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Explorer Navigation Tracking Problem

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.

Can you elaborate more on this procedure. Is this tool something you have to buy and easy to use or does the dealer have it, connects to the cars computer and changes some settings.

Earlier in this post I stated that my GPS only F's up sometimes but now just to see how bad it really is I've been setting my destination all the time even if I know where I'm going. Turns out this thing is off it's location about 90% of the time and a pain when it's a location I really need to find.

My winter tires are 255/65/18 which results in an over all 3% increase in diameter so suspect this is causing the problem.
 



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OK, maybe a dumb question. Why would the Ford Nav care what tires I have, my Garmin has no idea and works fine.
 






Ford integrated it...
 






Hi everyone. Just to update all of you, I took the Explorer to my local dealer in York Region Ontario Canada last week to attempt to diagnose/repair the Navigation issue. The dealer's techs drove the vehicle and came back saying that they've never seen a navigation system acting up this badly. They are in touch with Ford trying to figure out what to do. So, presently, I'm still up in the air. I'll keep you all posted as this further unfolds.

I was at the dealership today and was told the issue was because if winter tires of a different size. Does GPS not work off location?
 






I was at the dealership today and was told the issue was because if winter tires of a different size. Does GPS not work off location?
Welcome to the Forum Ont 2013 Sport.:wavey:
I'm not 100% sure exactly how the system works but this seems to be an issue with the later model Explorers. I use the 17" steel wheels in place of my OEM 20" wheels for Winter driving and have never had an issue with the Nav requiring re-calibration. This Winter is the 3rd time I've swapped the wheels and the Nav is always right on target.

Peter
 






I was at the dealership today and was told the issue was because if winter tires of a different size. Does GPS not work off location?

I also own a 2013 Sport. In our vehicles, the Nav system uses both the GPS satellites and inputs from the vehicle. My guess is that this helps in situations where satellites are blocked by obstacles such as tall buildings. When we switch to winter tires of a different size, the Nav system is thrown off and needs to recalibrate. Your dealer should have the information on recalibrating or look through this thread and the one on winter tires.

Everyone who reported this problem here drives a 2013 or 2014. It appears that something was changed from the earlier models.
 






I also own a 2013 Sport. In our vehicles, the Nav system uses both the GPS satellites and inputs from the vehicle. My guess is that this helps in situations where satellites are blocked by obstacles such as tall buildings. When we switch to winter tires of a different size, the Nav system is thrown off and needs to recalibrate. Your dealer should have the information on recalibrating or look through this thread and the one on winter tires.

Everyone who reported this problem here drives a 2013 or 2014. It appears that something was changed from the earlier models.
It almost seems to indicate; If it works, let's change it. :D

Peter
 






I also own a 2013 Sport. In our vehicles, the Nav system uses both the GPS satellites and inputs from the vehicle. My guess is that this helps in situations where satellites are blocked by obstacles such as tall buildings. When we switch to winter tires of a different size, the Nav system is thrown off and needs to recalibrate. Your dealer should have the information on recalibrating or look through this thread and the one on winter tires.

Everyone who reported this problem here drives a 2013 or 2014. It appears that something was changed from the earlier models.

Well the service manager called back and said he is looking into updates, he also indicated that tires have nothing to do with GPS being off track. We will wait and see, hopefully by next week I'll hear back.
 






Well the service manager called back and said he is looking into updates, he also indicated that tires have nothing to do with GPS being off track. We will wait and see, hopefully by next week I'll hear back.

It is certainly possible that your problem is caused by something other than the tires. However, changing tires sizes can cause problems with the Nav system, and Ford is aware of it. In November, my tracking problem reappeared as soon as the winter tires and wheels went on. The first question that the Ford engineers asked my service manager was whether the vehicle had the original size tires. They then provided options for getting the system to recalibrate for my winter tire size.
 






It is certainly possible that your problem is caused by something other than the tires. However, changing tires sizes can cause problems with the Nav system, and Ford is aware of it. In November, my tracking problem reappeared as soon as the winter tires and wheels went on. The first question that the Ford engineers asked my service manager was whether the vehicle had the original size tires. They then provided options for getting the system to recalibrate for my winter tire size.
I'm very curious as what if anything they changed in the 2013/2014 model year to cause this issue. Previous years didn't seem to have this problem. Also, just because "Ford is aware of if it", does mean they will do anything about it as they don't recommend changing tire sizes in the first place.
From the Owner's Guide;

Tire Replacement Requirements
WARNING: Only use replacement tires and wheels that are the
same size, load index, speed rating and type (such as P-metric
versus LT-metric or all-season versus all-terrain) as those originally
provided by Ford.

