Autopilot issues – please help

I don’t want to bore everyone to death but I have a Minnkota 55AP trolling motor that is causing me fits. I have had it to the Minnkota dealer 6 times already. The problem is I used it for 6 months without flaw. Then one day it starts to spin 360’s out of the blue. It does this about every minute. Talk about frustrating. First thing was called Minnkota and they said 90% of all autopilot problems are power related. So 2 new batteries later, a hydrometer test and still had the problem. Also tried hooking direct as Minnkota tried to tell me it was boat wiring, and still no luck.

Then got the local service tech involved. We have replaced the coil, compass twice, done a sim-pod adjustment (not sure what that is, I think calibrate it), and a couple of other things. Last spring took it in and he said it seemed like the compass was out of adjustment. I thought he had it because for about 2 weeks it worked great. Then, here goes the 360-show again.

I am about ready to throw the thing in the lake or give up on autopilots but when the thing works, it is sweet to use. Any suggestions or anybody else have issues like this?

I am debating calling up the rep and see what I can get out of the motor and simply get rid of the lemon, but it is frustrating as I brought it in way before the warranty was up and am still having problems.

Call the rep.

Most people with the new APs are having this problem.

Call the rep and talk to them. They are very responsive if you communicate with them. A buddy of mine was going into a Muskie tourney and his started acting up. They sent him a new unit and he hasn’t had any problems thus far.

One of my other buddys is an electrician and he talked with the service department. The problem lies in the Ohms not being strong enough or weak enough (not sure). However, he was able to fix it himself and hasn’t had a problem since.

Good luck and call the rep!

Yeah, mine dis this badly after 2 years, and every so often it hiccups again for me. Hopefully it won’t get too bad, I could handle having it adjusted every so often. I wonder how they get off. I brought mine into the motorclinic in Bloomington, they did a good job, but it hasn’t had a ton of use since then, Probably 8 hours this year, hasn’t done it to me yet.. Sorry other than that can’t help ya.

I know this doesn’t help with your problem but I think Minn Kota would have a better setup if the AP feature had been an add on like the co pilot is. Then everyone would just buy a power drive and add the AP if they want. Oh well just a thought.

Minn Kota 74 AutoPilot or 74 PowerDrive

Is autopilot worth the extra money?

I had the same problem as well as a friend of mine. We both ended up replacing an electronic board which corrected the problem.

Good Fishing,
Mike

Thanks for all your posts and comments.

I talked to the main tech rep at Minn Kota and he affirmed, their autopilot models (at least the ones from 2001-2003) had issues in the software on the main control board that caused these 360 spinning issues I was facing. They fixed it last fall and now supposedly the autopilots function correctly and correct smoother than before instead of so jerky.

He is sending me a new board and compass and it sounds like this is the problem. So, if any of you are experiencing the same issue, call Minn Kota and they will send you a new board assembly.

One interesting note that he mentioned could account for some other posts I have seen some posts that say the latency of the foot pad is very bad. He informed me that if the foot pad is pressed to move the head, for about the first second, the foot pad will make a different sound and that is to do very small incremental course corrections and then, you will hear the sound change and the head will turn more quickly. This could be what some people are complaining about the footpads being very non-responsive.

Thanks for all your help.

Thanks for the update kirsch,
You should put this post in your Favorites so you can find it easily and let us know down the road how the autopilot is working for you.

Really that’s interesting…. I talked to them before I took mine in, they didn’t offer anything of the sort, maybe because you had more problems…. Interesting, I’ll have to give them a call, you don’t happen to remember the person’s name you talked to do you???? I’d much rather have it fixed only once…

I PM’d the contact information to you. Good luck. I hope to get it soon and have soft water to test it on. Good Fishing.

That is interesting!

I’ve had two foot pedals go bad…one was my fault. The first time the warrenty fella walked me through a couple tests and sent out a new pedal. The sencond time, I had to pull teeth to get them to send me the pedal. “You need to take it to a service center” was the response. I did have one sent out.

With the 360 turning, how can you tell if you have the new board? I had mine in last fall (for the second time) and haven’t used it this year. The service person replaced the board and the compass, but didn’t mention anything new and improved.

If you don’t know, please pm me with your contact also!

Thanks!

Dizzy Briank!

I’m new to this site-found it by googling “Minnkota”, “autopilot” and “problem”. What a great site!

I am joining in the brotherhood of AP’s gone bad….
Purchased new 65AP 3 seasons ago, and had periodic spinning issues. While it was under warranty, I just chalked it up to a minor but irritating glitch that was resolved by shutting off the AP feature for awhile. Now that the unit is out of warranty, and on my pre-opener shakedown cruise last weekend, I have the “spinning” issue, as well as a “turns only left” issue. I chalked the left turn only issue up to a bad pedal, and took it in to have it checked–nope, “bad control board”- $100, and a 4 hour trip back to the lake to retreive the unit for repair before opener–!*#?%!

I’d like to try your Minnkota contact out as well. Would you mind pm’ing me with it?

Thanks for your help.

I don’t have the info you’re looking for Still H2O eye, but seeings how you’re “in the area”, I wanted to welcome you to the site! Read………..fish……….share. It’s the butt kickin’est system on the web and you’re welcome, welcome, welcome to be part of a great and growing community of dedicated anglers that love helping each other out!

StillH2OEye,
I would like to welcome you as well, and may I suggest that you check out the Motor Clinic in Bloomington for you trolling motor problem: http://www.motorclinic.com/
I’ve gotten help from them recently and they are awesome!

Welcome StillH2OEye!

You do bring up a question about MinnKota…or any company for that matter. If there’s a problem with a product and the company knows about it…why do they charge you for it even after it’s out of warrenty?
I would think, if you have this “spinning” issue and they fix it (the way it should have been in the first place) the company would actually see and increase in sales over time because of the positive feed back from very happy anglers. I mean really, how much can that board cost them $10? OK, lets say $50. What’s it cost to sponser a tourney? The full page ad is fishing rags? Just don’t make sense to me?

On another note…this web site has so much info it it’s history it’s mind boggling. Last year I became interested in catfishing (do to hooking up with a “down and dirty catman that I met throught this site). I didn’t have a clue as to the differace between a channel cat and a flathead. I asked a bunch of dumb questions and always receive an answer. During the winter months, I started reading posts going back through the pages. Although I’m still a catfisherman wannabe and don’t claim to know much (about anything ), compared to my knowledge last year…I’m an expert! (at least in my own mind)

This is all because the members of this board share info so freeley.
One otherthing that I noticed. I fish the St Croix a lot. When I meet another boat on the river, I’m lucky to get a little wave from the fisherman. Once they see the http://www.in-depthangling.com decal on my boat…or truck for that matter, it’s like talking to an old friend. It breaks down that barrier that keeps people from being friendly…if you know what I’m mean. Truely amazing!

Back to Minnkota…check you private messages (the envelope flashing next to the word “Enterance” in the top left of your screen…I’m forwarding the info that Kirsh sent to me.

Good luck and again Welcome to IDA!

Well, I haven’t got on the water as much as I would have liked but I have run the Autopilot all year and ran the battery way down a number times and have yet to have it do the 360 degree turn. It went from happening once a minute to not happening after days of use, so I am 99.9% confident the new compass control board and compass fixed the problem.

Thanks for the update kirsch Maybe Minnkota finaly has this problem fixed.