[C320-list] Raymarine Autopilot failure

[Ben Waltuck]

Has anyone replaced their raymarine ST4000 with the newer MKII wheel drive?

I send my unit in to raymarine for repair, and they said that both the 
control unit and drive unit were broken.. and that it would be $299 to 
replace my old drive unit or $439 to get the newer MKII drive unit (on 
top of $199 to repair the control head). I decided to go ahead for the 
newer MKII unit, but I seem to recall a post sometime back where someone 
mentioned that they were not able to fit the MKII unit without moving 
the engine control pod down.. 
So my question is.. has anyone successfully replaced the ST4000 with the 
newer MKII wheel drive?
AND, did you have to lower your engine control panel?  Is that as 
difficult as it looks?

My fear is that lowering the control panel might be a bit of a project 
if I have to drill a new screw hole because I'd first need to get all of 
the wires out of the pedestal.. and that could be a bit of a pain.

Thanks!

Ben Waltuck wrote:

> The autopilot is one of my favorite toys on the boat since it allows 
> me to move around and play with my other toys on the boat.
> (raymarine st6000 wheel drive)
> I was out for a sail this morning, and my autopilot will not turn to 
> the right.
> I can engage the unit, and it will make steering corrections to the 
> left, but never turns the wheel back clockwise, so I eventually get 
> far enough off course that it alarms.
> Given that it does turn left and is aware of going off-course, it 
> seems that the control unit is good and the drive unit is bad.
>
> Do the drive motors have a limited lifespan?  I ask because West 
> Marine sells a replacement motor drive:
> http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/68043/10001/734/628/3 
>
> Has anyone else had their motor burn out, and did it burn out in one 
> direction only?
> Is this the kind of thing worth sending to raymarine for 
> out-of-warranty repair?  A new drive unit is $500, so replacing it 
> wouldn't be the end of the world, and I'd rather not be without the 
> unit for several weeks while they fix it..
>
> What's most puzzling to me is that there are 2 wires that connect to 
> the motor drive unit on the wheel.. so I assume that it's just reverse 
> polarity to turn different directions.  Based on that assumption, it 
> makes no sense to me how a motor can function in direction but not the 
> other.
> With the power to the unit off, I can engage the unit and spin it both 
> ways against the friction of the motor.. so I think I've ruled out a 
> mechanical blockage.
>
> Has anyone had the drive unit fail on their autopilot, and did it fail 
> in only one direction?
>
> I did get the "low batt" error message once when I was far off course, 
> so I'm wondering if that means that it was "trying" to turn right..
>
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated..
>
> Thanks
>