I know yall will be able to help me out on this one:

I have a motorguide brute 67lb not sure of the year. Last month I was out on the lake and it quit on me. It would work with the foot pedal switch on 'high-bypass' and 'cont' but not on 'MOM' which I use most. I figured the switch was bad but I had to go to Colorado for business for the last month so didnt get to mess with it. Finally got home and replaced the switch.

Now nothing works. The batteries are good and I know the new switch is good. When I tried it today sometimes nothing would happen and sometimes I would hear a clicking sound in the head unit thing. One time the blade spun for like 2 seconds and then nothing.

It is pretty old (like '95-'00)so I figure something had a bad connection or short but I dont know where to start or how. Also, I have a voltmeter but have never used it and dont know how (go figure).

Please help me out on this one fellas! I havent fished in a month and a half and I am going crazy! thanks in advance!!

well if you don't know how to use the volt meter find a buddy who does and get him to ohm out all the switches and connections then you should be able to find the problem... could be something loose in the head unit i would open it up and wiggle the wires and you might just find a loose connection somewhere and check every connection.

Ok thanks I will try that. So I should test all switches and connections for resistance?

My 82 lb tour was doing the same thing last oct.
Ended up being a wire shorting out in the head.
Put some heat shrink tube on it and it was good to go

When you say "clicking" in the head, I'm assuming it is a variable speed. If so, my suspicions are a control board failure. Open the top, and make sure the wires in the yellow plug are seated good. If so, and you can hear the relay click when you activate it, the control board will be bad. Bad news is these control boards do not exist any longer. The fix would be to upgrade the trolling motor to digital or to convert it to a 5 speed -- or a new trolling motor. I can help with either.
John

Ok so I went out and took apart the head unit and it looks like this:



There is full power coming into the head unit and into the green circuit board thing. All of the wires and switches that I could test tested good for continuity and resistance. It still will make the clicking noise every once in a while and it seems to be coming from the upper right section near the AA battery looking thing (capacitor I think) and the black box thing (fuse I think).

Upon further inspection of the unit I found a section on the board that looks burned. It is where a green wire connects to the board and then heads down the shaft:



On a side note, the light bulb in the head unit is burnt out. It doesnt need a good bulb to complete a circuit or anything right?

Anyways I hope you guys can help me, I really want to fish....
Thanks in advance!

The control board is burnt. The green wire is the ground going into the motor -- which is where they burn. The black square thing is the relay, it's clicking trying to carry current. These control boards are no longer available (have been for several years). The fix is either a new trolling motor, upgrade to digital, or convert to a 5 speed since it's a 67# motor. I can help with any.
John