Sat Nav loses location

[JerryC]

Problem started a few weeks ago. The sat nav is a built-in unit in a 2011 C220 CDI and it intermittently loses its location so when the car moves it really gets its knickers in a twist! This can last for minutes or days, but it eventually recovers itself. I put a TomTom in the car and this too lost its location. Moving the TomTom from the car corrected the problem! Could there be some sort of interference to the sat nav receivers inside the car?

 

[richard]

Intereference is possible, although never actually seen it myself. More likely to be a failing GPS antenna - I assume you havent had the front windscreen tinted

Unplug anything plugged into cigarette lighter(s) and see if that helps

R

 

[JerryC]

Thanks Richard. It has been suggested that the contacts beneath the antenna may have corroded. Unfortunately the fix will obviously involve the removal of the headlining - a costly job by a Mercedes main dealer! What has thrown me is the intermittent failure of the TomTom, but this may have been caused by something completely unrelated of course.

 

[FaeLLe]

Thanks Richard. It has been suggested that the contacts beneath the antenna may have corroded. Unfortunately the fix will obviously involve the removal of the headlining - a costly job by a Mercedes main dealer! What has thrown me is the intermittent failure of the TomTom, but this may have been caused by something completely unrelated of course.

What about your mobile phone? Does that have GPS location.

 

[richard]

Thanks Richard. It has been suggested that the contacts beneath the antenna may have corroded. Unfortunately the fix will obviously involve the removal of the headlining - a costly job by a Mercedes main dealer! What has thrown me is the intermittent failure of the TomTom, but this may have been caused by something completely unrelated of course.

You can put an antenna above the instrument cluster under the dashboard, which is the MB suggested retrofit location.

Richard

 

[ahok19]

Its same with my problem

 

[JerryC]

What about your mobile phone? Does that have GPS location.

Yes, it's an iphone. I always keep it in the car while I'm driving, connected to the command system via Bluetooth. This has always been the case, but the fault only recently appeared. Could a fault on the phone cause such an intermittent fault?

The next time the fault occurs I'll try switching off the phone to see if that has any effect.

 

[carolanddom]

I have seen this issue although the satnav "corrects itself" usually within a few minutes. I thought it was a feature of MB satnavs as I never had this in the excellent setup in our Honda! I'm now minded to get in touch with the dealer about it. I presume there's no way of using diagnostics to check out whether there are any faults with the software or any other indications of fault?

 

[FaeLLe]

Yes, it's an iphone. I always keep it in the car while I'm driving, connected to the command system via Bluetooth. This has always been the case, but the fault only recently appeared. Could a fault on the phone cause such an intermittent fault?

The next time the fault occurs I'll try switching off the phone to see if that has any effect.

Also turn Google Maps navigation on within the iPhone.
If the iphone gets a GPS signal then it is an issue with the car.

 

[JerryC]

I'm convinced that the GPS reception is being affected by interference of some sort. For long periods the command system reports that it can't see any satellites and eventually drifts off course - driving around a car park can accelerate this process. Eventually, and this can take many days, it seems to work fine again and it can see 10 or 11 satellites! I also have a TomTom satnav that works perfectly in my MX5 but has also lost it's location in the Merc - seemingly at the same time as the command system.

 

[AGEDPEA]

I have suffered a similar problem from purchase and monitor the satellite links which often fall to zero. Perhaps Richard could confirm from his experience that the antenna is a regular problem and that the retrofit solution is the way to go. Does this mean we can leave the redundant kit inplace and just highjack the feed somewhere above the cluster?

 

[AGEDPEA]

I lost my satellite signal last Thursday in Nottinghamshire, but it came back Friday am and contiued until close to home. I have noticed that some failures (but not all) have happened in poor weather and heavy cloud cover: does anyone know if the satellite link can be disrupted by weather conditions?

 

[markjay]

I have the original MB retrofitted antenna under the dash and still suffer the same issue - COMAND occasionally shows the location of the vehicle as 'off road'.

I am convinced it's some sort of interference but was never able to prove it.

It does not happen very frequently, and these days I use mostly Waze anyway, so not too bothered about it.

 

[gmatj]

Same over here -
Loses satelites - find them back again !!
Also strange thing it was that with 5 satelites on kept showing my car as off road for a good few minutes .
My conclusion is that the problem lies with the NTG2.5 head unit - I mean not very reliable !

 

[richard]

Antenna failures are common (NB, remember we see broken cars not working ones!!!). However they mostly end up with no satellites (i.e. dodo), just occasionally they are receiving too few. Unless they are cheap retrofit antennas then they just don't receive well.

If you have a USB charger, that could well be wiping out GPS (or DAB, or FM, or any/all). Try disconnecting that. Remember it can take a few minutes to get a GPS lock.

Richard

 

[Twahid34]

I have the same issue. I have realised when it used to rain then my satnav will lose its location and it will mess up the location on my phone or any other phone inside the car. Could this be due to a leak effecting the unit or antenna? Also do phones pair with cars gps automatically. As I need the phone satnav to work even if car sat nav has gone bonkers.

 

[Twahid34]

Problem started a few weeks ago. The sat nav is a built-in unit in a 2011 C220 CDI and it intermittently loses its location so when the car moves it really gets its knickers in a twist! This can last for minutes or days, but it eventually recovers itself. I put a TomTom in the car and this too lost its location. Moving the TomTom from the car corrected the problem! Could there be some sort of interference to the sat nav receivers inside the car?

I have the same issue on the same model. Any phones in the car loses its location when the car satnav plays about. I think it happens when raining. Not got a definitive solution and it's 'driving' me mad. I know it's been a while but did you get this sorted Jerry? If so what was the cause and solution. Thanks

 

[Diesel Benz]

I have the same issue. I have realised when it used to rain then my satnav will lose its location and it will mess up the location on my phone or any other phone inside the car. Could this be due to a leak effecting the unit or antenna? Also do phones pair with cars gps automatically. As I need the phone satnav to work even if car sat nav has gone bonkers.

Phones paired with the car do not use GPS from the car. Obviously something wrong with your car if all phones in the car lose their location. Not all are (actively) paired with the car. If in doubt, unpair one and check the behaviour again, simple.

You must have something like a bad USB charger that Richard suggested above. Perhaps not exactly that device if the issue only occurs when it is raining. Think about any after market devices like Chinese bulbs that turn on with auto-lights at rain?

 

[BTB 500]

Problem started a few weeks ago. The sat nav is a built-in unit in a 2011 C220 CDI and it intermittently loses its location so when the car moves it really gets its knickers in a twist! This can last for minutes or days, but it eventually recovers itself. I put a TomTom in the car and this too lost its location. Moving the TomTom from the car corrected the problem! Could there be some sort of interference to the sat nav receivers inside the car?

Do you have a dashcam? If so try turning it off and see if that helps. I know from many years of flying multirotors that HD video cameras can interfere with GPS reception (the signal processing chip emits RF noise). It's a short-range thing, but If you have an antenna on top of the dash and a screen-mounted dashcam ...

Might also explain why a TomTom in close proximity has the same issue.