Bobcat MT100 Won't Start? Here Are the Top 3 Reasons (10sec fix)

You've got the machine off the trailer, the job's waiting, and the MT100 won't crank. Before you call anybody, take a breath — nine times out of ten, nothing is wrong with the machine.

The Bobcat MT100 mini skid steer has a start interlock system that refuses to crank the engine unless every control is in neutral. It's not a fault. It's the machine protecting you from starting up with the attachment already live. The catch is that the three controls it checks aren't obvious, and one of them gets misunderstood by almost every first-time renter.

Here's what to check, in order.

The 10-second reset: Take your foot off the pedal. Center the drive lever. Push the aux lever to neutral. Turn the key. That fixes it the vast majority of the time.

1. Your Foot Is on the Black Pedal

This is the number one call we get, and it's the one nobody guesses.

Most operators assume the foot pedal on the MT100 is a safety pedal — like a deadman switch you're supposed to hold down to run the machine. It's the opposite. That pedal is what you press to lock the auxiliary hydraulics into constant-on mode, so an auger, trencher, or breaker keeps running without you holding the lever the whole time.

So when you climb on and rest your boot on the pedal out of habit, you're telling the machine the hydraulics are engaged. It won't start. That's by design — you don't want an auger spinning up the second the engine fires.

The fix: Take your foot completely off the pedal before you turn the key. Not lightly — off it. Then start the machine, get it running, and press the pedal only when you actually want the attachment to run continuously.

Why it trips people up: It feels like a clutch or a brake. It isn't. Think of it as an on switch for the attachment, not a permission switch for the machine.

2. The Drive Lever Isn't in Neutral

Second most common, and it spikes hard in cold weather.

The MT100 won't crank unless the drive control is centered. In summer that's usually a non-issue — you bump it, it springs back to center, done. But when the hydraulic oil is cold and thick, the lever doesn't always return all the way home on its own. It'll look centered. It'll feel centered. It's sitting a hair off, and the interlock reads that as "in gear."

The fix: Physically push the drive lever back to the center position with your hand. Give it a light nudge both directions and let it settle dead center. Then turn the key.

Cold-weather tip: If it's below freezing, let the machine idle for five to ten minutes after it starts before you work it hard. Warm hydraulic oil moves the way it's supposed to, and the lever will start returning to neutral on its own. Working a mini skid steer hard on cold oil is one of the faster ways to hurt a hydraulic system.

3. The Auxiliary Lever Is Still in Detent

This one is the sneaky cousin of reason number one, and it's usually a second-day problem.

The MT100's auxiliary control lever has a detent position — you push it past a stop and it locks there to keep flow going to the attachment. If you shut the machine down mid-task, or the engine dies while an auger is turning, that lever can stay parked in detent. Next morning you come back, hop on, foot nowhere near the pedal, drive lever perfectly centered — and it still won't crank.

The fix: Look at the aux lever, don't just feel for it. Pull it back out of detent to true neutral. You'll usually feel it pop past the stop.

Habit worth building: Make it part of your shutdown, not your startup. Drop the attachment to the ground, pull the aux lever out of detent, foot off the pedal, center the drive lever, then kill the engine. Do that and the machine starts clean every time.

Alt text: Auxiliary control lever in detent versus neutral on a Bobcat MT100

Still Won't Start? Check These Next

If all three controls are neutral and you're still getting nothing, work down this list:

• Cold start / preheat. The MT100 runs a Kubota diesel. In cold weather it needs glow plugs. Hold the key in the preheat position for up to about 15 seconds before you go to start. Skipping preheat is the most common "it cranks but won't fire" complaint in winter.
• Throttle position. Set the throttle to roughly half before starting rather than idle.
• Clicking, no crank. That's electrical, not interlock — usually a low battery or a loose or corroded battery cable. Check the terminals first.
• Fuel. Sounds obvious, but check the gauge and the fuel shutoff. Diesels that run dry need to be bled, which is a call to us, not a roadside fix.
• Key position. Make sure the key is fully seated and turning past the accessory position.

When to Call Us Instead

You are renting equipment so you can get a job done, not so you can troubleshoot a machine. If you've run the three-control reset and the extra checks above and the MT100 still won't start, stop and call — don't start pulling things apart. A jump attempt on the wrong terminals or a bled fuel system done wrong turns a five-minute fix into a lost day.

RINO Rents is owner-run out of Indianapolis. We pick up the phone, we know the machines in our fleet, and we'd rather walk you through it in two minutes than have you burn an afternoon.

Call us at (317) 868-4993.

We deliver mini skid steers, mini excavators, compact track loaders, and attachments across the Indy metro — Carmel, Fishers, Greenwood, and out further for longer rentals. Every machine goes out serviced, fueled, and ready to work, and every renter gets a walkthrough before we leave the site.