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My 36 is also 4 years old (June 2003) and on holiday in Brittany last week we started to experience a knocking sound from somewhere aft. Now from new there was always a very slight “knock” occassionally, which I put down to the autohelm catching up with the rudder – there is some slight play in the autopilot mounting pin – but Raymarine say they have never had a problem. Now this noise is much worse and, by getting into the rear compartment and touching various parts of the steering under way, I have convinced myself that this noise is being caused by play in the bottom rudder bearing.
Does anyone else have any experiences in this area to share and are new bottom bearings available from Bavaria?
Thanks.
If it is the lower bearing then you should be able to wiggle the rudder a small amount when the boat is out of the water.
We have replaced one bearing with a new bearing sourced from Bavaria (via Opal!). We had a copy made before we put it in so we had a spare. This was on a 98 Bavaria 36 a few years ago.
Be sure to check the wear on the rudder stock at the point at which the bearing makes contact. In older boats this can be an additional source of rudder movement.
Hi Tall sheep
Regarding the knocking sound from the rudder, I have experienced this knocking on 2 boats (in both cases I heard the knocking when there was a bit of swell). I solved this problem as follows:
i) On one boat I found out that the fixing bolts securing the top bearing to the deck were loose. As a result I could see that the top bearing was moving and the rudder stock was oscillating with every wave and creating the knocking sound. I tightened the top bearing securing bolts and problem solved.
ii) On another boat I stopped the knocking by tightening the rudder shaft nut above the top bearing by a couple of turns to take the slack on the rudder shaft. You might need a special tool which fits into the two holes on the top face of the nut to tighten. Before tightening the rudder nut you will also need to remove the small 6mm bolt which compresses the thread of the rudder nut across the slit (this screw is there to stop the nut getting loose)
Check out for these two possible reasons the next time you are out sailing.
RegardsAnthony
While sailing on a friends Bavaria 37 just recently, everything had been going smoothly when the wind almost died away. We needed to be back to our home port by a particular time, so started the engine and continued under power. However, while at the helm I noticed that there was now an intermittent knocking sound and vibration coming from below that was not there before the engine was started. Crawling through the port aft cabin and removing the door to the lazerette, I noticed that the rubber exhaust hose was shaking and banging against the interior of the hull. Taking a close look to see why, it was evident that three of the securing clips for the hose had broken. Fortunately the end of the hose where it was connected to the skin fitting had not yet become detached, but with over an hour to run before getting back to port, there was a real risk that this might happen. The risk of doing nothing was possible flooding of the bilge as well as filling the cabin spaces with exhaust fumes and carbon monoxide. So the engine was stopped while the clips were adjusted and the hose secured temporarily until they could be renewed once back in port.
Could it be that you have the same problem, but that you investigated it while your engine was stopped such that you would have seen no movement in the exhaust hose at the time?I have also been having problems with rudder making a knocking sound. It took a while to find out what was going on but as far as I can determine the problems seems to be with the output shaft of the steering gearbox. The tiller arm can be moved slightly and this seems to be where the knocking comes from. As far as I can see there is no problem with the rudder itself. Has anyone else seen this problem?
Had a similar problem 3 yrs ago on my 2005 B33. Clipper convinced me that she needed new rudder bearings “as some Bavaria’s get through them in a couple of years” Having spent a fortune on new parts from them, my local engineers told me that all that was needed was tightening up the top threaded clamp! She has been perfect since and I carry the ‘new’ parts as spares!
Check that first – its under the lifting flap beneath the transom seat. Best done out of the water so that you can check the rudder for play.
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