Autopilot next on the list

Get on the horn with BOE Marine. They sponsor this site. Definitely get a Garmin AP IMO. I went with the fancy one complete with the Garmin smart hydraulic pump. Easy install, set up and calibration especially if you already have a NMEA 2000 backbone extended to your engine room. If not, you should do it now and it’s not that difficult. If you don’t want to pop for the new hydraulic pump, and you have an existing AP system - assuming Raymarine here- you can reuse the Raymarine pump and save a few bucks"

Start with BOE Marine (866-735-5926). Ask for Emily

Jaybeaux

 

Does it already have hydraulic steering? If you do, the Garmin AP is really nice, and a reasonable DIY project.

There was a good write up about a year ago, adding the Garmin autopilot, splicing the hydraulic lines, electronics, commisioning etc, from start to finish. I'll see if I can find the link.

 

I have Garmin MFD. When I first got the boat, it had a RM AP. After the RM AP failed, I switched the full system over to Garmin.

Highly recommend matching the AP with the MFD. Opens up more features for the autopilot.

 

DO you already have an auotpilot and it died? Or are you looking to add a new one to the boat for the first time?

If it is for the first time I would go with a Garmin as there are some really nice features that you can get with the Garmin unit over the Raymarine one.

Garmin has two very nice features over the competition. First is the shadow drive that allows you steer the boat even while the AP is engaged. Second is the ability to turn on auto accept for the next waypoint when using routes. No need to press any buttons to make the turn.

If you already have a type 1 pump then your half way there. If not you may want to investigate pricing on a reactor 40 system with shadow drive and smart pump.

 

https://www.boemarine.com/garmin-re...tpump-v2-with-ghc50-autopilot-instrument.html

Also need a rudder feedback indicator....
https://www.boemarine.com/garmin-grf-153-10-rudder-feedback-sensor.html

The Shadow Drive is an excellent feature of the Garmin Auto Pilot system. No fumbling for the button to deactivate the AP when you see a log or something in your path. You just grab the wheel and turn!

Jaybeaux

 

You might be able to save a little by not getting the smart pump and using a regular pump. This setup has a regular pump with it: https://www.boemarine.com/garmin-reactor-40-hydraulic-autopilot-with-2-liter-hydraulic-pump-kit.html

As @Jaybeaux mentioned you should get the rudder sensor. It makes the AP more responsive.

 

When I redid the electronics, I went with all Simrad, including the AP, but Garmin has all the same stuff. We installed the autopilot computer and pump behind the insert next the helm seat. The hydraulic lines run through there, and it made it easy to splice in the autopilot and run the line back to the reservoir. I put the compass under the dash, mounted to the stairway bulkhead. It's a game changer. I program the route on my phone using the Navionics App, sync it to the MFD, hit nav and it takes you there.

 

My opinion - matching the AP to the MFD's was key for me. No way I am surfacing the discussion of simrad, garmin, raymarine, etc. That thread is around here multiple times already

 

Mind sharing with kit you went with and pump I have Simrads on my 07 340 and want ap

 

Happy to. I purchased the NAC-2 Core Pack from Hodges (https://www.hodgesmarine.com/sim000-13335-001-simrad-nac2-autopilot-core-pack-nac2-precis.html) in 2019 along with the RPU-80 pump. At the time it was 1499 for the kit (w/o the pump). It's now 1679 for the same kit. I have a Simrad Go9 XSE. While the Go9 will work directly with the autopilot in the absence of a dedicated controller, you can't commission the friggin' thing without the separate controller, unless you have a separately wired standby button as I recall. Anyway, I ended up finding a used AP44 display on Ebay which I installed as well. I'll take some pics of the pump and computer install and attach them here. The setup has worked like a charm since installation. In So Cal, we have a limited number of destinations and at this point, I've got every one of them programmed in. I pull up the route on the MFD and once I'm out of the jetty, hit Nav and it just takes you there.

I should add that my 2001 340 was repowered with 8.2 big blocks from the original 7.4s. The RPU-80 is more than sufficient to handle the boat.

 

Awesome thank you
I’ll looking this
Been wanting for years just hesitant to take on the task

 

The only semi difficult part was splicing in the pump. I ended up having an electronics outfit install it for me. Second hardest part was running the wire from the rudder sensor to the computer. Everything else is pretty much plug and play.

 

You have to run a new line back to the steering wheel pump reservoir. As such, I tried to put the pump as close to the steering wheel as was convenient, so as not to have to run a long line. That being said, on a 34 I think you can splice it wherever you want.

 

Yes

 

Are the steering pumps interchangeable? If I have a simrad AP can I swap the AP computer to a raymarine and have it work with the simrad pump? What about the steering position sensor?

 

Look at the specs for a Type 1 RM pump and compare it to the Simrad one. But I suspect you can. The Steering ram needs to be looked at if the pumps are very different and see what the capacity is.

 

@jmauld ....Like @SKybolt mentioned, the pump has to be "sized or speced" for the steering ram.

To answer the other part of your question, one option that Emily presented to me was to utilize (in my case switching from RM to Garmin) the existing RM hydraulic pump.

https://www.boemarine.com/blog/post/retrofitting-new-garmin-autopilot-to-older-pumps