Seeking knowledgeable input on troubleshooting a steering issue on 1992-vintage SM.

 

Approximately 4000 nm into the 5200 nm passage from Panama to Hawaii, we experienced failure of the wheel steering system. Initial symptoms included intermittent clunking noises coming from the rack and pinion area, intermittent freezing of the steering wheel part of the way through the steering arc when turning in one direction only, but normal steering in the other direction.

 

Although we hand steered as much as possible after the initial symptoms appeared, the symptoms continued to worsen until we had complete failure of the wheel-steering system. SMs of this vintage have only a single, chain-driven rotary-drive autopilot, so we could not use the linear-drive autopilot that newer SMs are blessed with as a back-up steering system. Instead, we rigged the back-up tiller and spent the next 1200 nm out in the weather on the aft coach roof hand steering with the very responsive and robust Amel tiller system.

 

The yacht steered well with the tiller, and we were able to steer through the entire arc of the quadrant, from stop to stop, without resistance. Therefore we suspected the steering issue was unrelated to the rudder or steering quadrant. (The procedure for rigging the tiller requires that you disconnect the steering cables/rods from the quadrant.)

 

Upon landfall in Hawaii, we determined that several of the teeth had been broken out of both of the racks. Maude shipped us a new pair of racks as well as a new steering wheel shaft (the forward section of which incorporates the pinion) so we could replace our entire 26-year-old rack and pinion system.

 

We replaced both racks and the pinion using copious amounts of grease. We made sure to align the pinion in the very center of each rack with no tension on the steering rods / cables during the installation.

 

However, during a test sail, we were disappointed to find that we still have a mild, quiet thunking, primarily perceived through hands on the wheel rather than ears, while steering left using the wheel. Additionally, we are not able to steer through the full arc.

 

When turning starboard using the wheel, we can easily steer to the rudder stop. However, when steering to the port using the wheel, the quadrant arm stops about an inch prior to the rudder stop. While at the wheel, this symptom manifests as only getting 1.2 full turns of the steering wheel when steering to port,while the wheel turns 1.7 turns when turning to the starboard.

 

We feel confident these symptoms are not due to running out of teeth in either of the racks because we disassembled the brand new rack and pinion system, closely examined it, re-assembled it, and reinstalled the whole darned thing a second time to make sure we had not misaligned it. Upon examination, we were able to see that the new pinion had never rolled even close to the end teeth of either of the new racks.

 

We feel confident this symptom is not due to a problem with the rudder itself because, with the steering cables / rods disconnected from the quadrant, we are able to turn the quadrant with our bare hands through the full designed swing of the rudder from rudder stop to rudder stop in a smooth motion.

 

Another clue: We turn the wheel as far port as possible until it stops itself prematurely with the quadrant arm about an inch from the rudder stop. Next,we disconnect the steering cables / rods from the quadrant. Then, we apply significant muscle to the wheel and watch what happens to the exposed ends of the steering cables. The forward-most cable wants to continue to obey the wheel’s command and lengthen its protrusion from the cable sheath. It cannot protrude further, but you can see it trying to do so as you apply pressure to the wheel. However, the aft steering rod /cable,which should be obeying the wheel's command by shortening its protrusion, (moving more of the steering rod back into the sheath), instead refuses to move any more of the protruding rod back into the sheath. While we perform this test,if we place a hand on each of the sheaths while exerting pressure on the wheel at the far left turn position, we can feel a clunking inside of the aft steering cable sheath. We do not feel a similar clunking within the forward cable sheath.

 

Further examination of the visible portion of the steering cables didn't show any signs of wear or tear of the sheathing. The cable run from the racks through the cockpit lazarette, and takes the same smooth gentle pathway it always has. It disappears into a conduit which is glassed into the hull-side interior wall of the life raft locker and continues through a similar glassed-in conduit along the aft bathroom hull-side until finally emerging in the aft stateroom and heading beneath the bed. Beneath the bed, the cables go through a shallow, gentle curve to the spillwell devices that shepherd them through the structural stringer beneath the bed, allowing them to connect at the correct angle to the quadrant arms.

 

Further examination of the function of the misbehaving steering rod / cable while detached from the quadrant but still attached to the rack and pinion shows that,when turning the wheel to starboard,the rod appropriately lengthens, emerging from within the sheath without apparent friction. When turning the wheel left, the fully-protruding rod sucks itself back into the sheath without apparent friction until it suddenly stops a few cm short of where it should stop.

