TROLLING MOTOR PROBLEM

[bturck]

trolling motor will not rotate to the right using the foot control; left ok. I can turn the head manually to the right but not with the foot pad. Ever had the problem? Not sure if its a repair item or order the whole foot control assembly. going to call a fella in the morning who works on them. By the way its a bow mount Minkota 765 MXT. Thanks for any input. Good fishin, Bill

[PerchJerker]

Most likely it is a contact in the foot pedal, they wear out or burn out over time. If so, getting a brand new foot pedal will be just as cheap as getting it repaired .... although that is an older motor and you might have a lot of trouble finding a new foot pedal for it. Good luck getting it going again.

[bturck]

Perch, thanks for the info and the encouraging words.....LOL. Going to give the repair shop a call this morning and see what the verdict is. It is 10 years old so if I do have to replace it I guess I've gotten my use out of it. I'll post back what the outcome may be.....Bill

[BobT]

Before you spend any money, try this.

Turn the foot control upside down. You'll see three springs that hold the foot pedal on base. With a needle nose plier release those three springs. The foot pedal should lift off the base with ease.

Turn the base right side up again and you will see a white plastic piece that is able to slide side to side. Thoroughly clean the places where this white piece makes contact with anything. You should notice a small stainless plate or bearing surface that it contacts. Clean the heck out of this so the white plastic can slide easily back and forth. They always lubricate this with grease but grease attracts dirt and the dirt can cause this to get sticky. I clean mine with WD-40. I spray it down, work it by hand, clean up the dirt, and repeat until it is clean.

Next, if you look at that white plastic slide you will see it has four fingers. Slide a piece of paper toweling under those fingers to clean the point where they contact the mother board.

I've fixed many of these by just cleaning it this way. That white plastic slide must move freely so when you press on the pedal it can slide to operate the fingers correctly.

[bturck]

Bob, thanks for the advice. I noticed the 3 springs when I turned it over, but thought better of taking it apart and having pieces left over LOl. Thats usually my luck. Sounds like even a klutz like me can handle this. Appreciate it. Bill

[Fisherman45]

I have had both problems and did quick fixes that got me another year or 2 from the foot pedal. The contact on the circuit is covered by a plastic sheet gently pull this back and the contacts will either stay stuck to that or they will fall freely back onto the circuit board take all the contacts and clean thoroughly then set them all back in place and take some marine goop and carefully put it on the plastic sheet that was pulled off so not to interfere with the contacts carefully lay plastic sheet back over circuit board and hold down for 10-15 minutes let it cure for overnight and all should be good. I also had the corner of the white slide chip off so it wouldn't turn right I pulled the white slide out and cut off where it broke so it was square again then put a shim on the black part of the foot pedal where the white slide gets pushed the same size as what chipped and was cut off. Both fixes at least got me through the season or until the new one arrived.