After having my entire navi unit replaced several months ago, everything worked perfectly until tonight.
I backed out of the garage and started the navi screen and the navi showed my car in the middle of a lake about a half mile from my house. As I drove towards town the navi screen displayed the car going through woods, across creeks and lakes. WHen I finally reached a major road the navi began to display accurate information but shows a line of dots through the middle of a forest. THis kinda pisses me off because I had the car in the shop 4 different times to fix various navi related problems. Anyone out there with a similar experiece?
Maybe the navi didn't lock on to GPS signals or maybe I have another screwed up navi. I 'm glad that I put my $5 walMart atlas in the back of the car...
I'm really looking forward to another trip to the dealership this week.

 

i had that problem with my 03 CL-S

Acura had to replace the entire navi system 2 times to fix the problem

 

What version of the software does your Navi use? On the setup menu, it's number 4 at the top and then you should see a button for version.

 

Wrong...

Pull the disk out of the trunk and look there

 

I too have been having the same problem. My navi is almost always wrong. It either starts in the worng place and goes through woods and lakes as yours does or it starts off ok and then goes off track. When driving it is not accurate with the streets, when I turn the unit thinks I have not made it to the street yet and goes off course.

 

Do any of you guiys have 3.40C nav disks?

My nav has similar issues and it's an '05 which came with 3.40A, and I was wondering (and hoping) if it was a software problem...

 

Greg-ster,

Out of curiosity, what is the date on the disk? Is it still 20041119 or something like that for the 3.40A?

To all other folks with the 3.40C version, is the date still 20041119 or is it a newer date?

I am wondering if the 3.40C disk is only updated software or updated software and updated navigation database.

Thanks

 

3.40A has 20040704 as its database version...

3.40C appears to be updated software and updated navigation database

 

Unfortunately this is "normal" behavior. It's happened to me on both the first '04 TL navi disc and 3.40C. The navigation disc doesn't make ANY difference.

I had this happen (the tracking dots through nowhere) a lot when I first got the car but it's gotten better (doesn't happen at all any more). My car was appearing a mile from where I live and I was driving through buildings.

There are a couple of reasons - 1) the car takes some time to acquire satellites (moreso in cities and wooded areas), and 2) it can sometimes "forget" where it was. Other factors could include solar flares and the car incorrectly compensating for where it thinks it is.

The point of all this is to give it a couple of minutes. It's not perfect, it's technology. To get rid of the dots turn off and back on the "track offroad position". You can also manually adjust your physical position (as I've done a couple of times) but once again all will be normal after you've acquired enough (4-7) satellites.

-josh

 

^Wait, it went from happening "a lot" to happening rarely/never... wouldn't you say that your updating from your older disk to (your presumably current) 3.40C helped get rid of the navi's "spazzing" epizodes?

I'm sorry if i'm misinterpreting your reply, I am also trying to figure how to go about fixing this problem wth the nav

 

I once read in a post long ago that the navi takes approx 12 minutes with three satellites acquired to "calibrate" itself. The bandwidth of the signal from the GPS satellite is very low so it takes a while to get the information. There is also a feature to manually set your position, though I don't believe it is a substitute for getting the position set by the satellites and the calibration process to complete. See http://www.trimble.com/gps/how.html

 

Well the Sats basically send out a timecode(they are set by an atomic clock), and based on multiple readings your car can triangulate its location.

 

Correct. The only data our systems care about from the satellites is the timestamps. Each satellite has an atomic clock in it so they're all running near-perfectly in sync. Our receivers receive these timestamps, but each arrives at a slightly different time since it takes time for the signal to reach us. The receiver can then figure out our position based on knowing where each satellite is at a given moment and how far away it is.

My car shows the same problem listed above if I start driving before it's gotten a lock on the satellites. Usually, the car is in the same place where the signal was lost (when the car was shut off) so it's easy for it to guess that's where to begin and then adjust once it gets the signals. But if you drive a ways after losing the signal, for instance you shut off the car out of range of the signal, then it will have to wait until it gets the signal from at least three satellites before it can determine your true position. At work, I lose the signal when I go into the parking garage to park. When I come out again, I've driven a ways without signal, so the system is wrong in its guess as to where I am. Once it locks on to the satellites again, it snaps into position properly, but not before leaving breadcrumbs showing me driving off-road through the lagoon.