 

If the rod was broken somewhere within the sheath, totally transected, it seems that it might be able to follow the wheel’s command to protrude, but it wouldn’t then be able to follow the wheel’s command to suck itself back into the sheath. If there was some sort of kink or obstruction within the sheath, it seems we would have symptoms of friction with movement of the rod within the sheath in both directions, not just while moving the quadrant-end of the rod back into the sheath.

 

If anyone has experience with similar symptoms,or has knowledge of what is causing this very specific set of symptoms, your input would be greatly appreciated. Olivier, I hope you are reading this I suspect you have more knowledge of this system than all of us combined.

 

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

Steve and Liz Davis World Record Holders for Tiller steering an SM:)

Aloha SM72

Ko Olina, Hawaii

 

Steve, I just made a template the best I could with all the bolts , it is pretty good and with the additional pics I took ,it should help. I will mail it off to you and email the pics when my wife gets home. Its been six years since the install , I remember it was a little tricky establishing where to position the motors mount. I gave a measurement in one of the pics as a starting point. The steering cables stay in the same hole in the quadrant ,just drill a hole in the extension arm directly above it . You can see that I fiber glassed in a 11/2" wood block to pack out the bulkhead as well as aft of the bulkhead to also add strength . If the arm is positioned so that the rudder is on center line and the linear drive is 1/2 way extended than I would think that should be where the motor is mounted . You need to make sure you have complete travel of course. I can't remember how I determined the motor mount position, it took a little experimenting. If the rudder is hard to starboard and the drive fully extended and you marked the mount position, and then moved the rudder hard to port with the L/D fully retracted and marked that , the correct position would be half way between the marks, I would think. Just play with it before drilling the holes for the mounting. Also sending pic of the hatch I installed shortly after buying the boat , best thing I ever did . Great amount of air ,makes a hot aft cabin cool. They should have come with a hatch and do now.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Good Luck,

Pat

SM Shenanigans

Sassafras River, Md.

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Mcaneny sailw32@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 8:25 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

Steve, I am glad you have the same layout. No worries about the mailing ,my treat. We'll get everything on the way to you asap.

Thanks,

Pat

SM Shenanigans

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Davis flyboyscd@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 7:34 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

Thanks Pat...it is greatly appreciated. We have modified our aft stateroom a bit by removing the fiberglass liners on both sides, building the berth on the port side out to King size at the head and queen at the foot, and adding new cabinetry on the stbd side. With that said, the area under the port berth where the drive will go, is not changed in any way that will cause an issue. 

I’ll give you my Hawaii address below, and please let me know if I can send you a check or do a pay pal to reimburse you for mailing cost... 

Aloha,

Steve

Steve Davis

95-464 Kaelo Place

Mililani, Hawaii 96789

Cell: 510-908-1835

Steve Davis

S/V Aloha

On Jul 16, 2018, at 12:33 PM, Patrick Mcaneny sailw32@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

Steve, It is a pretty straight forward solution ,uses no usable space and does not require cutting out any structural components . Remember you need a 24 v linear drive with the long arm. You will also want to buy an A/B switch , in order to switch back and forth between the rotary and linear drive. I will send photo of that as well.I will very soon take many more photos and measurements for you . Do you have the same layout as I do, with the berth to port ? I will try to make a template of the extension arm . Would you have an address , I could mail it to you? By the way, congratulations on making a long passage and dealing well through your steering issue. 

Pat

SM Shenanigans

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Davis flyboyscd@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 4:50 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

Patrick, I have looked at the photo section, and your technique, seems the most simple of the 2 different methods I’ve seen this done with an older SM. We are definitely going to do the job with your method, but not until we get the steering fixed. Any dimensions or template for the quadrant extension would save me a lot of time and energy trying to re-invent the wheel. Since I have the steering apart now, I may start to do some of the legwork in the near future. Whenever you have to time, I’d greatly appreciate it if you can send me what you have. 

Thanks,

Steve Davis

S/V Aloha

On Jul 16, 2018, at 9:39 AM, Patrick Mcaneny sailw32@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

Steve, Rather than fabricating a new quadrant , which would have been necessary had we attempted to replicate Amels original installation , I only had to fabricate an extension arm and weld it to the existing quadrant .  The design and installation on my boat went very smoothly , easy to do and has proven to work well for thousands of miles . After looking at your options ,if you chose to do an installation such as I did , I will be glad to supply you with more pictures and measurements , perhaps even a template of the extension arm.. Have you looked at the photo section , I just did and there is a couple of pics that shows clearly what I did . Let me know if you go this route, and I will help in any way I can. 

