Jefa autopilot squeaks

[Plavidal]

I just crossed the Bay of Biscay in strong winds and quartering seas that gave my Jefa autopilot a good workout. I noticed that it would squeak when making larger adjustments (like being knocked sideways by a wave). The unit was new in 2018 and has had ~2000 miles of sailing since new. The only documentation I have for the unit says “greased for life” and supposedly requires no maintenance. I’m interested to hear about other’s experiences. We plan to cross the Atlantic in January and even though I have a windpilot I really don’t want to deal with a failure. Any recommendations?

[skipmac]

Are you sure it was in the AP drive itself and not the linkage to the quadrant or other external bits?

[Plavidal]

I’m sure the squeak comes from the autopilot drive. I could put my ear right next to it. The steering mechanism is very smooth. In fact, everything seems to work perfectly except for when the excursion is big enough.

[skipmac]

Which model Jefa? As I recall from reading their website they have several.

[Plavidal]

Sorry for my delayed response, we’ve been sailing down the coast of Spain.

To answer your question, my unit is a DD2. On the last sail, with fairer winds and seas, the Jefa unit worked fine: no squeaking. I’ve decided to just give this some time and see if anything changes.