 1) Unplug the solenoid connector and test to see if the machine end of the connector has both a positive and negative to prove there is power and ground for the coil. Using a test light and a paper clip or pin for the alligator clip end to get into the terminals of the connector. Be careful not to touch together while in the connector end. Black most often is ground but.... And to feed a coil it's not important which is which as long as there is pass through of electricity. 2) While still unplugged. test each solenoid plug end terminals with a Ohm meter. One lead on a terminal the other to ground to prove the coil is not shorted to ground. Both terminals should test open, no response.
Checked harness side of lift/tilt solenoid, definitely no power on green wire. Could the BICS controller be faulty?
Run a jumper test wire to temporarily replace the suspect wire and find out for sure. I always do this before firing the expensive parts cannon. Lots of times it’s the suspect wire broken in its sheathing or similar damage. Most of the time I end up running a well protected and properly routed replacement wire along the harness to completely replace the damaged wire
Again, I don't have experience on your machine. Obviously the controller could be bad. Need a wiring diagram to narrow it down. Be sure the controller has power, check fuses. Something triggers the controller to work. I would check the safety switches, any seat or safety bar, control lever switches that would need to be engaged to run the machine. Depending, these switches could be positive or negative type switching. For now just check that the switches are opening and closing the circuit and working as intended. I agree with JD, a temp wire to power the circuit can let you know your on the right track. Need a wiring diagram.
I did a temporary wire and it does operate with that.gonna try and trace it back to controller tonight. Thanks
Nailed it. Good deal on finding it without firing the parts cannon!
All of the coils, switches and circuits controlled by the BICS controller go back to the controller, there are no frame grounds on the BICS circuits. And you can't unplug BICS circuit wires going to coils and test them, the controller notices a broken connection and it locks out that circuit. Since you applied jumpers to the BICS hydraulic lock valve coil and now the lift/tilt works, then yes that would confirm your lock valve coil is good. Going back to your 3 flashes on the lift/tilt light at the BICS console indicating short circuit, then if your coil is good then you likely have a short in the wiring harness or a faulty BICS controller. There's no way I know of to test the BICS controller, Bobcat used to have an analyzer for their technicians to test them, don't know if they still do.
Hopefully I can find a wiring diagram for this machine. As stated earlier I've purchased 2 Service manuals that said they covered my models serial number but didn't. I'm assuming that the same signal/power from controller ( the green wire ) controls the aux hydraulic function to ( I only jumped the lift/tilt solenoid and didn't have attachment on machine with aux hydraulic function at the time ) will try to get to BICS controller and trace green wire back to its original start connection.
If there is a wire diagram in the manual you have, while you can’t completely trust it, it may give you the general idea of the way your machine is wired and what triggers the controller to work. Check at any connections first. It’s the most common place for failure.
Avoid putting 12V on the two coils for the auxiliary functions, those are 9 volt Pulse Width Modulation coils, if 12V is applied to them for too long of a period they'll go up in smoke.
Is that true for the lift/tilt solenoid as well? 12 volts will try it to? Does it need only 8 volts to function properly. Haven't had opportunity to do anything else with machine due to heavy rain last couple days. Needs to dry up some here.
The BICS coil for the lift/tilt lock out is 12V, it's only the two coils for the auxiliary function that are 9V PWM proportional coils.