Explorer Navigation Tracking Problem

[RJT]

So my 2 cents is that the GPS take a reading and then rely on speed and compass to indicate your position..

...and i believe our GPS's only receive. No capability to send (give info)

 

[kazmart]

Hi all,
I've been following this thread with interest.

I purchased a new Explorer Limited V6 (2013) in September. I updated the Sync to Gen2 - V3.6.2 shortly after delivery. Everything was fine with the navigation until i fitted winter tires. Downsizing from the 255/55R20 OEM to 245/65R17 steel rims (-1.66%). Thereafter the navigation would show the vehicle ahead of the actual position with all the ensuing problems described by others.

I tried the re-boot app but it made no difference. I spoke to my dealer who had never heard of the issue. They reported that for my VIN there was an outstanding SYNC performance update (12A04) - this was carried out a few days ago but still the problem persisted.

Today I removed the negative battery terminal for 30mins. Having just driven for about 25kms along the same roads that have exhibited this problem repeatedly - problem solved.
I will see how it goes over the next 2 weeks but so far so good.
Good luck to all the others with this issue.

Ford Explorer Limited (2013) V6 - all the toys!!!

 

[peterk9]

Hi all,
I've been following this thread with interest.

I purchased a new Explorer Limited V6 (2013) in September. I updated the Sync to Gen2 - V3.6.2 shortly after delivery. Everything was fine with the navigation until i fitted winter tires. Downsizing from the 255/55R20 OEM to 245/65R17 steel rims (-1.66%). Thereafter the navigation would show the vehicle ahead of the actual position with all the ensuing problems described by others.

Welcome to the Forum kazmart.:wavey:
That is what I find very curious as that is exactly what I've done now for the 3rd Winter with the same setup that you have yet there has been no effect on my navigation system.
Why do only some have this issue?
Also, this issue seems to be a recent one. I wonder if it is affecting only the later models. :scratch:

Peter

 

[kazmart]

Thanks for the welcome!

It sure is a head scratcher! It was driving me nuts.
I'll believe it's fixed when it behaves for a week or two.
Before I switched to winter tires I was driving it south of the border around Spokane - the nav was fantastic, particularly on the interstates showing exits etc - spot on no problems.

I came back bought winter tires and within 2kms driving the nav was screwy. I could let it sit for 30mins and the nav position was perfect - diagnostics showed 9-11 satellites so i'm convinced GPS reception was fine - never had the GPS lost icon. I think the slightly smaller diameter tires were affecting the nav position somehow. Very weird how some vehicles are affected.

 

[trysixty]

To Mr. Know It All PeterK9

Are you working for Ford or why is it you are sticking that deep up their a..es?

In every other post you tell people how great your system works and that you can't understand why other owners have problems. Why are you still participating in this thread when the problem doesn't apply to you?

I can assure you the problem does exist, I have dozens of pictures and videos to prove it.

Because I can't stand it anymore, I am in the process of getting rid of the car. After countless shop visits and conversations with ignorant Ford employees on all levels, I'm just not willing to waste any more energy to deal with issue any further.

Because of Ford being unable to remedy this problem, I am about to lose thousands of dollars of my hard earned money.

I am participating in the pending MFT class action law suit. Maybe I can recoup a portion of my loss and I would strongly recommend everybody on this forum with MFT problems to sign up too.

http://www.currentlegalcases.com/cases/myford-touch-lawsuit.html

Thanks so much for the info and link to class action suit.

I agree with you there does also seem to be a lot of cover Ford's ass by some on this site.

I thought Rebecca from the Ford Team was good, but then found she is just supplying canned answers from Ford on the nav system..........with the "we're working on it" answer starting to smell like something that died 3 years ago.

Give me one week in Ford and I would have the problem being solved with pink slips to every one who has any responsibility for this nightmare nav.

 

[jjen1936]

Having owned a Taurus with Sync and having monitored the following site for four years, I decided there were too many problems with Ford's navigation. You can search for GPS or navigation to view the comments.

http://boards.synccommunity.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=ford...

I bought an Explorer XLT with everything I wanted, such as backup camera, blind spot monitoring, and power rear door, but with no navigation. It was hard to find. It finally came from 250 miles away.

