Getting my butt kicked power issue

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I'm an electronic technician and my company troubleshooted equipment 43 years. We used schematics daily.
Try driving from St. Louis to Chicago without a road map.
Otherwise you're stabbing in the dark or "shotgunning it" throwing parts at it.
I see this online. I'd get a quality one, but at least I see start at the source (battery) then simply follow along...it goes to starter, there through a fuse to alternator and there other places...ignition switch, fuse block, etc.
Of course you can have high resistance (corrosion, broken wire internally), but check for 12V starting at battery following along.
It's simple: 12.6V across battery (y/n)
12.6V at alternator (y/n)
12.6V either side of fuse (y/n)

There are lots of load and voltage drop tests, but first is with a schematic see where you're not getting power.

 

[kdill995]

I have a ct235 that does the same thing on occasion, providing you also have a hydrostatic trans.

I’m not a mechanic and don’t know much technical lingo, however mine will do this sometimes. As you know, you have to have the pedal in the middle between forward and reverse in order for that to turn over. If you look underneath the pedal and rock it back-and-forth, you will see it makes contact or is supposed to make contact in order to start. If it gets dirty or some stick or something gets lodged up in there and isn’t allowing it to make contact, it will not turn over even though you have power starter.

Then again, I’m not a mechanic and I may be talking out of mine.
know what

 

[Gord Baker]

Bobcat ct230 no power anywhere. I have power at the starter, nowhere else. I have checked continunity on all the saftey switches, and all the fuses test good. No power anywhere else. Have cleaned the battery post, replaced the cable ends. Was running fine, parked it, now nothing.

 

[Gord Baker]

Bobcat ct230 no power anywhere. I have power at the starter, nowhere else. I have checked continunity on all the saftey switches, and all the fuses test good. No power anywhere else. Have cleaned the battery post, replaced the cable ends. Was running fine, parked it, now nothing.

Charge your battery and take it to a Shop with a serious Battery Load tester. Not the pocket ones. Check the Battery Ground (-) connection at the Frame. Remove it, shine up the contact surfaces and tighten. Does the engine crank or ???

 

[Omega Woods]

Since he hasn't been back since Sunday, I'll assume he figured it out and doesn't need the forum any more. Until next time...

 

[qualsite]

Troubleshooting 101... First check your ground. Put a load on the circuit by turning something on that is supposed to draw a decent load, even if it doesn't appear to be working. Meter where you know you have power... battery posts. Then check frame ground from + post to frame. Then you can put your meter negative anywhere on good frame ground, knowing it's good. Then meter positive from battery to every connection along the way, again, with something turned on, to ensure that the circuit is loaded to be able to indicate where you have a high resistance loss of connection and are losing the voltage. If you don't have a load on the circuit, you will usually indicate good voltage, even though no current could pass through. Bad crimps, connectors will corrode, along with the wires, making bad connections, and yes, mice love to chew through wires. Truthfully, finding the main power loss should be pretty easy with a decent meter, or even a 12v lamp, just starting where you have power, following the circuit, and finding where you no longer have voltage under load. The biggest pain is physically tracing where the wires go, but a wiring diagram should tell you that. If you really get stuck, a Fox and Hound type wire tracer is helpful. You put the transmitter on where you know the circuit is good, and the scan the rest of the wires with the receiver, which will emit a sound when it's next to the wire the transmitter is feeding. But that's usually only needed in tracing small signal wires, and you are talking about primary power cables, which should be fairly easy to physically trace and check. Another thing, I assume you know that your battery is good? They will show voltage until you put a load on them, and then it goes away [very common failure with newer batteries]. Make sure that you check your battery with a load on it. That's why I put a voltmeter on my batteries, so I know what it's doing while it's loaded up. If you have voltage at the starter, then a screwdriver across the starter should tell you if the battery has enough to crank it.