thanks for the help guys, unfortunately i've still got the problem despite all your wise words so i must be doing something wrong. A/T never seems to take over no matter how many times i try and how much i follow instructions. I also noticed my lnav and vnav does not even try to follow my pink flight path, instead just lazily banking off to the right with several climbs and level-offs. I guess i really need to hunker down and go through the manuals word by word!

Cheers again!