Hello all, i recently purchased a used 2002 GS300, loaded with nav,xenons,mark levingson, etc. i bought this car as a commuter so the nav was a must, i live here in so cal and recently went to san diego where my nav went haywire. what i belived happened is it "thought" i went a diffrent direction than i was acutally going and didnt get back on track, i have re-calibrated it about 6 times and after driving for a while it seems to get off track again and again which ends making the nav screen think i am somewhere where i am really not. My nav disc is the orignal that came with the car and maybe some roads in san diego confused it? Please any adivce is appreciated, i am a DIYer and really dont want to take it to the dealer, since it would cost so much just for a diagnosis if they can even find the problem. Thanks again everyone for any input, also does anyone have a used NAV disc they would like to sell?

-George

 

George -- If I remember correctly, the NAV "knows" your location by two methods. The most accurate is when it uses the signal from the satellites to calculate your position. You can tell if you're getting a signal from the satellites if the "GPS" icon shows on the NAV screen in the upper left. Some types of window tinting can either reduce or prevent the NAV antenna (located under the rear window shelf) from picking up the GPS signal. If the NAV doesn't get a GPS signal, it tries to calculate your location based on the RPM of your tires and the direction you steer. This method is, of course, less accurate than the GPS signal, and would be even more inaccurate if the car has different sized tires than were originally installed by the factory. If the tires were replaced by a different size, the NAV setup needs to be changed to compensate for the difference in the size. Since you bought the car used, the previous owner may have installed tinting or changed the tire size, so your problem could be either one or both of these things. I don't believe that the NAV disc version would make any difference, since NAV should know where you are no matter what version you have. I have the latest disc version, but even though I travel on roads that are too new to be on the map, the NAV still knows where I am when I get back on the older roads. Hope this helps.

 

Well this makes sense, in the last 3 weeks have dont many things to this car which include 20 inch rims and and tires, and 15% tint all the way around, what do you suggest to fix this problem, i found a "wheel calibration" option in the navigation but i belive like you said it is not getting a GPS signal, do i have to remove the tint or is there another way around this? my tint is a semi metalic tint to better difuse UV Rays and it is more than likely interfering. Thank you very much for the input.

-George

 

Any other suggestions/ ways to fix this problem??

 

George -- I think the metallic tint is the problem with the GPS signal. I remember reading lots of postings on this website about the problems that metallic tint caused to the NAV versus non-metallic. You could recalibrrate for the new rims and tires, but your location will never be as accurate as it could be with a GPS signal. I'm far from an expert on the issue, but the only fix that I know for the problem would be to remove the metallic tint from the back window. You may want to search this site for older postings to see is anyone came up with a better fix.

 

Ill try to search again, but it isnt being very helpful

 

It seems that when my audio guy did my system not to long ago he COVERED the GPS antenna with Dynamat!! i guess added tint made it impossible to get a GPS signal, so uncovered the dynamat from the GPS antenna and re-calibrated. So far so good, it looses GPS signal once in a while but does not get off track like before, I have a johnsons's tint material and no problems now. will post if i find anything else out.

-George

 

Larry.....

The same thing happened to me, early this week. I took the wife's 2001 GS300 to have the windows tinted. As I left the shop, it started to rain. I hit the Home destination to see how the NAV was working, but noticed it was way off course. I attributed the problem to the storm. The problem continued for about four days, then all of a sudden it corrected itself. The same evening it corrected itself I received in the mail an upgrade DVD that I had ordered. It installed just fine.

I had also suspected that the tint might be the culprit, but was not sure until I read your post.

~ Cap

 

Larry.....

I'm still having problems with my NAV after having the windows tinted.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll take the car back to the Window Tinting Shop and have them replace the rear film with another brand which is non-metallic.

I'll keep you posted.

~ Cap

 

Took my GS back to the Tint Shop and had the rear window re-tinted with Non Metalic Film.

Nav now works perfectly.

They told me that they have Nav problems with Acura's and Lexus's using Metalic Film.

~ Cap