Has anyone installed an autopilot smartpump?

[cavok]

We have the misfortune to have the infamous Ranger Tug steering malfunction on our 31CB. We isolated the issue to a bad autopilot pump, and decided to go for it and replace it with the upgraded smartpump. Our boat is in LaConner, WA, and we had a local technician there today to replace it. He had never installed a smartpump, and thought that we needed to have three valves ordered to replace our autopilot pump with this. That seems odd, since the Garmin rep sent me all he thought we'd need, just the smartpump and two different connections.

So two questions here, since I haven't been able to get ahold of anyone at Garmen or Ranger Tugs yet. Has anyone here actually gotten a smartpump installed, and did you need to have three valves added for you? Second question, does anyone know a technician in Washington state that has actually installed this for them? We started contacting Garmin approved installers locally, but none of them have installed the smartpump, and I think it would be optimal to find someone who had installed this equipment before.

 

[OlygirlNav]

You might want to look at the Garmin service bulletin 2127 for autopilot failures. Garmin replaced our autopilot as we had a faulty pump, it was leaking. The steering is no longer mushy and no leaking. S3 Maritime in Anacortes did the work. It was not the smart pump. Our pump was under warranty.

 

[cavok]

You might want to look at the Garmin service bulletin 2127 for autopilot failures. Garmin replaced our autopilot as we had a faulty pump, it was leaking. The steering is no longer mushy and no leaking. S3 Maritime in Anacortes did the work. It was not the smart pump. Our pump was under warranty.

Thank you for that information! Garmin offered us the check valve kit for free, but wouldn't pay for installation, since they said it was out of warranty. We decided to just upgrade to the smartpump. Glad yours is working as it should be, now.

 

[Full_O_Fish]

I've installed 7 smart pumps to date, 3 of the original 4 of the new v2 model.

Garmin specifies in any of their hydraulic autopilot installations that high pressure rated (1000psi minimum) inline valves be added to each of the three hoses to the pump. This is so that in the event of a pump failure/problem, or service the valves can be shut to maintain steering from the helm(s) even if the pump is fully removed.

That being said, an installation can certainly be completed without the valves and it'll function perfectly normal, you just won't have the redundancy.

 

[William Sanborn]

Our 2011 RT 27 had steering issues and found the Garmin Pump was leaking . Replaced the std. 1.2 ltr pump with a new 2.0 Ltr pump and been very pleased the steering inprovements.

 

[cavok]

Our 2011 RT 27 had steering issues and found the Garmin Pump was leaking . Replaced the std. 1.2 ltr pump with a new 2.0 Ltr pump and been very pleased the steering inprovements.

Nice! Glad that it works better for you. That must be quite a relief.

 

[cavok]

I've installed 7 smart pumps to date, 3 of the original 4 of the new v2 model.

Garmin specifies in any of their hydraulic autopilot installations that high pressure rated (1000psi minimum) inline valves be added to each of the three hoses to the pump. This is so that in the event of a pump failure/problem, or service the valves can be shut to maintain steering from the helm(s) even if the pump is fully removed.

That being said, an installation can certainly be completed without the valves and it'll function perfectly normal, you just won't have the redundancy.

That is good to know. I was able to contact Garmin, they highly recommended those shutoff valves, and I do see them in the installation diagram. I wish that we or the installer had looked at the diagram ahead of time, but we just assumed that he was familiar (as the shop had said they'd done 3-4 of these before). I did find a Garmin authorized installer who said they'd installed many of these, even currently on our model, and knew all about those valves.

That's a lot of smartpumps to install, are you an authorized installer? Or just very unlucky. 🙂

 

[Full_O_Fish]

Installer down in SoCal. New pump installs in reference to above. First generation Smart pumps I've had to replace quite a few more over the years due to either improper installation by dealers/builders, or water intrusion (most common as the encoder/ecu is not well sealed to the pump body).