Another MK question. When I remove my motor at the end of the day, a bit of water (I don't know, lets say a cupful), leaks out from the housing assembly to rear of the prop. Maybe it always did this, maybe it's only recently started -can't be sure to be honest.

Is this normal or has it developed a fault and the housing should normally be watertight?

Cheers,
m

__________________
The sun pushed dark spokes of melt and sparkle
Across the fields of hoar. And the river steamed -
Flint-olive.


http://northcountryangler.blogspot.com

There are a lot of possibilities here. Depending on when and how you're taking your motor off the boat at the end of the day, I'd say the simplest explanation could just be filling the weedless guard on the prop with water and then when you lie the motor down at a different angle it runs out.

You could also be taking water into the hollow shaft and then it's leaking out when you lay the motor down.

If the motor housing itself is taking on water, you probably have bad seals at the shaft. To confirm this, you'll have to take the prop off and then submerge the motor, then pull it off such that you can observe where, exactly, the water is coming from.

Hard use, especially in silty water, can make these seals wear out. Also, getting mono wrapped around the shaft can destroy these seals. They are replaceable, though, so as long as you don't run the motor so long in this condition that the bearings are destroyed, it's repariable.

I'd suggest doing some testing at home by running the motor in a rubbish bin full of water and then pull it out and try to determine where the water is actually coming form.

Grouse

By the sounds of it as Grouse explains it is just water on the inside of the prop not an issue as this is normal. If the seals on the bottom end have gone then submerge prop for a while the turn motor upside down, if water trickles from around the control cover you know that water is ingressing into the assembly and it is time to have it sorted or you will have problem as the internals corrode very quickly.

If I can be of further assistance please call 07710 771715.

Regards

Adie.
Cloan Engineering Services.

Further to Adrian's comments, I'd just add that generally the most common issues with Minn Kota motors ARE repairable and it's generally cost effective to do so. I offer this just in case some in the UK have got the idea that these motors are meant to be disposable or aren't feasible to repair.

I've done several DIY repairs on Minn Kotas of various ages. I'm by no means a pro, but the problems I've fixed were pretty obvious and isolating the cause was easy. Oddly enough, it's never been for my personal Minn Kota motors, it's always been for friends or in one case it was others who happened to be having problems while at a fishing resort I was staying at.

The repair I've done the most is the speed control switch on transom mount motors and often this just requires a good contact cleaning, not replacement. I've done one brush kit replacement, the model in question was old and hundreds of hours of use (maybe thousands), but it was a higher powered bow mount model that costs $600+ to replace, so I figured it was worth the time to try to repair. Which it was, the brushes were worn to the nubs which obviously was the problem and about $60 in parts fixed it right up.

It may be the case that since the UK has a very small market for this type of product, there's also a lower availability of parts and service, but this shouldn't be confused with whether or not the motors are actually repairable. Which they generally are.

Minn Kota parts are easily available over here in the US from any number of sources and I'd assume there are at least a few sources over there in the UK. I'm sure there must be qualified servicers over there too, so it's good and helpful when members share info on who to contact for this type of repair.

I can't imagine fishing without an electric these days. When I go to Canada to fish walleye I now go to some remote places where it's not possible to take an electric because there's nowhere to recharge the battery. In these cases I take my small 6 HP outboard to use as a trolling motor, and man does that make me miss the electric even more. Silent, no fumes, no stalling, no gas to fill, instant on/off, infinate speed variations, weedless, etc.

Grouse

Parts for most Minnkota motors are readily available from myself as a registered Minnkota agent with repair facilities. I also stock a selection of parts for the likes of Motorguide, Shakespeer, Rino, E thruster. As all these models are simply the same motor with different control covers being the only difference. If I can be of any further assistance please feel free to contact me.

My website should be soon up and running and I will post when this is the case.

07710 771715.

Regards

Adie
Cloan Engineering Services.

Thanks Gents. I have done a few parts replacements in tha past, obtaining my bits from electricoutboards.co.uk.

Adie, thanks for the heads up. I am looking for a minor part as it happens:

Maxxum 55T serial MKAE3297622 (2004) part number 2063605 -the plastic t-bar which connects to the lever tilt and locates in the notches on the tranny bracket to set the prop angle. On mine, one half of the Tee has sheared off meaning that the angle setting sometimes slips under thrust - ie kicks up in reverse and knocks forward against the hull in forward gear.
I've been getting over this by tightening a g-clamp onto the two side wings of the bracket to tighten the union between the notch and the intact half of the t-bar. It works ok, but obviously prevents me from tilting the prop up out of the water over shallow ground.

Any chance you can obtain one of these?

cheers,
Matt

__________________
The sun pushed dark spokes of melt and sparkle
Across the fields of hoar. And the river steamed -
Flint-olive.


http://northcountryangler.blogspot.com

I am out of stock at the moment but am putting in an order for them today will get back to you as soon as they are in stock again.

Regards

Adie
Cloan Engineering Services.