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Bobcat warning lights came on but machine still runs fine, keep working?

I wouldn’t ignore warning lights for too long. Had this happen before on a Bobcat where everything felt fine but lights kept flashing randomly. Turned out to be a sensor issue and not something serious, but I’m glad I checked early because I kept worrying the whole time I was working. Now my rule is slow down and inspect before pushing the machine hard.
 
Had this happen before on a Bobcat where everything felt fine but lights kept flashing randomly. Turned out to be a sensor issue and not something serious, but I’m glad I checked early because I kept worrying the whole time I was working. Now my rule is slow down and inspect before pushing the machine hard.
 
I wouldn’t go by it still runs fine alone. A lot of Bobcats will throw a warning before you actually feel anything wrong in the controls.What matters more is which light came on and whether it just beeped a few times or kept alarming. Big difference there.I have seen guys keep working because the loader still drove and lifted normally then later realize it was trying to warn them early.
 
Honestly the best thing is to pull up the operator manual PDF for your exact model, not one of those random symbol charts floating around online. A lot of the Bobcat warning lights images people find are mixed from different years and panel layouts. That’s where a lot of confusion starts.

Manual
If you know the model like S650, T650, S590 etc, it gets a lot easier to match the right symbol list.
 
The actual symbol matters way more than people think.Coolant temp, hydraulic warning, charge/battery, engine malfunction, interlock stuff, all of those can still leave the machine running for a bit.
That’s why it still runs fine doesn’t really rule much out.
 
Had something similar on an older Bobcat and it ended up being a lot less dramatic than I thought, but I’m still glad I stopped. Machine felt normal, hydraulics felt normal, no weird sounds, but the cooling area was packed up and it was starting to complain before it got hot enough to really show symptoms.That’s kind of the trap with these machines. They can still feel fine and still be warning you.
 
One thing a lot of owners don’t realize is Bobcat doesn’t treat every warning the same. On a lot of models, a regular warning is basically the machine telling you to check this now before it gets worse. A shutdown condition is a different deal entirely. The manuals usually separate those two pretty clearly. On the S650 manual for example, it explains that a warning condition can come with the icon and a few beeps, while a shutdown condition is more serious and can escalate if you ignore it.


That’s why I wouldn’t just keep working until you know what category it falls into.
 
If your machine has the deluxe or updated panel, this Bobcat instrumentation video is actually worth a watch because it helps a lot with where to look for warnings and service info:


Not saying your issue is definitely on that exact system, but it does help if you’re trying to understand what the panel is actually showing you.
 
I checked the fluids and cleaned around the cooler/radiator area before running it again. Machine still starts and works normal, but after reading a few replies here I’m not going to assume all Bobcat warning lights mean the same thing.I’m going to see if I can get the actual code/symbol and post it back here. That’ll probably help more than just saying it still runs.
 
Another thing to keep in mind if it’s a newer machine, not every light people panic over is a major failure. Sometimes guys are looking at an emissions/service related indicator and assuming the whole machine is about to die.Bobcat has a decent video on the Tier IV side of it too, especially around service signals and regen related stuff: Tier 4 interim maintanance

Not saying that’s definitely your issue just saying it’s one more reason the exact symbol matters.
 
If you can get the actual code off the display, that’ll narrow this down fast. Bobcat actually has an official fault code lookup now, which is a lot better than trying to guess based on icon charts alone:
Bobcat fault codes
That’s usually the fastest way to separate a real issue from a sensor or panel scare.
 
This thread will probably help a lot of people because most owners don’t even know what to search at first. They end up typing stuff like bobcat warning lights or bobcat warning light symbols meaning when what they really need is the exact symbol, whether it beeped or stayed alarming, and whether the machine showed a service code. Once you have those 3 things, you’re usually a lot closer to the real answer.
 
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