Bobcat S185 Oil Presure

   / Bobcat S185 Oil Presure #1  

JJZ 109

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2009
Messages
2,174
Location
Lake Ontario/St. Lawrence River
Tractor
Kubota BX2380/LA344 loader/60" MMM, Bobcat S185 skid steer, JD X394 4 wheel steer mower
I've got a 2008 S185 with 1260 hours on it. Bought it last September and have only put 40 hours on it since then. It's worked perfectly fine. Yesterday I got an "extreme low oil pressure" warning and shut it down.
I checked the oil. Full. A few minutes later it started just fine. There is no engine knocks or noises, no smoking. All appears to function normally and then the warning pops up.
On the outside chance that the previous owner used very light oil for winter operation, I changed the oil to 15W40 now that warmer weather is here. Also put a new NAPA Gold filter in it. Oil pressure returned. After running the machine until it got to normal operating temperature (around 180º) the pressure dropped again and the warning sounded. This machine gets no heavy duty use. Mostly loading 350 pound rolls of gutter coil onto a seamless machine, snow removal and once in a while scraping some sod up to expand the driveway.
I'm not a diesel mechanic by any means and this will probably go to the local Bobcat place for an evaluation. I'm just trying to get an idea of what may be in store for me there. The parts manager there is a friend, but I don't know how much that's going to help me out on repair $$$$.
 
   / Bobcat S185 Oil Presure
  • Thread Starter
#2  
Thought I'd bump this up because it's been a couple of months and the issue persists. The machine generally only gets used for a few minutes at a time to load material onto my seamless gutter machine so generally is no problem because it doesn't really get to operating temperature of 180. But someday winter will be here again and I'll be needing to use the machine with a snow blower.
I ran it down the road about a quarter mile and back to pick up a truck freight delivery the other day and the issue happened again. Today I removed the oil pressure sensor and it appeared to have some red Permatex blocking the orifice. Cleaned it up and cleaned the electrical contacts and put it back together. Ran the machine around the property until the temp got to the upper 170's. Same thing. Low oil pressure/shut it down message. Looks like tomorrow I load up enough material to keep me in business for a couple of weeks and then take this thing to the dealer. Really sucks that a spotless, well maintained 1400 hour machine like this has such a problem.
 
   / Bobcat S185 Oil Presure #3  
Does it a have the Deluxe right hand panel with push button start? If so, what is the oil pressure reading when gives a "low oil pressure code". Put an oil gauge in place of the sensor and run it up same temp and compare the gauge with what sensor was reading. If it is different, gauge higher, the try new sensor first. Some of the red gunk may have gotten up in the sensor, or variable ohm resistance in the sensor could be off giving it a False reading.
 
   / Bobcat S185 Oil Presure
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Does it a have the Deluxe right hand panel with push button start? If so, what is the oil pressure reading when gives a "low oil pressure code". Put an oil gauge in place of the sensor and run it up same temp and compare the gauge with what sensor was reading. If it is different, gauge higher, the try new sensor first. Some of the red gunk may have gotten up in the sensor, or variable ohm resistance in the sensor could be off giving it a False reading.

It does have the deluxe panel/push button start. If I remember correctly, the panel is showing oil pressure to be down around 5 to 7 pounds when the shut down warning appears.
It appears to run in the 30 psi area when cold.
 
Last edited:
   / Bobcat S185 Oil Presure #5  
It does have the deluxe panel/push button start. If I remember correctly, the panel is showing oil pressure to be down around 5 to 7 pounds when the shut down warning appears.
It appears to run in the 30 psi area when cold.

5 -7 psi is what shut down pressure should be, but if the sensor is plugged or faulty that may not be the true/actual oil pressure. That is why checking with a manual gauge is necessary. This would be 1st test dealer would do if you took it to them.
 
   / Bobcat S185 Oil Presure
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Dennis - Engine running with a manual gauge on it right now. Where this morning's cold startup oil pressure was 30-34, the manual gauge is showing around 50 for cold startup.
Will let it run up to operating temp and see what it says then.
 
   / Bobcat S185 Oil Presure
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Good news, I think. I ran it around the property and played with it for a bit. Engine temp got up to 171. At idle RPM of around 1060-1070 the oil pressure held steady at 35-36 psi.
Now it's the waiting game. Local Bobcat doesn't have one in stock. No go with calling local Kubota to cross one. Looks like I wait 2 days until one arrives.
 
Last edited:
   / Bobcat S185 Oil Presure
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Problem appears to be solved. Installed the new oil pressure sensor today. Ran the machine up to operating temp and then worked it a little at around 2250 RPMs. Oil pressure in the mid to high 40's.
One of the guys at the Bobcat dealer said he's seen this 2 or 3 times in a row on the same brand new machine. They don't know if there was an issue with that part maker for a time or what the problem was.
 
   / Bobcat S185 Oil Presure #9  
I know this is an old thread, but I'm having the same problem. I get a 4-9 about 1 min after startup, progresses to 4-14 after about 10 min of running, then gives a 4-15 and shuts down. Only mine is a S175 with 3500hrs on it. I replaced the oil pressure sensor and it fixed the problem, but only 10 hrs later it is doing it again. I have confirmed the 8v reference and signal are present at the connector. I confirmed the pressure is steady between 50-55psi full throttle. Seems the relatively new sensor has takes a crap on me already. Is there a way to bench test these sensors or are the symptoms conclusive?
 
 
Top