AP hydraulic leak

[monte]

Hi. We just arrived in bequia and noticed the AP slow to respond. On inspection there was a lot of fluid under the drive. After cleaning and looking for the source I realised the silver cover of the ram was loose. I completely unscrewed it and found fluid inside. A bit surprised there seems to be no way to tighten it except by hand. Anyway I need to replace the fluid so I'm after a quick rundown on type of
fluid needed
Amount needed (I'll buy some spare as well)
Method to fill and bleed

Thoughts on wether the leak was because the silver cover was loose or do I need to inspect further...
Thanks for any advice
Monte

[monte]

Well here's an update. The resivoir our takes around 600ml of iso 22 hydraulic fluid. Impossible to find in bequia even though 10 little shops sell different fluids. I ended up with a generic one from a small chandler behind the church but it's iso 15. Also found a funnel and some flat tube in the other stores
I tightened the cylinder by hand, filled the resivoir and bled the system using the AP motor to force the fluid through till no air bubbles in the clear tubes.nthis took a few goes as I didn't want to overfill it so I bled it 4-5 times. AP is back in action and we are headed north. The ap also needed recalibration get using the setup wizard. Seems fine now. I'll source the correct viscosity fluid in. Martinique and redo the whole procedure in a few days time

[wrwakefield]

Well done, Monte.

You epitomize the self-sufficiency required of a cruiser, and picked a nice locale for the repair!

Cheers!

Bill

[monte]

And some instruction.

[monte]

Thanks Bill. I'll know now to carry spare fluid. I'm glad it wasn't three days into a pacific crossing...
It's likely the mechanic who serviced the engines in Grenada used the cylinder to pull his way out of the engine compartment, or I may have done it in the past without realising it's supposed to be screwed tight. A couple,of days ago in Union island my outboard had been running a bit rough so I asked a local 'mechanic' to take a look at it. Big mistake...
Instead of running it in a tank to check how it runs, he proceeds to pull it apart..commenting on how it must be USA made because it's hard to dismantle. Then after dropping various parts in the sand and reinstalling the carb, he runs it dry. I insisted he put it in a tank before running it but it was too late and he fried the Impellor, with no spares available within 1000m..
4 hrs later he has it back together, God knows what pieces he left out. Watching my virgin outboard being treated this way was horrific. Unfortunately it was a chain of events I couldn't stop, expecting him to have half a clue in what he was doing
Afterwards he was too ashamed to ask for money and towed us back to the boat...ugh...
Probably more damage is caused by shoddy workers than anything else. My fault for tinkering with sailboats instead of engines when I was a kid I guess...

[DITB]

I just discovered we have a hydraulic leak on the rudder system (Sailing catamaran with HyDrive Admiral HD150-9 rams, 105 pump and HDPR1024 auto pilot pump).

The problem here is simply insufficient maintenance on my part - the fittings on the hoses connecting copper tubing to the rams are simply corroded away, despite anti corrosion paint.

So one 90 degree bend is leaking oil when rudder is used. The remaining 7 are probably ready to follow, while all the copper, and helm installation seem fine.

Total of 4 hoses / 8 fitting, I am replacing all 8 fittings. Local experts tell me it's fine to source them locally (Hong Kong), while I am not sure if I should go for HyDrive original parts ...