We've swapped it over, and surprise surprise, it works ><

one last observation we've made:
1. when the cables are connected to the motor, moving forward/reverse doesn't put contactor into place.
2. however when the cables are disconnected, the contactors will toggle accordingly
3. probing at the respective cables will give a measurement of ~25V when moving forward/reverse.

Our hypothesis is that perhaps there's a short somewhere along the traction signal's path. It is such that when traction is triggered, the signal travels elsewhere than to the contactor and towards the motor.

btw we've also checked the yellow and green wires from the drive sensor into port 12 & 13 of PSZ. All seems to be in place.

We'd really appreciate if you guys have any input/suggestion, as we're totally out of it..