I have a Minnkota Maximum 64 and was trolling on high (100) when my motor on its own idled down to about 1/2 speed and had a noticeable vibration. After a few hours or fishing on my normal 30 level I put it back on 100 and proceeded to troll for a few minutes and it did it again.
After I got home and had some tools to work with I took it apart and cleaned out a good amount of weeds that came from this trip and some old line. I noticed my shear pin was also "warped" and replaced it as well. Took the boat back out for a test run and it seemed to work fine. Didn't have enough time to duplicate an entire trip but thought it was enough to tell if what I had done worked.
The only local dealer we have isn't any help and the Minnkota web site and 800 # won't return any messages.
Do any of you have any experience in this? Would the weeds, line, and warped sheer pin cause this to happen? I can see the vibration but does it have some type of sensor that would cause it to idle down?
Any help would greatly be appreciated since I will have to drive a considerable distance to have it looked at.
Take a look at the time zone location for Minn Kota. I have never had any trouble getting through to a technical person. The ones I have spoken with are very knowledgeable and helpful. They talked me through a repair that would have cost around $100 that I did myself for $19.45 The instructions & prints were very easy to follow. Hope this helps. Smiles. G
You didn't state how much line or weeds was wrapped but weeds and fishing line around the shaft would definitely cause it to pull down, can also damage the bearing seal after a while if it gets jam packed against it and operated like that.
Can that exert enough force to bend the pin? I don't know. Probably so if it were tight enough. I would remove the prop and see if you have any side-to-side or excessive end play in the shaft. If so, better have your seal & bearings checked. Sometimes you can remove the prop, rotate 180 degrees and reinstall to reduce/eliminate vibration. Don't know about a slow sensor.
There's an authorized MK service center in Penhook VA, Smith Mtn. Boat & Tackle. Scott, the owner is very knowledgeable, helpful and also a great guy. He's located about 83 miles from Clarksville on Rt.40
I recently run mine on high for an extended period ......... it slowed way down and then quit completely ...........few minutes later it was back up and working........... what had happened was it overheated and tripped the breaker ( breaker is an auto resetting breaker)......... this is what the guy at the marine repair shop explained to me
hope this helps
I have a MinnKota Riptide and on high it will kick out and I have to unplug it and it will come back on. I belive it is a safety feature to keep from burning up the motor.
Thanks for all the replys. I had a technician from a dealer contact me this morning and after I explained the problem he advised it was definitly due to the weeds etc causing it to overheat and thus it shuts itself down to protect from overheating. The "shut down" coupled with the bent sheer pin and weeds caused the vibration.