 

[Motoarzan]

I've had the Nav loose tracking as well. I got my vehicle a month ago. the first week and 1000km the nav was fine on the 20" factory Sport Wheels/tires. Then I put on my winters which are the 18" XLT wheels with 255/65/18 tires which result in a 3% larger diameter.
I notice right away over the next couple days it lost it's tracking on two occasions. The tracking was in the right direction and general area but maybe about 50-100M off the side of the road.
If this thing recalibrates after a couple hundred Km/Miles then that would make sense because it never occurred again after a couple days.
If the same thing happens switching back to my factory sport wheels and goes away a few days after then we'll know for sure.

 

[minne]

I'm new to this thread and am experiencing the same issue on my '14 Sport as many others have highlighted. OEM Hankook are garbage here in MN in cold/snow/ice so I went to 18" Blizzak DM-V1 245/60R18 and am very happy with my choice except for the chaos it has caused to the MFT nav unit. My question is does the "hard reset" done by disconnecting the battery work? My dealer says it won't and they also say they are aware of the problem on other models with MFT and currently there is no solution? Hard to believe that the answer is to "live with it" so if there are any suggestions??

 

[peterk9]

I'm new to this thread and am experiencing the same issue on my '14 Sport as many others have highlighted. OEM Hankook are garbage here in MN in cold/snow/ice so I went to 18" Blizzak DM-V1 245/60R18 and am very happy with my choice except for the chaos it has caused to the MFT nav unit. My question is does the "hard reset" done by disconnecting the battery work? My dealer says it won't and they also say they are aware of the problem on other models with MFT and currently there is no solution? Hard to believe that the answer is to "live with it" so if there are any suggestions??

Welcome t o the Forum minne.:wavey:
This seems to be a more common issue with the later models for some reason. Your diameter variance is only 1.55%. Mine is a bit greater at 1.66% and I have not had any problems after I swapped my 20" with the 17". The member in post 192 had success with the battery cable pull but that is not to say everyone will. Just remember that the battery thing will also mean the transmission will have to go through the relearning stage again and the idle and trim points will also have to be relearned. I don't think either is a big deal but it may cause the vehicle's behaviour to be a bit different for a short time.

Peter

 

[WiEx]

I'm new to this thread and am experiencing the same issue on my '14 Sport as many others have highlighted. OEM Hankook are garbage here in MN in cold/snow/ice so I went to 18" Blizzak DM-V1 245/60R18 and am very happy with my choice except for the chaos it has caused to the MFT nav unit. My question is does the "hard reset" done by disconnecting the battery work? My dealer says it won't and they also say they are aware of the problem on other models with MFT and currently there is no solution? Hard to believe that the answer is to "live with it" so if there are any suggestions??

I live in northern Wisconsin and have the same set-up as you except on a 2013 Sport. Several messages between the service manager at my dealer and Ford engineers led to my disconnecting the battery last month. I have driven more than 2,000 miles since then on the winter tires, and the Nav system has been fine.

 

[minne]

peterk9 and WiEx, thanks for the comments and Merry Christmas. Once past the Holiday I am going to call another dealer, maybe two, and see if I get any consistency in what I hear. The battery disconnect is something that should probably be tried. My tire shop guys were in disbelief until they saw it for themselves, they then called Bridgestone who also cannot believe there is an issue given the relative closeness of the tire size to the OEM.

 

[R56 Ed]

Merry Christmas, Everybody!

As a next step, I disconnected the battery overnight. So far, the nav is accurate much more often. It doesn't get lost as frequently, and it seems to recover more quickly.

I spoke with Alonzo at the Ford help line (800 392-3673) who told me that the dealership can perform a 'calibration' on the vehicle. I haven't had time to get that done yet, but that will be the next step. He also indicated that if that didn't fix the problem, I should call back and as a last resort they would authorize the dealership to replace the nav unit.

It seems that Ford corporate is willing to do what it takes to make this right, but that my dealership (and probably others) are not willing to take these steps without hearing from corporate first. I'll keep you posted.

