paul_philly

I brought my car in for 4 items - the three TSB's (XM & Real time traffic, PCM and OnStar) and my navigation seems to be 50-100 feet off.

The dealer told me that having tinted windows is causing XM channels to have a delayed refresh, causing the Real Time Traffic to stop working and is interfering with the GPS causing the Navi to be 50-100 feet off.

I have the silver tint (they say titanium in it) made by Johnson.

Anyone ever hear of this?

ASP

Yep, any metallic tint can (as in might) cause interference. Ceramic tint is recommended instead.

vp911

ASP is correct - metallic tint may cause problems with the navi. It CANNOT cause problems with the XM refresh delay or the real time traffic as the XM antenna is mounted in the shark fin on the roof. The navi gps rcvr is under the rear deck inside the car.

ASP

PRNole47

Sometime last year, right after I got my RL, I read in some car mag about the locations of the antennas for the various RL electronic systems. This is what I recall:

OnStar = Rooftop shark fin antenna
XM = Inside the brake light case, under the back window
FM = Wired inside back window
Navi GPS = (I can't recall where it's located)

If I remember this info correctly, then, it would explain why XM reception might be affected by window tint, since it is located inside the brake light case under the back window.

PRNole47

I was right about the location of the XM antenna: It's inside the cover of the brake lamp mount under the back window.

The article is from a November 2004 Boston Globe issue. Here's the link:

http://www.boston.com/cars/articles/...lectronic_era/

or...

http://www.tinyurl.com/9cc76

In essence, it says:

"The fin on the new Acura RL sedan is strictly for OnStar. The carmaker conceals the XM satellite radio antenna within the cover for the center high-mount stop lamp."

Again, this would explain why improper tiniting would interfere with XM reception.

vp911

Interesting. Thanks for correcting me - I was under the impression that it would be in the shark fin like the TL and TSX (in its own little thing ontop of the roof).

vp911

He is correct, I just checked the service manual and the XM antenna is in the brake light. If the tints were causing trouble with the XM, wouldnt it cause problems with audio as well as a delay? it would make more sense that all functions have problems, NOT jsut the delay like the rest of us have.

paul_philly

Wow - Great info! Thanks!

I visited the dealer today again and as it turns out, they were just "grabbing at straws" because my VIN # wasn't associated with TSB 05-022. However, when the traffic went completely out, as indicitive of the AcuraLink defect, the service manager agreed to replace the module.

Great posts though.

PRNole47 - Thanks for the links - very helpful!

VP911 - where did you get a service manual? All I received, regarding service, was the log book.

ASP

learn something new (tailight concealing the XM antenna) everyday . . .

vp911

The service manual can be purchased from www.helminc.com. I believe it was $69+shipping, but I am not entirely sure.

paul_philly

Thanks!

PRNole47

Perhaps not.

From what I've been able to figure out, the AcuraLink CPU polls for data or information from XM on a specified time basis, i.e., it sends an "inquiry" or message to XM every few seconds asking for "info" on what is being broadcast so it can portray that info on the display screen. If there is no change in the data stream sent back by XM, then the display info remains the same until the next polling sequence takes place. If the next polling sequence results in new data being sent back by XM, i.e., a change in what is being broadcast, then new data is shown on the display screen (new artist, title, etc.).

What probably is happening is that the tint only interferes with the round-trip message data transmission produced by the polling sequence; however, the tint would not interfere with the audio since it is sufficiently translucent to allow the audio data stream to reach the unit. It's probably being sent on a different frequency.

Come to think of it, this is probably what caused the problem with the original XM display screen refresh delay: The AcuraLink update done in April changed the polling sequence timing so that the unit's CPU did not poll frequently enough to receive up-to-date data streams from XM.

Then again, I could be wrong....

vp911

Hmm god knows I would never have thought that deep into the solution of the problem.

spacklebucket

The stuff about the polling interval sounds feasable to me. Now, I could also be wrong, but, in my experience, data is data and it either gets there or it doesn't. If something is interfering with data transmission, it generally cannot be that selective. I would think that it is possible for the tint to be causing some of the issue that this owner is having. However, I would think it is highly unlikely for tint to be causing the exact same problem that many of us have - and which has prompted a TSB to replace hardware. It is more likely in my opinion that the dealer is using the tint as ANY excuse to refuse warranty work because he can get away with it.

PRNole47

I *believe* the tint issue is separate from the refresh delay problems that were caused by the notorious AcuralLink update that came out this past April. That April update is the one that wreaked havoc on the XM refresh rate, tint or no tint. I had the delay problems driving out of the dealer when I picked up the car after they did the update last April and I don't have any tinting on my windows. Zilch. None. So, for me, the tint issue was a non-player in my refresh delays.

It may well be that the tinting issue is an *added* confounding factor that causes its own problems even for those RL owners that had the defective post-update units replaced under TSB 05-022. Sort of like excessive wax build-up on the windscreen from drive-thru car washes that *might* cause the sensor that controls those self-adjusting variable speed wipers to respond, given the amount of rain on the glass and speed of the vehicle.

If that is the case, I hope Acura and their dealers can rectify this additional problem, even if it's a matter of replacing the tint at their cost -- or complete tint removal, since I doubt they're going to be as accomodating in this case as they were when the April update ruined all the XM units.

Then again, Acura might say you got the incorrect tint and it's up to you to change it if you want the XM screen to work right.