Uconnect GPS

[CROYCO]

My GPS signal just stopped a few day ago and the GPS page on the screen shows no signal from all satellites.
Spent 4 hours on the phone with Uconnect finally gave up these guys have no idea what they are talking about.
My dealer tells me they hate Uconnect and will not touch it. I am a certified mechanic and if some one can give me the
part number for the tester the dealer uses I will fix it myself.

 

[SitKneelBend]

My GPS signal just stopped a few day ago and the GPS page on the screen shows no signal from all satellites.
Spent 4 hours on the phone with Uconnect finally gave up these guys have no idea what they are talking about.
My dealer tells me they hate Uconnect and will not touch it. I am a certified mechanic and if some one can give me the
part number for the tester the dealer uses I will fix it myself.

Likely the roof antenna. It will be a puck or a sharkfin. It can be accessed by removing the c and b pillar covers on the driver's side. You can also remove the garment hooks above the rear window if equipped to get a little more wiggle room when you drop that c-pillar corner of the headliner.

You can test that it is the antenna (or some connection in between by using a generic GPS antenna with a blue Fakra connector directly plugged into the back of the radio.

If you plan to do this, let me know and I'll provide more details.

 

[khocke]

I’m hoping the OP CROYCO gets a notification that I’m posting this.

Were you able to resolve the GPS signal problem? My ‘18 1500 with the UAQ Panasonic unit & shark fin has the same problem, however I do get Sirius OK. (Thought maybe they might share the same antenna?)

 

[khocke]

…nevermind, for now. I found another thread that explains a Sierra Wireless AR7552 component inside the radio actually provides GPS data to the NAV. And since my Assist & SOS, and WiFi hotspot aren’t working either, I’m gonna take a shot at replacing the Sierra Aircard. $45ish on eBay.

 

[SitKneelBend]

…nevermind, for now. I found another thread that explains a Sierra Wireless AR7552 component inside the radio actually provides GPS data to the NAV. And since my Assist & SOS, and WiFi hotspot aren’t working either, I’m gonna take a shot at replacing the Sierra Aircard. $45ish on eBay.

Post up the results!

 

[khocke]

Success! The new aircard fixed the GPS, and side note I replaced the digitizer/screen with an 03 version at the same time from eBay seller OEAutoTronics (excellent seller).

Prior to the new aircard, my UAQ was stuck showing my position a couple miles off the coast of Long Island and giving me weather reports for the same.

The aircard was somewhat of a ***** to replace, had to disassemble the housing after removing the screen, inside there are 2 motherboards separated by 6 collared spacers that fall all over the place when you open it up. The aircard is attached via heatsink to the inside of the radio housing and has 3 tiny antenna cables & a ribbon cable to be dealt with. I loaded up with heat sink paste since another thread suggests this card overheats. Reassembly was a challenge because of the spacers and fragile antenna wires.

No special tools needed, have patience and skip the caffeine beforehand. I got the part from eBay seller yeroelecomm for $45.

NOTE: my issue had NOTHING to do with the ANTENNA. I did not touch or try to diagnose the sharkfin at all. So if your GPS is stuck and showing you in some weird location, it's probably not an antenna problem.

 

[18CrewDually]

What, no pictures?

 

[khocke]

I know… major fail on my part. Sorry. I only took one so I’d remember how to connect the 3 signal cables. The small board is the replacement aircard and the large board is the top of the bottom motherboard.


The aircard snaps into a metal bracket (not shown) that clamps it to the inside of the housing, which acts as a heat sink.
Holding the housing w/aircard with 3 cables & a ribbon attached, while trying not to pull the cables off, then balancing the 6 standoffs before snapping the upper motherboard to the lower one was the challenge that only a video would have done justice to.
Here’s the old card with its minimal amount of heat sink paste. I really hope I don’t have to replace it again in future but would video it next time.

 

[18CrewDually]

Hey something is better than nothing. Thank you for posting the pics you do have.