Ultrex Quest issue

[dk239]

My son bought me a Quest Ultrex for Christmas. Started the changeout today and ran into a problem. When I installed the motor on the mount the bolt holes would not line up and the bolts would go in at an angle. Called Minn Kota and after some exchange of info and pictures and some discussion with the tech they determined that either the mount or the motor holes were not in the proper place. Now there's a new motor ordered (or should I say backordered)!!

[bassmaster,RN]

I had the exact same issue when installing mine. I cross threaded both bolts that hold the motor to the mount. I had to use a tap to clean the threads then carefully thread the bolts in. No issues since.

[SLYDoggie]

When you say "mount" is it a Minn Kota brand? I would think that it is more likely an issue with the mount rather than the motor... but I haven't seen the pictures.

[rockmike]

I had similar problems. Hard to manage the weight of the unit and get the bolt holes aligned properly. Appears to be a solid mount once everything is in place.

[fishnfireman]

I had similar problems. Hard to manage the weight of the unit and get the bolt holes aligned properly. Appears to be a solid mount once everything is in place.

Took several attempts, as it is a tight fit.
At first, I thought something was not right--- turned out to be operator/installer error.

[dk239]

When you say "mount" is it a Minn Kota brand? I would think that it is more likely an issue with the mount rather than the motor... but I haven't seen the pictures.

Yes it's the Minn Kota mount, I asked if I could enlarge the holes without voiding the warranty but I never got a response. I have a tournament on the 24th and it doesn't look like I'll get a replacement before then.

[dk239]

I had similar problems. Hard to manage the weight of the unit and get the bolt holes aligned properly. Appears to be a solid mount once everything is in place.

Yea, I had the same thought but we tried to pull the motor out to help move the bracket but the holes wouldn't line up!

[dk239]

After Minn Kota told me the new motor was on back order I decided to give it another try, after some minor adjustments I got the bolts to line up and got the motor mounted. I called Minn Kota to let them know I didn't need the new motor and got that squared away. About 10 minutes later I got a call from MinnKota telling me that the new motor had already shipped out, seems the person I talked to on Tuesday didn't realize that they keep a few extra motors for warranty replacement. So they were going to send me a return label for the new motor that I won't need. Then 30 minutes later the same girl calls me back and said that she had called the shipping department and they had found the motor on the freight truck and pulled it! Got to love good customer service!!!

[z520brewer]

What does motor have to do with the alignment of the bolt holes?

[Bradrodfish]

This is what my sources tell me. I would tend to rely on this statement.

A little column A, a little column B. There are some that have excess paint between the steering housing castings and the bracket that bolts to it, the bracket that actually interfaces with the mount. So the holes in the steering housing casting will not perfectly align with the mount's holes, but the interfacing bracket is correctly aligned and some care in starting the screws will have them go in correctly. At least one that we replaced for not starting the screws correctly did not have the excess paint, and at least two that probably did have the excess paint had no troubles after replacing the mount, so a little extra care in aligning the mount made their installs fine.

So anyone not following the installation instructions can get the holes to misalign and cause a problem, anyone carefully following the installation instructions apparently can get the motor installed even if they have a part issue; I'm inclined to think failure to follow instructions is mostly at fault

[bobcoy]

Thanks for the good advice Brad. Maybe a few more will download the documentation and avoid “issues”. Bob

[dk239]

What does motor have to do with the alignment of the bolt holes?

The motor bracket fits on the mount and there are two bolt holes that have to line up so you can install the bolts!

[dk239]

This is what my sources tell me. I would tend to rely on this statement.

A little column A, a little column B. There are some that have excess paint between the steering housing castings and the bracket that bolts to it, the bracket that actually interfaces with the mount. So the holes in the steering housing casting will not perfectly align with the mount's holes, but the interfacing bracket is correctly aligned and some care in starting the screws will have them go in correctly. At least one that we replaced for not starting the screws correctly did not have the excess paint, and at least two that probably did have the excess paint had no troubles after replacing the mount, so a little extra care in aligning the mount made their installs fine.

So anyone not following the installation instructions can get the holes to misalign and cause a problem, anyone carefully following the installation instructions apparently can get the motor installed even if they have a part issue; I'm inclined to think failure to follow instructions is mostly at fault

You may be correct but Minn Kota acknowledged that they have had some issues with the bracket and mount holes not lining up.