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Posts: 2361
| I have a 2003 ? aprox. Minn kota maxxum with manual foot control steering, the same electric a lot of you have. No power drive or anything like that, just the simple foot pedal, cable steering.
Had a friend out the other night and when we got in he decided to do me a favor by "aligning" the prop and motor correctly for me, ahem. I had this trolling motor and used it frequently with no problems with the steering. Anyway, next morning go down the road to fish and find I have no steering and the motor only turns to the left and somewhat listlessly at that, and then basically flops around whatever direction as if a cable was broken.
So get this same friend who "knows" how to fix it and we dissemble it, find nothing notable but it is working in the garage when we put it back together, with the motor hanging out, it turns left and right as if IT WORKS. Well, sad to say drove down the road again to fish, and it is not working, same as before.
One thing of note, I believe a properly working steering setup would involve both cables being taut or somewhat taut at all times, however I note with this one that tightening one results in the other becoming loose, however it appears the cables are intact and hooked up properly both at the head and the foot pedal component. I did find the cable tension tightener tonight after scratching my head last night(the apparatus is hidden under plastic cover).
Anybody got an idea? Cables aren't a huge cost but it seems like it might be something simpler. help would be appreciated.  | |
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | It sounds to me like the cables need to be aligned correctly on the gearing. If the cables are alligned with the motor 'off center' the foot control won't move the motor as you want it too. If I remember correctly, the gear on top can 'move' as well if things are not tight. There should be an adjustment on the foot pedal to tighten the cables as well, if my memory severs. Been awhile since I worked on one of those electrics.
Anyone else? Jay needs help on this one quickly. | |
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | Sounds to me like there's something broke. I'd take it to a certificed Minnkota repair shop.
Doug Johnson | |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | I had this happen to mine last year. Pop the top off the head and you'll find a pulley there. Make sure the cables are wrapped around that correctly. This may be a chronic issue for you in the future just so you know. I brought mine in 2x and fixed it 3-4x on the water before I just traded it in on a new one. I'm sure there was some other damage in there somewhere to give me that kind of slack.
Hopefully this will be a quick and easy fix for you. | |
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Posts: 131
| it sounds like the cables are not wound correctly on the spool in the upper head of the motor.take the top cover off and check to see if the steering cables 'barrel' shaped ends are in the slots provided to hold them.if not here is what to do.deploy the motor to the down position.back the cable tension screw off completely.[it's located on the front of the foot pedal,just under the pedal]set the foot pedal to the center position just like you were steering it straight.figure out which cable goes in the top slot and which one goes in the bottom slot of the spool that slides down over the gear coming out of the main shaft.both cables have to be 'half rapped' on that little black plastic spool and then slid back down on the metal gear in the shaft making sure that the foot pedal is in the center steering position and the motor head is pointed in the straight forward direction.[you want the foot pedal 'level' and the motor pointed straight like it would be when you are steering it straight with your foot] if this doesn't fix it, take it to the nearest minnkota shop and watch them fix it. you can check minnkota's website for your nearest repair center. | |
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Posts: 2361
| Thanks Rudy,
Though this wasn't exactly the problem, the tension control was the problem. Took the top off out at the lake and found that the tension was so loose it had allowed the cable to slip off the top of the head and back on, just about at will. This was why we thought we had it fixed before when we had the top off, it was so loose it was right back on when we took it off. We had this off once before but did not spot the tension control at the front bottom of the foot control, though I had looked at it and wondered what the heck they were talking about. You kind of miss it because the actual tensioner is under a plate. Evidently after time and frequent beatings the tension on the cables eased to the point where one more "adjustment" was enough to set it off, LOL.
Tip to anyone working on their maxxum foot control. First time we took it apart I was reluctant to take it fully apart, meaning taking the electrical junk out from the two plates that hold it in place and to the bottom of the foot control. The second time I felt I had to so I could visualize the area better, which is how I spotted the tensioner. But, the surprise of the deal was that it took 10 minutes of wrangling, adjusting and cussing for two of us to get the electrical stuff back in there while still fastened to the foot plate, but fully loose it layed in there without a twitch and had it all back together in 60 seconds by myself. Expected the complete opposite.
Thanks everybody. | |
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| Just had the same problem and had been fooling around with the foot petal trying to tighten the cable with no luck. Gave up and decided to Google the topic and came upon this site. After read Rudy's comments I went back to the garage and took the top off and sure enough one of the cable had popped off the pulley. Less the 15 minutes later problem solved. Thanks Rudy, you just saved me some money and down time. | |
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Posts: 443
Location: Indiana | Probably a long shot, but I had a similar problem. The shaft within the outer shaft has come screws in it. One of the screw heads sheared off and got lodged between the two shafts. It caused me to only be able to steer one way, but would switch wich way, it just depended on if the screw head shifted in there. Pretty easy repair, just took the motor apart, retrieved the screw and replaced it. | |
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MinnKota Maxxum trouble shooting