That's why ships always have two autopilots. Even if another person has had
a similar problem, does not mean it is the same as yours. The solution may
be expensive, but it isn't difficult. You need another autopilot that will
allow you to substitute components until the culprit is found. There are no
other choices. Any other action you take can be considered chasing ghosts.
Steve

"Jerry" wrote in message
...
My autopilot switched from AUTO to STANDBY while out at sea. There was
an alrm sound but in the past when there was a problem, I would get a
message that said NO LINK or MOTOR STOPPED. There was no response to
pushing the AUTO button. After turning the power on and off a few
times, I was able to get it to go back into AUTO but only for about 5
minutes when it returned to STANDBY.

After anchoring for a night with the power to the autopilot off, it
went into AUTO with no problem after turning on the power.

I did all the obvious checks for bad or loose connections but found
nothing wrong.

I am reluctant to take it out to sea on a long cruise for fear that I
might end up stearing by hand for a few days if it happens again.

I am curious to know if anyone has had a similar problem.