Hey Guys...im new to the site and i recently purchased a used 2004 350z Touring with the stock navigation. The problem is...when the nav. is on....the map is in VA...but my car is in MD. It seems like the nav. thinks the car is in a different place. I tired disconnecting the battery to reset the car but that did not work. Does anyone have any other suggestions? thanks.

 

Stupid question, have you driven you car yet? I put an updated map disc in mine and it showed a map of CA but I drove 100 feet or so and it corrected itself.

 

^ Same thing happened when I reset my navigation system. Mine had a map of LAX and when I drove out of my driveway and did a lap in my cul-de-sac it corrected itself.

 

Good insight...

Let’s say you buy a car at a dealership in Maryland that was shipped from VA with the GPS turned-off. The GPS device “thinks” it is still in VA (the last place where it was active), and it tries very hard to determine where it is in VA! It’s a performance feature that gets in the way here.

It might require driving the car around for a few minutes before it resets itself to the available satellites.

Some of the older GPS devices (and even a few newer ones with lame application software) require a procedural reset to re-establish current position. Disconnecting the battery in this case won’t fix the problem. You must do the reset procedure dictated by the application software, which usually involves pressing some buttons in a specific sequence.

--Spike

 

Yeah. I drove it around for over a week now and it still shows a map of VA. It seems like it is picking up the car because the arrow would move as I drive but it's picking it up at the wrong locations. Sometimes it shows me driving over water.

Do you happen to know what the procedural reset steps to the position of the car are?

I also tried calling the dealer and ask them about this...they say they would need to look at the car...and just to look at it is 120 bucks...doesn't include fixing it...

 

just go to setting and change your exact location. this is what i did when i purchase my car. the nav would say i was in cali. you can manually change it. if you need the steps then pm. i dont have my car with me right now.

 

Hmm… Since you ask about the “Reset Procedure” I’ll describe a procedure required by older GPS navigation devices, but I don’t believe this will fix your problem.

A very old GPS device I had required a reset if the car was moved or driven more than a couple hundred miles with the GPS off. The fix was a little weird.

• I had to park the car, turn on the GPS, turn the steering wheel until it was fully locked to the left, and then drive in a perfect circle stopping in the original position.
  
• And then, without turning the GPS off (leaving it on), turn the steering wheel until it was fully locked to the right, and then drive in a perfect circle stopping in the original position.
  
• If the GPS still was confused about position, you repeated the above steps.
  
• Of course this was done in a wide area (e.g., a parking lot).

But, I don’t think this is the fix you need. My guess is that you have a faulty GPS that requires repair, a fault antenna, a faulty navigation disk, or the device needs a newer (an update) disk.

• Since the GPS appears to be working but just showing the wrong map, I doubt the device is broken.
  
• An antenna failure usually results in no image and a message “Looking for satellites.”
  
• A faulty navigation disk can certainly cause the problem you describe. The problem could be the map database and the application software not mating properly to the GPS device’s ROM chip.

I suspect you have a bad disk. It might be a renegade disk (an illegal copy) or the wrong disk for your Clarion GPS device.

To fix your problem, order the latest navigation disk from your Nissan dealer. If that doesn’t work, you can easily drop the problem back into their lap. You should not pay an evaluation fee when it’s clearly a software problem.

Hope this helps, and please keep us posted on your progress solving this problem,

--Spike
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EDIT: For sure try what kevincat describes since that is an easy fix if it works.

 

It sounds like the GPS antenna isn't working. These navigation systems rely on the VSS generated by the car and the electronic compass to move the arrows through the map. The GPS is only for verification (and position updating if needed). If the GPS antenna quits working I don't believe these systems will display any faults at all - they just keep on working.

You can manaully set your position, and that will help, but the electronic tracking isn't perfect and without GPS correction you'll find yourself manually setting your position frequently.

 

^^ I wasn’t aware of this.

That’s a good reason to avoid GPS devices that use a Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) and an electronic compass. Both are old technology, and neither is very accurate. In fact, these two features work together, and they can actually introduce error.

The latest and best GPS devices do not use a VSS or an electronic compass, and provide positioning more accurately and faster.

--Spike