I have a Cat 257b 2007. Ran the machine for 2 hours today and came in for dinner. Went back to move it and when you turn the key to the first position where all the light come on there is nothing coming on. Nothing at all is happening when you turn the key. Just as if the battery is all the way dead. Battery is showing 12.8 volts. Horn will blow load. Toke panel down to check key switch and have power going through the switch. Not the switch. Disconnect safety switch from lap bar and check good. Not lap bar switch. I'm lost. Is there any other safety switch that I'm missing or something else?
Go to the starter motor. Follow the thinner of the 2 red wires connected to it that are marked "101" (the large 101 wire is the feed from the battery). That will take you to the main 105-amp machine circuit breaker for all power to the machine. Is it tripped..? From what I can see it appears to be located above and to the left of the engine when looking into the engine compartment from the rear. Follow the main wiring harness from the starter motor around the rear end of the engine and you'll find it. Also what is the machine Serial Number prefix, SLK or B7H..? If it's SLK is the Serial Number below or above 7300..?
Thank you for replying. Should had said that the circuit breaker was the first thing I did check. Forgot to put that in, but thanks for the reply. Now for all things to happen, I went out this morning got in drop the lap bar turn the key and eventhing working just find. Just like magic its as if nothing was wrong. To me this is a bad thing because when is it going to happen again? Need to find out what cause it and it's hard to do that when its working and not broke. lol It's sad when you wont it broke. The Serial # is SLK05934. 2270 Hours. Is there something to this I should know? I bought the skid steer at and auction this past weekend and did not do my home work on the machine (Cat 257b). I have then found out that the motors on this machine is not the best but so far I don't think this one has gave any problems yet. Is there anything else I should be aware of or something I should be looking for.
You need 3 posts before you can send Private Messages (PM). Get another post in then send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll send you the electrical schematic for your machine. That's always good for diagnosing electrical issues. IIRC there are a number of regular posters on here who run 257's. I'm sure one or more of them will chime in with thoughts.
Famous for head gaskets to blow between cylinder 1&2. Will burn #2 pushrod will see carbon build up unless you see the metal head gasket then it had already been done at some time previously. How many hours on the may by the way? The plastic pump drive gear also gives a lot of problems.
It has 2250 hours on it. Do you know what's the average hours are when the head gasket starts letting go?
I had a 257 that did the same thing turned out to be a wire in the main harness under the cab. It had rubbed the frame through the wire loom and just enough into the wire insulation that if the viberation was just right it would short out, drag the machine out of the way then it would start it went on for several days before we figured it out.
Ok got my skid steer back from the dealer on Friday and here is what all was going on with the machine. As far as the aux hydro not working, it was the thumb wheel switch on the joystick. Cost: $365 for the joystick and 2 hours install labor at $92 per hour. Total $549 for a $20 on/off switch. And they replaced it with a joystick that did not have the trigger button at your index finger. When I question this I was told that I did not have the wiring going out with the aux hydro so why put that joystick back on it because it was a $109 more than the one they put on it. Not sure if I should make them change it or not, what would you do? I don’t need it today but not sure if I will need it in the future. This one is for the people who like to help others out in trouble shooting there problems. Now, as far as the machine losing all power. Let me go back a little and explain what was going on. I bought this 257b (no attachments) at an auction about 4 weeks ago. I bought it home and unloaded it with no problems. Rented a tooth bucket from the Cat dealer until I could find a 4 in 1 bucket to buy used. I put around 4 to 5 hours on the machine just playing around the house getting used to it. Parked it in the garage at dark one evening and went out for dinner with the family. Came back that night 3 hours later and my son wanted to know how to run the machine. Told him to get in started it up. He told me that it would not start. No power, no panel lights, horn would blow but that’s it. I check the battery had 12.8 volts. Check the main reset button, not that. Checked all safety switches. Took the panel down with the key switch on it and check for voltage, had power coming in and going out to the relays. Taps on all the relays still nothing. Give up for the night. Went out the next day, got in the machine hit the key and had power, started it up as if nothing was wrong the night before. Used it 2 or 3 days with no problems. Used it last Saturday for 6 hours, parked it garage late that evening. No problems. Sunday need to work on my truck so I was going to move the skid steer out the way and guess what, the dang thing would not start again. No power to anything but the horn. Try everything and anything to get it running but nothing. Went out Monday and started up again as if nothing was wrong. This is when I decide to take it in to the dealer. Now as far as what was wrong with it. Anti-Theft Mode. The ECM was program to run 7am to 7pm Monday through Saturday only. The fix, reprogramed it to run 12:00am to 11:59pm Sun to Sat. Now it will cut off for 1 minute at midnight. Was told to have it set to run 24/7 they would have to replace the ECM with one that did not have the Anti-Theft Mode built into it. Cost 4.5 hrs. labor $414. My take on all of this, I don’t mind paying for the work to the ECM and programing it. You can chase something like this around for and long time and never find anything. But $550 to replace a broken switch in my book is just plain out wrong! Hope this will help out someone with a problem they have one day.
Interesting never knew they could be programmed that way. Seem like a nice option.
My 242a trips the breaker within a second or two of pushing in the glow plug switch. I have not found any damaged wires. Any suggestions would be appreciated.