Steering indicator shows position wrongly (stern drives were off and put back again)

[dr_oli]

Hi all,

The yard where my boat is currently located (Sealine F33, 2× Volvo Penta KAD32 with DP290 drives) removed the stern drives for painting. After reinstalling them, I noticed something that I am quite sure was not the case before.

When I turn the steering fully to port, the rudder/drive position indicator only moves to about the middle between 0 and full left. When turning to starboard, it goes almost to the full right side but still stops about 1–2 mm before the end.

I am fairly certain the indicator previously showed the full range in both directions. The yard says they did not touch anything related to the steering system, but it seems strange that the indicator would suddenly become inaccurate.

When I visually check the stern drives themselves, they appear to reach their correct mechanical positions when turned fully to port or starboard.

Do you think this could somehow be related to the removal and reinstallation of the stern drives (what could cause that?), or is it just a coincidence that the indicator is now showing an incorrect position?

For reference, the flybridge indicator shows exactly the same behavior.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Oliver

 

[Momac]

The sensor for the rudder position is inside the engine bay to the port side and to the rear of the port engine.
To see and to reach the sender you will need to lay down alongside the port side of the port engine.
I imagine the sender arm may have been disturbed and not refitted correctly when greasing the steering from inside the engine bay as part of the sterndrive servicing.

 

[petem]

The sensor for the rudder position is inside the engine bay to the port side and to the rear of the port engine.
To see and to reach the sender you will need to lay down alongside the port side of the port engine.
I imagine the sender arm may have been disturbed and not refitted correctly when greasing the steering from inside the engine bay as part of the sterndrive servicing.

100%!

 

[dr_oli]

Hi guys, thanks — that makes sense.

Before the stern drives were removed, I had some work done on the port side (the head gasket was replaced), so I can imagine that the sensor might have been disturbed during that work. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice anything at the time, because right after the head gasket repair I only moved the boat to the dry dock, and the rudder position indicator wasn’t really important then.

 

[stelican]

Should be easy to reset if VDO unit.
Sender is held in place by 3 screws in elongated slots which allows you to rotate it.
The arm that attaches it to the sterndrive is also adjustable.