I fly a 2006 C182 equipped with a G1000 and KAP 140 autopilot. Recently we began having issues where the autopilot would not track any LNAV source (HDG, GPS, VOR, or LOC) correctly, or maintain level flight in ROL mode. In HDG mode, the aircraft would track approx. 9 degrees left of the selected heading (ex. 351 when 360 is selected). On NAV mode, it would parallel the desired route. When GPS active, it would parallel the route approx. 0.25 NM left of centerline. When VOR active, it will track about 1/2 dot left of course. In APP mode, the aircraft would track the localizer in the same manner, putting the aircraft nearly 3/4 dot left of centerline. When in straight and level flight (and even on the ground), if the autopilot were activated in ROL mode, the yoke would turn full left in about 8 seconds.
We took the aircraft to a maintenance facility where they spent 6 weeks swapping out hardware with another company aircraft to see which component was malfunctioning. They finally contacted us and informed us that a small serial data chip was corrupt and causing the issues, and the problem had been corrected.
Upon picking up the aircraft, the system worked correctly for a total of two days. After the weekend, I took the airplane up with another pilot to get up to speed, and found the autopilot experiencing the same problems as before, except this time to the right of course instead of left.
We have a hard time believing this is the first time that this issue has ever occurred, although everyone we talk to about it doesn't seem to have any idea as to what the problem may be. Thoughts?
We took the aircraft to a maintenance facility where they spent 6 weeks swapping out hardware with another company aircraft to see which component was malfunctioning. They finally contacted us and informed us that a small serial data chip was corrupt and causing the issues, and the problem had been corrected.
Upon picking up the aircraft, the system worked correctly for a total of two days. After the weekend, I took the airplane up with another pilot to get up to speed, and found the autopilot experiencing the same problems as before, except this time to the right of course instead of left.
We have a hard time believing this is the first time that this issue has ever occurred, although everyone we talk to about it doesn't seem to have any idea as to what the problem may be. Thoughts?