Good Luck,

Pat 

SM Shenanigans

-----Original Message-----
From: flyboyscd@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 2:14 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

 Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your response regarding our steering. We have it on our very long list while in Hawaii this year to add a linear drive. Do you have any specs on how you modified the quadrant on the drive attachment side?  Any info you have on this would be a big help in figuring out how to make the modification.

If you want to email me directly, try flyboyscd at gmail dot com.

Thanks,

Steve

Aloha SM 72

 

Steve, I mailed the template today and added a few more pis into the Shenanigans photo file, there were more but too blurry to add. If you have any questions or want pics of anything in particular ,let me know.

Thanks,

Pat

SM Shenanigans

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Davis flyboyscd@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Tue, Jul 17, 2018 3:09 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

Thanks for going to all the hassle to get this info to me. I just got an answer from Maude this morning, they have the cables, and I asked her to ship them ASAP. In case you ever decide to change your cables, they are 335 euros plus shipping. After my experience, if you ever start to hear any noise or experience friction in the steering, I'd replace the racks, pinion, and cables all together.  After having taken ours apart twice, and still one to go, it is not hard once you have solved a few mysteries.

If you guys ever decide on a Hawaii vacation while we are still here, you would be welcome to stay on our boat which we keep in a very nice resort marina on West Oahu. Liz and I stay at at my parents home most of the week, and a couple of nights a week on the boat to maintain our sanity. Both my parents are in there 90's, and are requiring about as much maintenance as our old boats do. We hope to be on our way to French Polynesia in March 2019, but will have to see how things go with my folks.

Steve

On Tue, Jul 17, 2018 at 12:41 PM Patrick Mcaneny sailw32@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

Steve, I just made a template the best I could with all the bolts , it is pretty good and with the additional pics I took ,it should help. I will mail it off to you and email the pics when my wife gets home. Its been six years since the install , I remember it was a little tricky establishing where to position the motors mount. I gave a measurement in one of the pics as a starting point. The steering cables stay in the same hole in the quadrant ,just drill a hole in the extension arm directly above it . You can see that I fiber glassed in a 11/2" wood block to pack out the bulkhead as well as aft of the bulkhead to also add strength . If the arm is positioned so that the rudder is on center line and the linear drive is 1/2 way extended than I would think that should be where the motor is mounted . You need to make sure you have complete travel of course. I can't remember how I determined the motor mount position, it took a little experimenting. If the rudder is hard to starboard and the drive fully extended and you marked the mount position, and then moved the rudder hard to port with the L/D fully retracted and marked that , the correct position would be half way between the marks, I would think. Just play with it before drilling the holes for the mounting. Also sending pic of the hatch I installed shortly after buying the boat , best thing I ever did . Great amount of air ,makes a hot aft cabin cool. They should have come with a hatch and do now.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Good Luck,

Pat

SM Shenanigans

Sassafras River, Md.

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Mcaneny sailw32@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 8:25 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

Steve, I am glad you have the same layout. No worries about the mailing ,my treat. We'll get everything on the way to you asap.

Thanks,

Pat

SM Shenanigans

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Davis flyboyscd@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 7:34 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

Thanks Pat...it is greatly appreciated. We have modified our aft stateroom a bit by removing the fiberglass liners on both sides, building the berth on the port side out to King size at the head and queen at the foot, and adding new cabinetry on the stbd side. With that said, the area under the port berth where the drive will go, is not changed in any way that will cause an issue. 

I’ll give you my Hawaii address below, and please let me know if I can send you a check or do a pay pal to reimburse you for mailing cost..... 

Aloha,

Steve

Steve Davis

95-464 Kaelo Place

Mililani, Hawaii 96789

Cell: 510-908-1835

Steve Davis

S/V Aloha

On Jul 16, 2018, at 12:33 PM, Patrick Mcaneny sailw32@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

Steve, It is a pretty straight forward solution ,uses no usable space and does not require cutting out any structural components . Remember you need a 24 v linear drive with the long arm. You will also want to buy an A/B switch , in order to switch back and forth between the rotary and linear drive. I will send photo of that as well.I will very soon take many more photos and measurements for you . Do you have the same layout as I do, with the berth to port ? I will try to make a template of the extension arm . Would you have an address , I could mail it to you? By the way, congratulations on making a long passage and dealing well through your steering issue. 

Pat

SM Shenanigans

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Davis flyboyscd@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 4:50 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

Patrick, I have looked at the photo section, and your technique, seems the most simple of the 2 different methods I’ve seen this done with an older SM. We are definitely going to do the job with your method, but not until we get the steering fixed. Any dimensions or template for the quadrant extension would save me a lot of time and energy trying to re-invent the wheel. Since I have the steering apart now, I may start to do some of the legwork in the near future. Whenever you have to time, I’d greatly appreciate it if you can send me what you have. 

