AP hydraulic Pump-to replace or not?

When I bought my boat two years ago, I replaced all the old electronics at the lower helm with Furuno to match what was installed on the fly bridge.
I am getting ready to replace the last piece of old gear. A Simrad AP, for the Furuno 711C. The Simrad still works, but I want the the AP to be Furuno so I can take advantage of all the new features.
My question is, do I replace the hydraulic pump? It works just fine as well, but I'm not sure what the life span of this type of pump is. I can only assume it was installed when the boat was new. (2000)


Thanks

Might as well. Keep the old for a spare. Sometimes you can find a 'package deal' with everything for a good price. And everything would be fairly new and up to date for peace of mind.

check the 'type' rating of your existing pump.

Type has to do with volume of fluid & is usually matched to the ram.

More often than not, a given ram can be driven by different sized pumps.

In the case of my boat, the original type 1 pump died after year 5.

I replaced it with a type 2, which not only moves the ram more quickly (this is adjustable by your a/p) but is also more robust.

The second pump is still happily at work some 15 years later

good luck

I added a 711C Adjacent to the Simrad AP. But we kept the Simrad in place and able to serve as a backup using the same pump with an either or switch.

We had motor rebuilt and pump checked out. Otherwise everything has been flawless for 4 years.

If your existing pump is sized correctly, with no leaks, I would check the brushes while its in place and consider keeping it in use. The AP hydraulic pumps are pretty robust with brushes being the main wear component

I recently asked Furuno this same question: Furuno USA Community • View topic - AP configuration

One thing they were concerned about was the speed with which my current pump could move the rudder.

If it is in good condition and properly sized then I would keep it, less hassle since you don’t need to break into the hydraulic lines.