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Post by ianpowolny on Jul 30, 2014 16:19:48 GMT
Yesterday our autopilot went down. The steering has become very 'soft' so I suspect that maybe a linkage has gone. I'll get in to it in the morning. Having not done this before what else should I look at while in the lazartte and any advise on fixing a broken linkage. We have a 2008, 45DS with a Raymarine autopilot. The guy here says if it's a linkage problem it may not be Raymarine part. Thoughts please, Ian. I'll update tomorrow once I've open up the system.
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Post by rxc on Jul 31, 2014 0:31:08 GMT
I would suggest looking at the entire steering system down below - wires, sheaves, attachment points, and the attachment of the wires to the quadrant. Have someone up top move the wheel while you watch how things move. When the steering gets soft, I would suspect that some part of the steering cable and/or its travel pathway/supports has come loose. I don't know how your autopilot is attached, but mine is a linear unit attached directly to the quadrant. If it gets loose, it will make noise as it gets all tangled up with the quadrant and the steering cables.
Ah.. now I see that you probably also have two wheels, which makes it even more interesting.
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Post by ianpowolny on Jul 31, 2014 10:34:16 GMT
So I got in to the autopilot this morning and found the black universal joint had seized and the operating piston ram had unscrewed. I stripped all the parts, lubricated them and then put it all back together. Tested it in port by setting the pilot to 'auto' and then used the +10/-10 adjustment and it all worked. Next to see how it operates at sea. There is no way of lubricating the universal joint so I suppose that another job added to the winter workscope. Thanks to 'rxc'. We did what you suggested and all was in good condition.
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