Compass not working

[Davidmurphy02]

At home in Austin my compass worked fine. Out on a long road trip it worked at first and then apparently lost signal, just shows dashed lines on the dash display and when I go into the compass app it says "aquiring signal"....forever. It went out somewhere in New Mexico, hours later came back on briefly, and then has been out ever since. The clock also isn't getting time updates from GPS when we cross time zones - it did at first but when the compass is out the clock time update is out too.

Is the GPS antenna in the shark fin - and does that feed the compass? Or is there another sensor somewhere else for the compass?

 

[356]

Sound like an intermittent ground or other electrical connections issue. Maybe the off road trail jiggled something that was already loose? There have been posts of the shark tooth being loose on some of the early deliveries and causing water leaks, so you might check it to be sure. I hope you continue to enjoy you road trip.

 

[RT70808]

At home in Austin my compass worked fine. Out on a long road trip it worked at first and then apparently lost signal, just shows dashed lines on the dash display and when I go into the compass app it says "aquiring signal"....forever. It went out somewhere in New Mexico, hours later came back on briefly, and then has been out ever since. The clock also isn't getting time updates from GPS when we cross time zones - it did at first but when the compass is out the clock time update is out too.

Is the GPS antenna in the shark fin - and does that feed the compass? Or is there another sensor somewhere else for the compass?

Sounds strange, New Mexico you say... you get a little too close to roswell or Area 51?

 

[Jstadick]

At home in Austin my compass worked fine. Out on a long road trip it worked at first and then apparently lost signal, just shows dashed lines on the dash display and when I go into the compass app it says "aquiring signal"....forever. It went out somewhere in New Mexico, hours later came back on briefly, and then has been out ever since. The clock also isn't getting time updates from GPS when we cross time zones - it did at first but when the compass is out the clock time update is out too.

Is the GPS antenna in the shark fin - and does that feed the compass? Or is there another sensor somewhere else for the compass?

Not sure if this helps but the manual mentions a calibration process for the compass. It's not in the settings of my 12" UConnect but may be in the 8.4 version??

"After pressing the “Compass Settings” button on the touchscreen, the following settings will be available:

NOTE: Press the “Calibration” button on the touchscreen to change this setting. This compass is self-calibrating, which eliminates the need to manually reset the compass. When the vehicle is new, the compass may appear erratic until it is calibrated. You may also calibrate the compass by pressing the “ON” button on the touchscreen and completing one or more 360-degree turns (in an area free from large metal or metallic objects). The compass will now function normally."

 

[Davidmurphy02]

Not sure if this helps but the manual mentions a calibration process for the compass. It's not in the settings of my 12" UConnect but may be in the 8.4 version??

"After pressing the “Compass Settings” button on the touchscreen, the following settings will be available:

NOTE: Press the “Calibration” button on the touchscreen to change this setting. This compass is self-calibrating, which eliminates the need to manually reset the compass. When the vehicle is new, the compass may appear erratic until it is calibrated. You may also calibrate the compass by pressing the “ON” button on the touchscreen and completing one or more 360-degree turns (in an area free from large metal or metallic objects). The compass will now function normally."

I'll have to check that out - pretty sure when I go to the compass app on my 8.4" touch screen all I get is a big compass graphic and it says "obtaining signal". It came on today in Idaho for a couple of hours and then went out again. Hoping it's just a loose connection. Since I don't have nav it's not a big deal, but if I had a nav system that was not working on this 5,000 mile trip I'd be pretty bummed.

 

[Newguy]

My compass is 90 to 180 degrees off about 50% of the time. I'm taking into the dealer to investigate. We'll see what happens. I have a 2019 ram 1500 laramie, 8.4 uconnect. Have you found any solution to your problem? I've tried the driving in circles thing once and it didn't work.

 

[Davidmurphy02]

My compass is 90 to 180 degrees off about 50% of the time. I'm taking into the dealer to investigate. We'll see what happens. I have a 2019 ram 1500 laramie, 8.4 uconnect. Have you found any solution to your problem? I've tried the driving in circles thing once and it didn't work.

Haven't been in to the dealer yet about mine - since we got back to Austin it's been working fine. Don't know what the dealer will say when I tell them it was inoperative 95% of the time once we left Austin - and whatever they say, we'll have to wait until the next long road trip to see what it does then. If your dealer finds an issue, post here what they did.

 

[Newguy]

I have yet to pickup my truck from telling them about the issue of the compass and my issue of the truck GPS overriding my android auto GPS location. I'll post if they have a solution. I'm guessing they'll just tell me it's working fine and not do any real work on it.

 

[RamCares]

I have yet to pickup my truck from telling them about the issue of the compass and my issue of the truck GPS overriding my android auto GPS location. I'll post if they have a solution. I'm guessing they'll just tell me it's working fine and not do any real work on it.

