Issue with Garmin Auto Pilot Pump GHP10

[dialtone]

Hello. I'm having an issue with my Garmin auto pilot pump for the 3rd time and I'm stuck. Any suggestions?

Here is a short timeline:

- Purchased a new Cutwater 30 Sedan July 2014.
- Garmin Autopilot Pump Failed July 2015
- Factory helped me out. Unfornately had less than pleasurable experience with Garmin. After a lot of phone calls, e-mails, forms to fill out, and follow-up I was able to get Garmin to initiate warranty repair on part GHP10 August 13th, 2015
- Garmin's referred to Alcom Marine who would not return my calls and scheduled appointment.
- Garmin finally sent a Garmin tech and they replaced auto pilot later that month.

- On July 10th, 2016 Auto Pilot Pump failed again. Factory worked hard and did the heavy lifting of calling Garmin, rush shipped to my dealer Long Beach Yacht Sales ("LBYS"), LBYS got it installed and I was good to go. (((this is my dream resolution)))

- April 15th, 2017 autopilot pump fails again. Factory referred to LBYS. LBYS is not getting a response from Garmin. Before I spend a lot of time calling the factory, Garmin, and managing what I think should be a fairly simple process, would like your opinion on:

A) What is causing this to fail so often?

B) What can I do to get better customer service?

 

[Connerkip]

Not sure what the issue you are experiencing with the pump is, but there is a thread about "steering to the left" which may be helpful. I had replaced my pump, under Garmin warranty, which had faulty steering to the right. Here is what I posted back then. I haven't had any trouble since.


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.

 

[Andrew Custis]

Hello,

The warranty from Garmin is for two years. My suggestion for LBYS was to call Garmin to see about a possible warranty exception. This should all be organized from your purchasing dealer. I will reach out to them again and ask where they are in this process and who they have spoken too at Garmin. After the factory warranty and Garmin warranty is expired, they may require you to purchase a new pump until the old is returned to verify whether or not it is considered to be the same failure and would be covered by warranty.

Regarding the failure, I'm not sure anyone really knows but Garmin has told me that it was related to Octopus who supplies the pumps to garmin. They were using a different sealant on the pre packaged pumps that they thought was getting into the check valves. They have said this has been corrected and I have not experienced any other failures since then.

Thank you,

 

[dialtone]

Connerkip, thank you. The steering to the left thread http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?p=54630 was posted by me in 2015 regarding the failure I described above 🙂 -- I started a new thread in Chat to get some higher visibility. Thank you for the check valve advice.

Andrew, thank you for the fast response. Quick question: Since a replacement pump was installed under Garmin warranty in July 2016, wouldn't that mean I have a warranty on the replacement pump until July 2018? I saw your e-mail to LBYS, thank you.

 

[Andrew Custis]

Hello Nick,

You're welcome. Let's see what LBYS says in regards to who they've contacted. Regarding warranty, that date always starts from the initial delivery date. With that being said, Garmin has been extremely fair over the years and wouldn't expect them to be any different now.

Best regards,