Trouble Shooting Guide

Section III

Autopilot does not hold heading.

1.Did you calibrate the compass?

a. Calibration must be done for the autopilot to work correctly. See pages 30

2.Has some kind of magnetic interference been introduced within 24” of the Compass?

3.Is Compass Ball and Bracket firmly mounted?

4.Are the wires pointing down out of the Compass Ball?

Compass Calibration fails. (If the up and down arrows both blink and the warning horn sounds, compass calibration has failed-you must turn the system off by holding the Deckmount on/off button down in order to try calibration again.)

1.Check for magnetic disturbances

a.Be at least 24” from speakers, iron, radios, etc.

b.Do not calibrate compass on the boat trailer.

c.Be sure you are on smooth water.

d.Be sure that you continue turning starboard and do not turn back to the port.

Shadow Drive is being “false tripped” (autopilot disconnects when the helm is held steady)

1.May be due to air in the steering system.

a.Check for air, and re-bleed if necessary.

2.May be due to leakage of fluid past the helm pump lock valve.

a.Repair Helm valves.

3.Check location of Shadow Drive.

a.Must be located near the lowest helm, or last helm in line before the pump unit.

b.Must have short length of hose between helm and Shadow Drive.

c.Must be mounted horizontally and as level as possible.

d.Single helms must not have a Tee fitting before Shadow Drive Valve. See hyd Layout Pgs.5 &6.

Autotune fails. (Both the Up Arrow LED and Down Arrow LED will blink for 5 seconds)

1.Repeat the Autotune several times. If it fails each time, check the following.

a.Try finding smoother water if conditions are rough or windy.

b.Do not change throttle settings once the autotuner has been started.

c.Engine speed is too slow or too fast. (Set the engine speed such that the boat is running the fastest speed it can before it starts to climb up on the bow wave.)

Autotune seems to be OK; then the next time you start autopilot it behaves as if it has not been tuned.

1.Did you download into permanent memory the autotune?

a. You must download the autotune before turning the autopilot off. (See page 31).

When starting Autotune the autopilot immediately turns in circles.

1.Hydraulic Hoses are backwards.

a. Use code 249 to reverse hydraulic hoses.

When in navigation mode the Autopilot heading does not match GPS heading.

1.Was North set on the Autopilot? To run a GPS Course requires that the autopilot compass is in agreement with the GPS’s magnetic map.

a.See page 32.

2.Are the GPS outputs turned on and correctly formatted? NMEA 0183.

a.Sentences needed are RMB and RMC only. Un-needed sentences that are turned on may cause autopilot to drop out of navigation mode.