Timpicks

Hi All -

Need some help here. My 2006 IS350 (41,000 miles) was in a front-end accident last August, resulting in all front-cabin airbags deploying. The frame was undamaged, and the repairs brought my car back to new, except for one thing - the GPS no longer works.

I can reset my nav to my home address, but within a couple days it is WAY off. It sometimes thinks I'm in the middle of the ocean (I live in Seattle, so that's not difficult).

I'm guessing that the GPS/NAV is not getting a signal anymore from the satellites. It tries its best based on speed and direction, but clearly that isn't working.

Question is, is there a way to pinpoint what part(s) is broken, and what I need to replace? I've seen some NAV sensors going on Ebay for a reasonable price, but they're a pain to replace so I don't want to DIY it unless I'm sure.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

darkdream

You need to recalibrate your GPS. It might not be broken.

tex2670

It's been like this since August? If you had repairs done through insurance, they should fix everything, not just body damage. But now, 10 months later, they won't believe you that it happened with the accident. Your body shop, depending on your insurance, may provide a lifetime warranty on their work. You may want to take it there for a look-see.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

That would be one thing I'd not expect the insurance company or the repair shop to catch. Sucks though that you waited so long because it would be something they would have paid to fix.

Anyhow, since it only appears to be a directional-related issue and the NAV unit is DVD-base, I'd try to eject the disc and reinsert to reinitialize everything. If that doesn't work, perhaps the NAV unit itself is damaged internally. Replacement NAV units (only the portion you would need) can be had second-hand online :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEXUS-SAT-NAV-ECU-GPS-NAVIGATION-DVD-COMPUTER-USA-AND-CANADA-IS250-IS350-ISF-/251049617303?pt=GPS_Devices&hash=item3a73b92797&vxp=mtr
^Though this is a good example of the NAV unit itself, I've seen them go for ALOT cheaper than that.

Oh, before purchasing anything, check ALL of the connections in the back of the NAV unit to ensure everything is pulled in an tight.

Wht95scort

Do you get the "GPS" icon on your navi screen? If so then it's picking up the signal. If not then you will need to check items such as the GPS antenna, navi unit exc. you can do this by pressing display from the map screen then touch 12 o'clock 6 o'clock on the left side of the screen for three times. Exc 12 6 12 6 12 6
Look to see if anything is in orange color if it is click on it to get the trouble code.

Another thing to check is your region setting. When the battery is disconnected it will be defaulted back to setting 9. Depending on where you live you may need to adjust this for the correct gps guidance.

Timpicks

Thanks everyone for the advice so far. A few follow-up points:

1) I should have noticed the GPS failing earlier, you're correct. I'm going to see if there's a lifetime warranty with the repair shop. The guy I worked with is pretty reasonable.

2) How do you recalibrate the GPS?

3) I cannot get into the maintenance screen with the 12-6-12-6 trick. I've updated my DVD a couple times, and doing that kills the backdoor code. I've even put in the original DVD and no luck.

4) The region has been verified as correct (i.e. not region 9)

5) I'm NOT getting the GPS icon on my nav screen, so I'm guessing it's an antenna issue. I saw one on eBay for $75 a month or two ago. Maybe it's worth the money to take a chance that that's the problem? After all, the sensor is under the windshield on the '06 350, so the airbag damage and new windshield may have been the problem.

Thanks all. Any other feedback/suggestions are surely welcome!