Autopilot quadrant removal from rudder shaft

[elias]

Hello to all!
I am trying to remove the rudder on my Bavaria 44 2003 to change the bearings . I removed the half piece of the quadrant attached on the shaft and connected with the autopilot shafts . The other half is still on with the key . Should I disconnect everything or just tapping from the top the shaft will slide with no harm ? I want to avoid disassembling the whole thing not to mess with the settings !

[Yngmar]

Take it off. If you want, mark the settings on the studs/turnbuckles, but it's really not hard to calibrate the steering, and usually a good idea to do after dropping the rudder anyways. Do mark the height on the rudder post where the quadrant sits!

If you don't, the quadrant will be in the way and you risk damaging it when reinserting the rudder, as it's tricky enough to lift and align the heavy rudder to slide the post into the upper bearing.

[elias]

Thanks for the reply
hmmm so i ll dismount all the three shafts attached to the quadrant.
 1 coming from the wheel mechanism, 1 from the hydraulic ( i guess) motor , and 1 thinner from a plastic mechanism as it is shown in the fotos?

[Yngmar]

Yep. The plastic one is the rudder position sensor. You'll have to recalibrate that in the autopilot (see manual) after you've centered the rudder and set the wheel top spoke where you want it.

[elias]

Perfect... I ll try it like that! Thanks for everything!