The directional arrow on top of my 55lb thrust bow mounted minn kota tollowing motor quit working.  Instead of pointing to the direction you are traveling or turning it simply points in the same direction all the time and doesn't move.  Otherwise the trolling motor works great.

I don't know where to start to fix this problem.  No warranty.  Don't want to tear into the top of the trolling motor until I have some idea what I'm doing because of the cost to fix any screw up I might make.

Has anyone else had this problem?  Anyone have any tips, ideas, or advice about how to fix it?

Thanks in advance.

Take the screws out of the bottom of the head. The top will come right off. The arrow just sits on top of a spline shaft. It may be stripped. You maybe able to glue it on to the shaft. When I got mine brand new it was 180° off so I had to fix it.

Take the top off and see what's broken.

http://www.northlandmarine.com/MinnKotaQuickRef.htm

I was screwing around with mine and slid the shaft down to where the gear drive assembly in the head came undone from the indicator.

It's not a big deal (but will give you pause when the top comes off).

Remove the top cover. You will be able to see how it should work, and, why yours won't.  I would buy new gears or splines to get it working. Do it right once and forget it.

I tried fishing without the indicator working.....it will make you nuts real fast.

As a side note....installing an "on" light on the head would seem useful to me for those times you don't know if the foot button is depressed enough.

Thanks for the info guys.  I'll give it a shot the next pretty day we have.   

Doesn't sound as bad as I thought it would be.