This article shares our experiences and tips for servicing a hydraulic autopilot. In our case, the unit is a Simrad HLD2000 MK2LS, also known as a Robertson. The servicing involved replacing the seals in the ram, cleaning the components and replacing the hydraulic oil.

Emerald's rudder is attached to the boat via the rudder shaft which comes up through the stern of the boat. On top of the rudder shaft is a steering quadrant with the steering cables attached to both sides. As the helm turns, it pulls the cables, which in turn pull the quadrant which turns the rudder. We also have an Edison tiller arm connected to the rudder shaft and to which an hydraulic autopilot ram is attached. The ram is operated by the autopilot.

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We ended the last blog with our Volvo Penta D2-75 engine finally back in Emerald's engine room. This was a major milestone in our DIY boat engine rebuild following salt water damage. With no previous experience of rebuilding an engine, we'd had many months on a steep learning curve with several soul crushing set backs. But we'd resolved each problem and to have finally reached this point was an incredible feeling.

The next big step was to test run the engine.

But before we got to the test run, we had to reconnect all of the ancillary systems. And of course there was another unexpected part failure.

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We left you in the last blog of our boat engine rebuild, having discovered oil leaking from around the timing case cover. When we investigated, we found a tear in the gasket that sits between the case and the engine. We'd just been at the point where we were ready to set the engine upright, so to say it was a disappointing setback was a huge understatement.

We took a moment to lick our wounds. After that, there was nothing else for it but for us to get on with taking it apart. After all, there was no one else to do it for us. And, the sooner we got started, the sooner we could get back to making forward, rather than backwards progress.

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With all the cleaning completed as described in our last blog, we could start rebuilding our boat engine. We'd purchased an engine overhaul kit that contained new bearings, pistons and all the gaskets that we would need to hopefully get the engine running again. Could we get it all back together ourselves? On the plus side, we're both technically minded and we had a good support network. On the down side we had limited parts and tool availability, plus we were working in a borrowed space, not set up for what we needed to do.

Warning - this post contains subjects that may be of a technical/not very exciting nature! But I've tried to condense things and focus on the drama and emotion of what went right or wrong. The work took place over many hours and I could probably have written a whole blog on each section.

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This blog reviews our issues and experiences having decided to try and rebuild our water damaged boat engine.

How did we end up in that situation? Well in June 2022, during a four day passage between Portugal and Porto Santo, sea water found its way inside the engine. It sloshed around for several days and the result was an engine that wouldn't start. Initially we were successful in getting the pistons moving again, but there was further damage deep inside the engine block where rust had had time to do its worst. The previous blog discussed our options to resolve the problem, which boiled down to repair or replace. We chose the latter, and now, with the rebuild almost complete, it's a good time for a look back at our experience.

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