Hi Newguy,
Hopefully your dealer was able to resolve these concerns for you. Please let us know if you need any additional assistance while your truck is at the dealer. Just send us a private message and we'll be happy to help!
Lydia
Ram Social Care Specialist

 

[Newguy]

Hi Newguy,
Hopefully your dealer was able to resolve these concerns for you. Please let us know if you need any additional assistance while your truck is at the dealer. Just send us a private message and we'll be happy to help!
Lydia
Ram Social Care Specialist

Hi Lydia, I appreciate you reaching out but I already have a case manager with FCA. The dealership was not able to resolve the issue I don't even think they investigated it. It looks like I might have to turn my truck in to another dealership probably for another couple weeks and have them figure it out. Bummer.

 

[RamCares]

Hi Lydia, I appreciate you reaching out but I already have a case manager with FCA. The dealership was not able to resolve the issue I don't even think they investigated it. It looks like I might have to turn my truck in to another dealership probably for another couple weeks and have them figure it out. Bummer.

Hi Newguy,
I'm very sorry to hear that. We're glad you already have a case open with us. Feel free to send us a private message if you have any questions about your current case.
Lydia
Ram Social Care Specialist

 

[Newguy]

Haven't been in to the dealer yet about mine - since we got back to Austin it's been working fine. Don't know what the dealer will say when I tell them it was inoperative 95% of the time once we left Austin - and whatever they say, we'll have to wait until the next long road trip to see what it does then. If your dealer finds an issue, post here what they did.

FYI, I read another suggestion in the forum to take a terminal off the battery for half an hour then attach back onto the battery. All my setting were still saved, and it appears to have corrected my compass and GPS issue at least over these last few days.

 

[TimG]

At home in Austin my compass worked fine. Out on a long road trip it worked at first and then apparently lost signal, just shows dashed lines on the dash display and when I go into the compass app it says "aquiring signal"....forever. It went out somewhere in New Mexico, hours later came back on briefly, and then has been out ever since. The clock also isn't getting time updates from GPS when we cross time zones - it did at first but when the compass is out the clock time update is out too.

Is the GPS antenna in the shark fin - and does that feed the compass? Or is there another sensor somewhere else for the compass?

@[U]Davidmurphy02[/U] Have you found any more info about what is causing this? Mine is doing the same thing.

 

[TimG]

So I saw a connection process for phones on another thread so I figured "what the hell" and decided to try the process. And...…. It seems to have fixed things!!!!

It completely reloaded the android auto app to my phone. Then it ran through the get-started portion of the setup on the 8.4. When maps opened on the big screen, it showed my "Home" as still in Montana (I live in MD now, and already had this updated on the google maps app on the phone). So, once I cleared that out of memory, and drove around for about 30 mins, my location seems to be accurate and the compass has been visible (and accurate) after turning the truck off and back on multiple times.

Now, why this seems to have worked, I have no idea. Nor do I know why the engineers from Uconnect that Ive been working with for the last month never thought to try this. Im going to enjoy my call with them tomorrow (our regularly scheduled test time)

Guess it just goes to show that there really is no such thing as a bad idea when it comes to cause/effect troubleshooting.

 

[jmeier301]

I had the same issue with my 2019 Ram 1500 Bighorn. Compass took forever to initialize on some days near home, and the compass flat-out wouldn't work in Sonoma County, CA until I got about an hour into the trip.
There was an open recall for a ground connection. I've only had the truck back for a day or so, but the problem seems to be resolved.

2019 RAM 1500 Bighorn Level 2 with Off-Road package, 5.7 ft bed, 3.92 gears

 

[Davidmurphy02]

Update to my compass problem last fall - we just returned from doing the same round trip to Seattle and the compass worked the whole way. I was at the dealer prior to the trip and they couldn't find a problem so didn't do anything....since that first glitch last fall, though, it has always worked.

 

[Rick8325]

Mine is at the dealer now for the pedal recall and compass issue. I hope it's just that radio flash update TSB that lists "CarPlay navigation showing the wrong map location" fixes it. Although now that I think of it, this compass issue started right after I had the ground cable recall done...

 

[RamCares]

Mine is at the dealer now for the pedal recall and compass issue. I hope it's just that radio flash update TSB that lists "CarPlay navigation showing the wrong map location" fixes it. Although now that I think of it, this compass issue started right after I had the ground cable recall done...

Hi Rick8325,
Let us know how your appointment goes. We're available via private message in case you need any additional assistance.
Lydia
Ram Social Care Specialist

 

[19BH]

Mine is at the dealer now for the pedal recall and compass issue. I hope it's just that radio flash update TSB that lists "CarPlay navigation showing the wrong map location" fixes it. Although now that I think of it, this compass issue started right after I had the ground cable recall done...

Did this get fixed by the dealer? Mine started doing the same after a long trip

 

[Rick8325]

Did this get fixed by the dealer? Mine started doing the same after a long trip

They tried to download the "update" but it was taking hours. I told them to do it when I come back for the brake squeal TSB when the parts come in. Still haven't come in.