e30+ Steering wheel suddenly rubbing wheel-pilot housing at the bottom.

[light24bulbs]

We did a wonderful 12 day trip in BC this summer, and one of the more perplexing things to go wrong on the boat was the alignment between the wheel and the wheel pilot. Rather, the part of the belt housing that attaches to the wheel suddenly started rubbing on the stationary part attached to the binacle, and at the bottom. So the two parts of the clam shell that make up the autopilot housing are rubbing.

Somehow, it seems, either the pilot shifted up or the wheel shifted down, and my vote is on the wheel shifting down, as the autopilot part looks pretty stationary. Now, it only really rubs when turning just to port, but I can tell it's too close at all points of turn. What is it inside the binacle that controls the wheel's alignment? Did something bend? I think if the wheel itself or shaft had bent, it would be wobbling. Instead it appears to just be always angled too far down.

I will happily take the thing apart and learn how it works, but I'd like to have some idea of what I'm going to find.

PS I also noticed that the giant nut which holds on the wheel had come loose about when I noticed the above problem, and I spent the rest of the trip just making sure it was hand tight every few hours. I'm sure that is an obvious clue. I will obviously tighten it back up.

 

[Dave G.]

That looks like a Autohelm 4000st ? A little confused by "tiller" pilot in title as that is a wheel pilot. I doubt seriously that the wheel itself has shifted but weirder things have happened. Can you move the wheel up and down or side to side by manhandling it? If not then it's the wheel pilot and maybe it has slipped on the spokes. You can take the wheel off and check if the pilot ring is centered and tight. If it is then most likely something inside the wheel pilot housing itself. They're mostly plastic and do have a known life expectancy and that one has probably exceeded that already

 

[Christian Williams]

Yes, I'd take the thing off the wheel, examine, and reattach. Pretty much self-aligning.

The mechanism is dead simple and if something's wrong it will be apparent. If it's just plastic rubbing, you could sand off the warp, since the housing has big tolerances.

What's inside a Raymarine model:

 

[Christian Williams]

Moderator note: "tiller" changed to "wheel" in the text, for clarity.

 

[Phr3d]

The little wheels inside the two halves have a shallow bit that has a screw set in it as an axle. When those little bits separate from the clamshell….

So I through-drilled the clam and set the screw through the bit that had broken loose (so the spacing was correct) and onto the clam with a longer screw. Fill the hole on the outside with some sealant.

 

[Phr3d]

 

[light24bulbs]

Well, I finally took it apart and found the issue. The retaining ring that holds the wheel from going too far towards the binnacle somehow came off and went missing during the trip. The wheel was slipping too far in, pushing on the autopilot, which was pushing on it's only connection to the binnacle at the bottom and causing the rubbing. The autopilot was actually the only thing keeping the wheel in place, which is how I found the problem when I took the pilot off and tried to put the wheel back on without it.

It's also why the wheel nut was coming loose, which is the clue I mentioned earlier but didn't understand. Nothing to push against.

I ordered some C Clips/retaining rings on Amazon that will hopefully fit and not rust away too quickly. I wish I knew what the OEM one looked like but I'm sure I'll figure out something to go in it's place, it's not rocket science.

Mr. Williams, thank you again for your video which is actually the best wheel pilot repair video on YouTube as far as I know. The mechanism was refreshingly a _very_ simple setup, as was the steering wheel, and I shouldn't have hesitated to take it apart to begin with.

Also thank you Phr3d, although that wasn't my issue, maybe it will help someone else.

 

[Christian Williams]

I've had that problem too. I now use a hose clamp to back up the ring against pressure of the nut.