I have a Minn Kota PD40 trolling motor with the elec. foot pedal. Everything works fine on it but it has decided it doesn't want to turn to the right any more. I took apart the foot pedal and checked to make sure the contacts are hitting and they look fine. I had a similar problem before on my old trolling motor (same type of pedal) and it was suggested to put a shim under the board in the pedal to make it contact the little white contact things better. On this one though, the board is epoxied to the plastic backing so I'd have to cut it out to shim it. I'm not really even sure that its the pedal anyway. Anyone has any thoughts or tips, I'd appreciate it.

call my cell when you can

I have had the same problem with the same trolling motor pedal with every one Ive owned, and I have owned a MK PD for over 15 years. Ive never been able to fix them myself, and usually just buy a new pedal (like $90).

I replaced mine a year ago, and now the "new one" is having a very hard time going forward. I literally have to stand straight on it with lots of weight (kills my legs by the end of the day). I am praying it works through the weekend.

John, if you know how to fix this problem please let me know. In the meantime Ill put a shim under the pedal (urbanredneck35@yahoo.com).

BTW Rob, my pedal once quit going right while on the lake. So I got my pliers and screwdrive out and went to work. Bad idea! The pedal literally blew up in my face, I forgot to unattach it from the battery! I had black soot all over me, and have no idea where my pliers ended up landing.

Yeah tell me about it... The one I had before this had the same problem. Jay Lui shimmed the pedal for me and it worked for a while. I gave it to Nico and he had the same problem and wound up taking the two front springs off in the pedal so the contacts could be made more easily (without stomping on it). Unfortunately I tried that trick already on this one and no joy. I may try to shim the board, but it looks like its epoxied to the pedal and I'm not real excited about prying it off since the epoxy also covers all of the wires that run into the board. You'd think Minn Kota could get this kind of problem solved already. Maybe they just like making the money on spare parts.

I'm stuck on Minn Kota though because I love that flat pedal. I can't stand the motorguide pedals because they put you so off balance trying to stand on them. Oh well, I'll monkey with it some more this weekend.

Seeing as how you and I have the same type of boat, we chose the same trolling motor for the exact same reason: minimize the space a trolling motor takes up on the deck of a small boat!!

Plus, I had a special mount welded to my boat to accomodate the Power Drive base. This welded trolling motor mount WILL NOT WORK with any other trolling motor, so Im stuck with this model (or spend lots more on welding a new mount).

Heres the thing. Im thinking of buying a new Power Drive. I sure hope the new bases are EXACTLY like the old bases, otherwise Im looking at spending some money.

Oh well, nothing is ever perfect.

The PD40 I have now I bought about 2 years ago. Come to think of it, maybe its under warranty but I bet I forgot to send in the stupid warranty card. But yeah it was the same set of holes. After I fix this one, I may sell it and get the PD55 just to go faster. faster faster!!!

Hey rob,if ya need a temp motor I have my old motor giude 48# you could use.It's in my garage collecting dust.Is the motor you are talking about one of the digital ones?When I got my new one from jay(minn kota maxum 80)he steared me away from the ones without cable stearing for just that reason.Let me know if ya need it and you know I'm usually home any time.
swampy

thx Dave - you know I took it apart again last weekend with everything hooked up and by moving around the little white plastic pieces in the foot pedal just about 2mm I got it working again. The thing seems to be very fickle about how its positioned. Thanks though.

sell it and buy yourself one with cable steering, then you have less electronic stuff to deal with.My budy had that same motor and it has been to the repair shop 4 times in the past couple of years. Now we put a cable steering Motorguide on there and he's happy with it.

My problem is that I'm so used to the Minn Kota foot pedal I just can't stand to use the motorguides. I just love the fact that you can rest your full weight on the pedal on the Minn Kota micro touch pedals. On the motor guides if you try to stand on it, it becomes a balancing act. My other dilemma is trolling. When we troll, I put the pedal in the middle or back of the boat and steer from there. I can't do that on the cable steering. I agree cable steering is probably more reliable, I'm just stuck in my ways with the Minn Kota.

PS - After working for about 4 hours, the pedal broke again. Thing is totally fickle! Gotta buy a new one.