CW30 Steering to left

[dialtone]

Hello. When manually steering our cw30 sedan turns left at 4 degrees per second. This occurs while underway 10+ kts. Condition does not occur at low speeds (1-5 kts).

I'm aware of the offset rudder and this design possibly favoring a direction but it seems to have gotten worse to the point where I'm constantly turning the wheel starboard to keep the vessel on course.

Turning on the Garmin ghc10 auto pilot works nicely as I don't have to make the starboard correction. I'm not sure if auto pilot is simply making the turn for me or if auto pilot is causing the problem to begin with.

I have also adjusted the trim tabs as not to interfere with course.

I'm aware of some other posts regarding air bubbles in the hydraulics and the auto pilot interfering however I'm not familiar with how to troubleshoot.

Could you please provide guidance? Thank you.

Build year: 2013
Model year: 2014
Cutwater 30 Sedan with all electronics

 

[Andrew Custis]

Hello,

I have seen a few autopilot pumps cause this issue lately and it is quite easy to isolate and find out if the issue is within the pump or the steering system. On the autopilot pump there are three brass straight edge screws that you can tighten in. Tighten all three and make sure you do NOT run the pilot or turn it on. Run your boat and see if the problem exists.

Please let me know directly at andrewcustis@rangertugs.com and I will work with your dealer to repair.

Thank you,

Andrew Custis

 

[dialtone]

Thank you Andrew. I'm assuming this bypasses the auto pilot, correct? I'll make that happen and report back. Eta a few days until I'm out on water again.

 

[Andrew Custis]

This is correct. Shutting those valves down will bypass the pump. When it's time to open them back up is when you have to be very careful. Those valves seat themselves on orings when opened so the idea is to simply turn counterclockwise until you feel them start to grab. Stop and do not open any further. I think you'll find this fixes the issue and the autopilot pump will need replaced.

Let me know how it goes.

Thanks again!

 

[dialtone]

Will do, thank you for the expert guidance. I'll be careful and will report to you via email. Thanks!

 

[coreychamness]

Dialtone,
I missed this thread last year. Did the troubleshooting indicate the autopilot pump was the problem? I fear that I need to try this process (again) myself. We replaced my original autopilot pump with a new one and it fixed the problem for a while (less than a year) but I believe my autopilot pump is failing again. My symptoms are returning again slowly.

Corey

 

[Connerkip]

My C30 had the same symptoms. Garmin replaced the pump, after a few months the issue returned. Garmin (actually their certified service company) then added a much more robust external check valve. Problem seems to be solved. They felt the hydraulic fluid was bleeding under load of high speeds, and the built in check valve on the pump was not adequate. I will add that Garmin did say they were not sure why the issue resurfaced, that upon disassembling the second pump they found no source of failure, but was confident this would solve the issue.

 

[dialtone]

Corey, yes the autopilot pump was the problem according to Garmin.

connerkip, that is very helpful. I'm having the same issue. I'll report this back to Garmin

 

[adventres]

We had the same issue with our 2016 RT29CB. We were told to turn the screws on the autopilot (this turns it off and you drive the boat manually) and we tested during a quick weekend getaway a couple of weeks ago. It was a totally different handling boat when we turned off the auto pilot. Ivan (thanks Ivan!) came out this past week with a new Garmin autopilot. My husband was actually at the docks with Ivan when he repaired it. We used the boat over the July 4th weekend and it the boat handled much much better, as we would have expected with the autopilot. It's the autopilot!