comand nav not picking up satellites

[flying haggis]

hi all. cls with ntg4.5 and the nav part thinks the car is somewhere in the middle of the north sea.. i tried plugging a new gps aerial into the back of the comand with the intention of installing the new one under the centre of the dash, but the new one doesnt seem to make a difference as the car still thinks it is in the middle of the sea. some on here have mentioned that you can tell how many satellites the system "sees" . how is that displayed? do i need to do a "reset" of the comand and if so how? thanks in advance.

 

[AMGeed]

When I fitted a new GPS aerial to my E55, I had to drive the car a couple of hundred yards and the satellites were picked up.
I would try that first.

 

[flying haggis]

been for a couple of drives and it still thinks i am in the north sea. looking at the engineering menu it says "open" under the antenna section with the new aerial. is there a reset?

 

[zipdip]

Well you are in Norfolk so you are very near the North Sea the sat nav is not far wrong

 

[flying haggis]

except it is about 200 miles out! if i go into the nav settings and ask for country info the car tries to establish a data connection through my phone? looking in the engineering menu gives these details. why it says open on the antenna listing is strange even with a new one

even gromit is foxed!

 

[Diesel Benz]

been for a couple of drives and it still thinks i am in the north sea. looking at the engineering menu it says "open" under the antenna section with the new aerial. is there a reset?

There should be a reset option but it would not fix an open circuit towards the antenna. Have you verified the new antenna on another car perhaps?

 

[Trickythemerc]

I have a pioneer head unit in my CLK and if memory serves, I think that when I have been in set up the GPS shows the connection as open. You could have a fault somewhere else in the head unit.

 

[flying haggis]

There should be a reset option but it would not fix an open circuit towards the antenna. Have you verified the new antenna on another car perhaps?

dont have access to another car to verify the new aerial. might try another new one, they are cheap enough

 

[Trickythemerc]

Looking at the pics it would seem that the GPS is seeing twelve satellites, which further suggests the fault is not with the antenna. Perhaps a software issue ?

 

[flying haggis]

think you could be right. on one of the pages of the sat nav it has a line about country info which if i select it tries to establish a data connection, where to i dont know and i dont think it is talking to my phone correctly so it never gets anywhere. i will have to get it on star i suppose once all this virus lockdown is over. but in the grand scheme of life it can wait

 

[Alfie]

It’s not seeing the satellites. Look at the date/time. It thinks it’s 2004! It also has no fix either.

The 12 is the number of satellites it knows about in the almanac. I would try a genuine Mercedes GPS antenna. Are you sure you are unplugging the right one?

 

[jasonh]

Try connecting and disconnecting the antenna and seeing if the "open" changes. Open usually means the GPS antenna is open circuit, i.e. not connected. Your replacement antenna may be the wrong type e.g. a passive one rather than active or the wrong voltage.

 

[flying haggis]

alfie, i think i am unplugging the correct one. it would help if the back of the comand said which plug was which!

 

[Alfie]

alfie, i think i am unplugging the correct one. it would help if the back of the comand said which plug was which!

It’s one of the white ones if you have NTG 4.5

 

[flying haggis]

looking at the back of the unit I think it is bottom left, but as has been said it could be software related. i have found a block of three similiar connectors in the area to the drivers side of the bootspace semi hidden near the fuse panel. if i can figure out how to access it without dismantling the car i will try the new aerial in there if i can figure out which connector does what

 

[Alfie]

It is the bottom left as you look at the back.

As you have the unit out the easiest fix is to run a new genuine antenna from the back to up under the dashboard above the speedometer. Disconnect the power from the Comand to force a reset too.
I’ll bet this fixes it.

 

[flying haggis]

putting a new aerial under the dash is what i was intending to do, i just have to figure out how to get the panel in the middle of the dash top out. i did connect my new aerial to that socket and it didnt seem to make any difference. but i didnt pull the fuse to do a reset. if i take the fuse out the back of the comand will it need any pin number when i repower it?

 

[Alfie]

putting a new aerial under the dash is what i was intending to do, i just have to figure out how to get the panel in the middle of the dash top out. i did connect my new aerial to that socket and it didnt seem to make any difference. but i didnt pull the fuse to do a reset. if i take the fuse out the back of the comand will it need any pin number when i repower it?

No pin will be needed.

Easiest way to see how to dismantle it is have a search on YouTube. Far easier than explaining here.

Remember it can take 15 minutes (outside) for the Comand to pick up satellites and when it has you may need to drive the car a short distance for it to update its position.

 

[flying haggis]

Alfie.

thanks for all your help and suggestions, i will try a reset with and without new aerial next. is it better to pull the fuse from the back of the comand or from the fuse box?

if I lived nearer to you I would be round in a shot.

 

[zipdip]

Command are the experts,but I seem to remember that the fuse that shuts it down is in the front sam unit,have a look at a fuse chart for your car,I think it is 26