Terrova I-Pilot..Foot Pedal Problem..Won't Steer To Right?

[eyesbme]

I have a MinnKota Terrova I-Pilot and when you have your foot on the foot pedal wanting to steer to the right, it won't turn the motor in that direction. The pedal works fine when you push your foot down on it to go to the left. The hand held remote turns the motor both left and right fine, and the two directional arrows at the base of the foot pedal both steer the motor fine in both directions.

Could there be an obstruction in the foot pedal somewhere that isn't allowing the foot pedal to make contact with the switch to make it turn to the right? Why it steers fine in both directions with using the remote and or pushing down on the directional arrows, but not steer to the right using your foot on the pedal has me confused?

Anyone have any suggestions to what the problem might be? At $165 to replace the foot pedal, i'm hoping this might be a simpler fix.

Thanks.

[REW]

Eyes,
Tear the foot pedal apart and check all of the switches in the pedal with an ohmmeter.

It is quite likely that you have a pc style switch that can be fixed only by replacing the foot pedal, but it never hurts to check.

Also, if you want, you can reverse engineer the pedal and put in discrete switches for the turn switches if you do have pc style switches in your pedal.

Good luck
REW

[Papascott]

Do both the rocker pedal and steering arrow buttons on the bottom of the pedal not work?

Can you borrow a foot pedal to confirm that is the pedal and not the terova itself?

[BroadwayBill]

Haven't had one of the new ones apart but on the old ones they had a copper circuit contact that if it was exposed to water would corrode and when you pushed the pedal that direction it wouldn't close the circuit to move the head. It is also possible that you have a spring that needs to be stretched a little so the pedal actually makes contact when depressed. Also had this happen once. You will have to take the cover off and look. Best guess to note what would happen when the pedal is depressed after you have it apart and look at the circuit board to see if there is any discoloration in the lines.

Bill

[ChuckD]

I would say it's the foot pedal. I have had the same problem with my Terrova, but it didn't want to turn left. Some crud got inside the pedal. Take it apart, clean it and see what the problem is. It's not making a good connection inside.

[eyesbme]

I did tear apart the foot pedal, taking out all the screws and found no obstructions under it when i had the foot pedal taken apart. It was clean from what i could tell and no wires broken.

What i did find out though is that when i left the two screws out that have the springs attached to them under the base of the foot pedal, the foot pedal turns the motor to the left and right instantly with no problems and little effort, but when you put the screws back in with the springs attached, it takes a lot of down pressure to get the motor to turn to the right. The foot pedal turns to the left w/o any effort at all with screw/spring in place. That's not an issue. Yes, the remote turns the motor left/right w/o any problems and using the two directional arrows both work in turning the motor left/right.

I called Minnkota and the guy mentioned that maybe it is the spring that needs to be adjusted or stretched. It seems like it's not making enuf contact with the switch to make it want to turn. The guy also mentioned to mayb adjust the screw by loosening it up and see if that may help with allowing better contact with the switch. Sounds like it may be the spring itself.

Like i said before, with the 2 screws in with the springs attached, the motor will turn to the right, but man you really have to stomp and put your weight down on the foot pedal to get it to turn. W/o the screws and springs in the motor turns effortlessly in both ways.

I may switch springs in opposite locations and see if that makes a difference. The other thing the guy from MinnKota said was that maybe the foot pedal is warped enuf to effect the switch making contact, thus allowing it not to turn to the right as easy.

What would i do to make the spring stretch out more to help make better contact?

Will see what happens..

[ChuckD]

"but man you really have to stomp and put your weight down on the foot pedal to get it to turn."

That was my issue too. I was ready to buy a new one, but my local repair guy convinced me to take it apart, clean and inspect. Something was not allowing the pedal to fully depress, but now it works after a tear down and cleaning. I'm thinking the springs are stretched; they should be tighter?

Do you have a Minn Kota repair shop nearby?

[Ryno]

On the bottom are two springs under two screws.....simply take out those screws and "STRECH" the springs to make have less strength. Put them back in. I found that a small stretch of these will help to allow for a cure!! I worked for me.
Ryno