 

Bluenoise,

I understand the Navi has to lock on the satellite's signals before plotting the correct position but after owning a navi car for several months, this was the first epsiode of not locking on before leaving the driveway.

Tonight it happened again, I have a ton of bread crumbs on the screen now. My only comment, it never did it before!! (at least the problem is documented by the trail of bread crumbs.)

I called the dealer after the first episode and he told me to just watch and see if it was a chronic problem. I follow the posts here and have only seen this problem mentioned twice.

I have used GPS/ Loran C offshore fishing in florida and in a boat it sometimes several minutes to acquire a "lock on" but my Acura never took more than a few seconds.

Bottom Line, I really think the navi unit is screwed up....

 

What disc version do you have jazzpicker?

 

V 3.40A (this version is the number on the CD)

 

I've got the same disc, and the same problems (and then some)...


When they replaced your hav hardware, did they give you an updated disk?

 

Greg,
My car is an 05 and I don't think they replaced the CD when the nav unit was replaced. I think we would see many posts about this problem if it was common. Maybe if there's new software on the upgrade CD it is possible that it would fix the problem.
Fortunately (So far) My dealership , Proctor Acura, Tallahassee FL has been easy to work with and I am going to ask them to replace the navi, upgrade the CD and get rid of the million dots on my screen.
Keep me posted of your progress and I will do the same.
Jp

 

The navi screen indicates when it is receiving enough GPS data -- the "GPS" underneath the compass is green when its recieving, white when it isn't. When it isn't, the car uses other means to guess where it might be.

For the people having the problems, have you noticed what the GPS indicator is saying?

 

The car only leaves breadcrumbs when GPS is green...


Notice that there are no breadcrumbs in enclosed parking garages, tunnels, etc...

 

Just called the dealership about the problem with Navi not recognizing it's location. Was told (seriously) not to worry, "it's just the planets getting ready to align" or that I went into the set up menu and changed something. I own 2 of these cars and don't appreciate a bunch of bullshit from the dealer. My reply was that's ok, I am getting the lemon law ready to align, 5th visit for navi problems. I will bring the car in Monday when my regular service advisor is there and see if I can get some straight ass answers.
I am planning a cross country trip from Florida to Las Vegas and want this thing working properly.

 

Since you were in your garage, the navi couldn't obtain a GPS signal. How long did it take to adjust itself? It could take around 2 minutes, in which case your navi is fine. The dots are the "breadcrumbs", used for off-road tracking. Since the navi thought you were off-road, it created a route. You can delete them by going into the setup menu, just look for the subtitle "off-road tracking" or something like that.

 

Acura TL 44,

At first, I thought that the navi wasn't obtaining the GPS signal but this car has been parked in the same place in the same garage since new (several months) and never had problems with "bread crumbs" or seeming to be traveling through gator infested lakes until 2-3 weeks ago. Tonight while driving in town I noticed that the navi would "get lost" for brief periods leaving a few bread crumbs on the sides of the roads. This occured after driving for varying periods of time. I just don't think it is a matter of the navi "initalizing" or locking on to the satellites. not to be crude but, I think the fricking thing is screwed up.

 

Take a look at this thread: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...navi+calibrate The post by daverman gives some added detail on how the system works. I haven't seen this explained this way before or since.

 

I still have the issue of pulling up directly in front of my home, pressing the [Go Home] button, and having Ms. Know-it-all in the system tell me "Make U-Turn, Destination Is On The Left"

.
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Took the TL to the dealership the service manager talked to the people at Acura (tech support line or something) I was told that they ordered another complete Navi unit and they will call me when it arrives...This will be the 2nd replacement Navi unit in a relatively new car. Damn!

 

Man, that's got to be frustrating. I'm wondering if the problem isn't with the nav unit but with the GPS antenna and/or its connection to the main unit. Perhaps you should have them replace that, too. Afterall, two faulty nav units seems slightly less likely than one faulty antenna if only because they've already tried replacing the unit to no avail.

Good luck and enjoy Las Vegas!

 

If only my dealership was that cooperative...


Good luck, and get them to do something about the disk too.

Lets try to keep each other updated