 

[1/4milefreak]

For the ford rep: I have done the update via my vcmII, cycled battery and recalibrated the tune to the proper tire size with the snow tires and still doesn't work properly. Does the GPS and ABS need to be updated to new Tir Revs Circ. MM? Do different brand TPMS sensors cause an issue with aftermarket rims and GPS operation?

 

[peterk9]

For the ford rep: I have done the update via my vcmII, cycled battery and recalibrated the tune to the proper tire size with the snow tires and still doesn't work properly. Does the GPS and ABS need to be updated to new Tir Revs Circ. MM? Do different brand TPMS sensors cause an issue with aftermarket rims and GPS operation?

If you want to contact Rebecca (FordIVTteam) you should send her a private message. The info you are seeking would not be something she could answer. I think you dealer may be in a better position to address this.
Also your profile just shows 2014. Base, XLT, Limited or Sport? It would help members answer certain concerns if you added the model to your profile so that it show in the margin.

Peter

 

[FordIVTteam]

For the ford rep: I have done the update via my vcmII, cycled battery and recalibrated the tune to the proper tire size with the snow tires and still doesn't work properly. Does the GPS and ABS need to be updated to new Tir Revs Circ. MM? Do different brand TPMS sensors cause an issue with aftermarket rims and GPS operation?

Sorry, 1/4milefreak, but that's out of my scope. Please call or visit your dealership for those answers.

Rebecca

 

[hughessusa]

Explorer 2013 GPS Malfunction

My Ford explorer GPS has malfunctioned since purchase in 2/2013. I have brought it to the dealer 4 times and filed a complaint with Ford. Ford has acknowledged the issue but still there is no fix. Reading these comments my experience is similar, constantly going off the map. In my personal situation I need to use it to go to customer accounts. It is useless so I now bring my TomTom with me. Very disappointed in Ford's response. I leased this vehicle and seriously doubt I will go with another Ford. I had a 2011 Focus with the GPS unit and it was flawless. I am guessing since this is not a global vehicle the sense of urgency to fix this in not there. American market is more accepting of defects.

 

[peterk9]

My Ford explorer GPS has malfunctioned since purchase in 2/2013. I have brought it to the dealer 4 times and filed a complaint with Ford. Ford has acknowledged the issue but still there is no fix. Reading these comments my experience is similar, constantly going off the map. In my personal situation I need to use it to go to customer accounts. It is useless so I now bring my TomTom with me. Very disappointed in Ford's response. I leased this vehicle and seriously doubt I will go with another Ford. I had a 2011 Focus with the GPS unit and it was flawless. I am guessing since this is not a global vehicle the sense of urgency to fix this in not there. American market is more accepting of defects.

They are going to be built in China next year but probably just for the Chinese market.
I just wonder if you have anything electrical or something similar on or near the dash. The GPS antenna is located under the dash.

Peter

 

[hughessusa]

Explorer 2013 GPS Malfunction

They are going to be built in China next year but probably just for the Chinese market.
I just wonder if you have anything electrical or something similar on or near the dash. The GPS antenna is located under the dash.

Peter

Agreed, I suspect it is a signal issue. I am an avid boater and have used GPS for many years, common issue is isolation and signal interference. I had a defective AM antennae as well on this vehicle. When the GPS gets lost it goes into recalculation mode so I do not think is is a software issue, it behaves as expected.

 

[jrmexplorer]

Agreed, I suspect it is a signal issue. I am an avid boater and have used GPS for many years, common issue is isolation and signal interference. I had a defective AM antennae as well on this vehicle. When the GPS gets lost it goes into recalculation mode so I do not think is is a software issue, it behaves as expected.

Two suggestions:
1.) there is a procedure that can put MFT in diagnostics mode which will display the number of satellites the Explorer has a fix on. It's a sticky on this thread.

This will tell you if satellite reception/interference is an issue. As Peter mentioned the antenna is under the dash.

IF it is an issue, perhaps try one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/SBG-190-Re-radiating-Magellan-portable-navigation/dp/B001UI4Z2A

 

[1/4milefreak]

Finally figured issue out on a 13 and 14 sport. updated calibration to accomodate tire size change with winter tires...utilized sct programmer, updated gps with ids, then disconnect bat for short bit. gps been working properly for 4 days.