Peter
 






It is certainly possible that your problem is caused by something other than the tires. However, changing tires sizes can cause problems with the Nav system, and Ford is aware of it. In November, my tracking problem reappeared as soon as the winter tires and wheels went on. The first question that the Ford engineers asked my service manager was whether the vehicle had the original size tires. They then provided options for getting the system to recalibrate for my winter tire size.

The difference from my winter tires to the summer tire is a variance of 0.03%, the service manager indicated this wouldn't be an issue...
 






The difference from my winter tires to the summer tire is a variance of 0.03%, the service manager indicated this wouldn't be an issue...
Mine is -1.66% and hasn't affected Nav at all.

Peter
 






The difference from my winter tires to the summer tire is a variance of 0.03%, the service manager indicated this wouldn't be an issue...

That sounds reasonable. Most of us have a larger variance than that. My variance is smaller than Peter's, which is what makes me think that something changed between model years.
 






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.

I had this issue also. Brought my Explorer to the dealer twice for repair. The last time they ran an update on the GPS unit and the Nav has been working flawlessly since.
 






15 pages of problems with the Ford Nav system and Rebecca gives out the same BS company line that it is being worked on. I remember when Ford motto was "Quality is Job 1".............they have lived up to

"QUALITY IS JOB NONE"
 






15 pages of problems with the Ford Nav system and Rebecca gives out the same BS company line that it is being worked on. I remember when Ford motto was "Quality is Job 1".............they have lived up to

"QUALITY IS JOB NONE"
It's 12 pages actually and many posts are by the same members or by members who don't have the issue but wanted to comment on it. As for the Reps on this forum I think we are lucky to have them. Not all forums are that fortunate. The help they can provide is limited to certain areas and they can only pass along the info they are provided with by the company. For a company that is #1 is sales in both the U.S. and Canada, they must be doing something right.:thumbsup: Thank you Bianca, Crystal, Ashley and Rebecca.:biggthump

Peter
 






Update - nav is finally working

About two months ago, I disconnected the battery overnight and since then, the nav has... drum roll please... actually worked most of the time! Holy cow! The dealership couldn't/wouldn't help (although they were very nice about it), and the help line offered suggestions that would have taken multiple trips to the dealership with questionable results, so out of frustration I tried an overnight battery disconnect. It worked. It's free, easy, and if you haven't tried it yet I'd suggest doing it. Good luck to all.
 






About two months ago, I disconnected the battery overnight and since then, the nav has... drum roll please... actually worked most of the time! Holy cow! The dealership couldn't/wouldn't help (although they were very nice about it), and the help line offered suggestions that would have taken multiple trips to the dealership with questionable results, so out of frustration I tried an overnight battery disconnect. It worked. It's free, easy, and if you haven't tried it yet I'd suggest doing it. Good luck to all.

Delayed reboot will do the same thing in most cases with much less hassle.
 






I have to chime in on this thread. I'm 6000 km into a 2014 sport. I've had winters on it since I drove it off the lot before Christmas, 245r6018's which I believe are 1.6% smaller diameter than the stock 20's. I knew from day one that my gps was a little "special" lol but since moving to a larger city and actually depending on it to get around, it's pretty much completely useless. I've got all the same problems as reported by others, showing you one or two streets over from where you actually are, putting you a hundred feet out into a park when your actually on a 4 lane road and so on. With the density of streets in the city it's sometimes hopelessly confused. I've tried the delay reboot and it did nothing to improve it. I was into a ford dealer to pick up a hood deflecter a few days ago and mentioned my gps problem to a service advisor and how some thing it's related to tire size and pretty much got looked at like I had two heads lol. with any good weather I will be putting the 20's back on in 4-6 weeks, so if that resolves the GPS prob then I guess I bought a seasonal nav system. Till then the ipad stays in the car for backup nav duty.
 



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I have to chime in on this thread. I'm 6000 km into a 2014 sport. I've had winters on it since I drove it off the lot before Christmas, 245r6018's which I believe are 1.6% smaller diameter than the stock 20's. I knew from day one that my gps was a little "special" lol but since moving to a larger city and actually depending on it to get around, it's pretty much completely useless. I've got all the same problems as reported by others, showing you one or two streets over from where you actually are, putting you a hundred feet out into a park when your actually on a 4 lane road and so on. With the density of streets in the city it's sometimes hopelessly confused. I've tried the delay reboot and it did nothing to improve it. I was into a ford dealer to pick up a hood deflecter a few days ago and mentioned my gps problem to a service advisor and how some thing it's related to tire size and pretty much got looked at like I had two heads lol. with any good weather I will be putting the 20's back on in 4-6 weeks, so if that resolves the GPS prob then I guess I bought a seasonal nav system. Till then the ipad stays in the car for backup nav duty.
This issue only seems to affect 2013 and 2014 model years. I haven't read back through this thread but I thought there were posts saying that the dealer can reprogram it for the "new' wheels/tires. I've swapped Winters and OEMs three times now and never had an issue.

Peter
 






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