Anyone see this CW28 steering issue before?

[mferguson]

First, make sure your boat doesn't have this issue. Just reached out to the dealer on this who reports that CW has not seen this before. Looking for any input / insight on what might be going on.

Before leaving the dock, I normally fire up all of the bridge electronics. Cruising my 2018 C28 (with G 7612 and 7608) along the rivers and canals south of Lake Ontario, steering operated normally with Garmin UHC 20 autopilot control head powered up but autopilot was NOT engaged. One day I launched and fired up the chartplotters, but did NOT power up the a/p control head since I was doing manual steering in the canal and locks all day, and as I motored along, the steering control deteriorated over a 20 or so minute timeframe to a point where the steering wheel was totally disconnected from the rudder, just freewheeling. During this deterioration, there was first a partial loss of control, like the wheel was "skipping" into and out of rudder engagement. This steadily became worse until rudder control disappeared completely. Spinning the wheel did not cause the steering piston to move the rudder post. Made it to a seawall with thrusters to try to diagnose.

Hydraulic fluid was full. Couldn't find any sign of fluid leakage or anything else out of sorts below the cockpit deck. Fired up again, this time with a/p control head turned on, but NOT engaged, and steering returned to normal. So this issue arises just when the power to the Garmin a/p control head is turned off.

A call to Garmin support created nothing but headscratching, so not sure if this a hydraulic steering or Garmin electronic issue. Dealer wants me to isolate the 2 systems on the water and test, but we're not yet commissioned or in the water yet.

I hoping I can find someone else who may have experienced this, or at least has an idea of or insight to what I'm dealing with here. Appreciate any input. Thanks!!

Mike

 

[ethanbarnett]

Did you check the fluid level at each helm station?

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

On dual steering stations the cap where you add steering fluid needs to be vented on the upper steering and the bottom cap should not be vented. If the caps are not in this order it can recreate steering problems. If you inspect the cap look to see or not see a vent on the side of the cap. This may have nothing to do with your situation but its worth checking on to rule this out. Let us know what the solution is so we can all learn from what you’re experiencing.

Jim F

 

[baz]

Ditto with what Jim F posted.

This can be a serious issue and we all need to know what caused your problem with the loss of steering. Thank you.

 

[mferguson]

Thanks for the replies.

Should have mentioned, I have but one steering station, fluid was filled to top of cap on the hub behind the wheel. I'll post any pertinent info that comes about this.

Mike

 

[baz]

Mike: Is this issue repeatable ? That is, steering operates normally and continuously with the a/p ON but does not operate correctly when the a/p is OFF.

I'm thinking maybe air in the hydraulic lines, but this normally means some steering is possible.

The a/p has a 'brain' box and wonder if that is misbehaving in some way.

No matter, please post back what is found to be the root cause. 🙂

 

[BB marine]

Mike,
I had some auto pilot issues when we purchased our boat. Similar to yours but not in the entirety.
* Steering would lock up when using auto pilot and pump would knock
* Steering would become "loose" and increase turns from lock to lock (not all the time)
* Steering became increasingly hard to turn when advancing engine RPM.

The one problem I didn't have was loss of steering with auto pilot powered down. The auto pilot power down should have no effect on the steering. Is there a chance that this was a coincidence? You may have an issue going on with the hydraulic system and steering failure happened when the Auto-Pilot was powered down.

After a few attempts of the dealer looking at my issue and telling me there is nothing wrong with the steering. I began trouble shooting the system. I made several calls to Garmin in the process.
* Auto pilot locking up and pump knocking was caused from the pump and shadow drive installation. Shadow drive was mounted at an angle and to close to the pump causing a magnetic interference. The shadow drive solenoid was also mounted to far from the steering pump (Helm). I moved the pump the minimum required distance of 18" away from the shadow drive sensor. Remounted the sensor to be level when the boat is operating (best results, shadow drive mounted close to helm and mounted port to starboard not for and aft. I didn't do this) Auto pilot now works properly but requires a higher percentage of gain to engage do to distance from helm.

* Steering loose , no lock to lock and (increased turns intermittently) I think if I was navigating in a narrow waterway ( as you were ) when I had this issue It would have felt as I lost steering. I was in open water. I had air in the system and an improperly plumbed pump according to Garmin. I had 5 hoses coming out of my pump. Garmin does not recommend this installation. Garmin requires only 3 lines coming out of the pump and the use of a Tee to combine helm, pump and cylinder lines together. I removed the two hoses off the top ports, pipe plugged them and installed a tee fitting.I then bleed the hydraulic system the manual way ( using the helm ) several times to insure all air was extracted. I have never had an issue again Lock to lock without failure.


* steering increasingly harder with increased Rpm and speed. That never went away and is normal. At least that is my conclusion. The increased "water pressure" from the prop to the rudder makes it harder to turn the wheel.

Trying to trouble shoot the intermittent issue that you have will be tough. I would go through the basic steps to confirm that the installation meets all the Garmin requirements and the system is bleed and free from air. Then try to find the intermittent issue that you have, if it is still there.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

concur that I get harder steering the faster I go and is actually the water pressure on the rudder that you are fighting to overcome.