The wheel drive on my Raymarine (autohelm) S1 autopilot started acting up 2 days ago. This is the grey 'MkII' drive unit. I'd spilled some water on it, so figured it was just slipping. Yesterday, I adjusted the clutch so the belt was tighter (in fact too tight), but no improvement.

The drive lets out a nasty noise; at first I thought that was just the belt slipping, but now I'm not so sure. With the drive locked, and the pilot on standby, I can turn the wheel slowly and hear the motor turning, but then it 'skips'. If I keep turning, it skips again. This makes me think there's something wrong with the motor drive wheel, or perhaps multiple 'teeth' missing from the belt.

Has anyone disassembled the wheel drive? I'd like to disassemble it and take a look, but nothing in the manual tells you how to do it. I had my old black drives apart enough times to do it in my sleep, but haven't yet had the pleasure on the new ones.

I vow to get a below decks pilot. I have had more trouble with these danged wheel drives than I care to relate, they just don't seem to stand up to a C36 (though I had plenty of trouble with the black drive on my C30, too).

I'm on the boat single handed, with an all day sail/motor to get back and don't feel like steering the whole way. Any help would be appreciated.