Thanks,

Steve Davis

S/V Aloha

On Jul 16, 2018, at 9:39 AM, Patrick Mcaneny sailw32@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

Steve, Rather than fabricating a new quadrant , which would have been necessary had we attempted to replicate Amels original installation , I only had to fabricate an extension arm and weld it to the existing quadrant .  The design and installation on my boat went very smoothly , easy to do and has proven to work well for thousands of miles . After looking at your options ,if you chose to do an installation such as I did , I will be glad to supply you with more pictures and measurements , perhaps even a template of the extension arm.. Have you looked at the photo section , I just did and there is a couple of pics that shows clearly what I did . Let me know if you go this route, and I will help in any way I can. 

Good Luck,

Pat 

SM Shenanigans

-----Original Message-----
From: flyboyscd@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 2:14 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

 Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your response regarding our steering. We have it on our very long list while in Hawaii this year to add a linear drive. Do you have any specs on how you modified the quadrant on the drive attachment side?  Any info you have on this would be a big help in figuring out how to make the modification.

If you want to email me directly, try flyboyscd at gmail dot com.

Thanks,

Steve

Aloha SM 72

 

Steve, I am glad you have the same layout. No worries about the mailing ,my treat. We'll get everything on the way to you asap.

Thanks,

Pat

SM Shenanigans

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Davis flyboyscd@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 7:34 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

Thanks Pat...it is greatly appreciated. We have modified our aft stateroom a bit by removing the fiberglass liners on both sides, building the berth on the port side out to King size at the head and queen at the foot, and adding new cabinetry on the stbd side. With that said, the area under the port berth where the drive will go, is not changed in any way that will cause an issue. 

I’ll give you my Hawaii address below, and please let me know if I can send you a check or do a pay pal to reimburse you for mailing cost.. 

Aloha,

Steve

Steve Davis

95-464 Kaelo Place

Mililani, Hawaii 96789

Cell: 510-908-1835

Steve Davis

S/V Aloha

On Jul 16, 2018, at 12:33 PM, Patrick Mcaneny sailw32@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

Steve, It is a pretty straight forward solution ,uses no usable space and does not require cutting out any structural components . Remember you need a 24 v linear drive with the long arm. You will also want to buy an A/B switch , in order to switch back and forth between the rotary and linear drive. I will send photo of that as well.I will very soon take many more photos and measurements for you . Do you have the same layout as I do, with the berth to port ? I will try to make a template of the extension arm . Would you have an address , I could mail it to you? By the way, congratulations on making a long passage and dealing well through your steering issue. 

Pat

SM Shenanigans

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Davis flyboyscd@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 4:50 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

Patrick, I have looked at the photo section, and your technique, seems the most simple of the 2 different methods I’ve seen this done with an older SM. We are definitely going to do the job with your method, but not until we get the steering fixed. Any dimensions or template for the quadrant extension would save me a lot of time and energy trying to re-invent the wheel. Since I have the steering apart now, I may start to do some of the legwork in the near future. Whenever you have to time, I’d greatly appreciate it if you can send me what you have. 

Thanks,

Steve Davis

S/V Aloha

On Jul 16, 2018, at 9:39 AM, Patrick Mcaneny sailw32@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

Steve, Rather than fabricating a new quadrant , which would have been necessary had we attempted to replicate Amels original installation , I only had to fabricate an extension arm and weld it to the existing quadrant .  The design and installation on my boat went very smoothly , easy to do and has proven to work well for thousands of miles . After looking at your options ,if you chose to do an installation such as I did , I will be glad to supply you with more pictures and measurements , perhaps even a template of the extension arm.. Have you looked at the photo section , I just did and there is a couple of pics that shows clearly what I did . Let me know if you go this route, and I will help in any way I can. 

Good Luck,

Pat 

SM Shenanigans

-----Original Message-----
From: flyboyscd@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
To: amelyachtowners <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 2:14 pm
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Steering Failure on 1992 SM72 "Aloha"

 

 Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your response regarding our steering. We have it on our very long list while in Hawaii this year to add a linear drive. Do you have any specs on how you modified the quadrant on the drive attachment side?  Any info you have on this would be a big help in figuring out how to make the modification.

If you want to email me directly, try flyboyscd at gmail dot com.

Thanks,

Steve

Aloha SM 72