Fiesta Mk8 Satnav GPS issues / fault

[Eric Bloodaxe]

On 12/20/2018 at 1:43 PM, tef89 said:

 

They hooked it up and a few minutes later came back and showed me the ford system showing a future APIM update to 'tackle' the GPS issue scheduled for Q1 2019.

 

59 minutes ago, tef89 said:

Ahh K.  I had mssed the inforamtion on it definitely being an issue specific to the APIM unit.  I had read something somewhere (I can't remember where so it could have been one of your posts) 

🤩

It looks like it may have been you who mentioned the updated APIM, Gary.

So many posts/problems on Sync 3 issues on here now it's getting impossible to remember who said what when!😀

[tef89]

31 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

 

It looks like it may have been you who mentioned the updated APIM, Gary.

So many posts/problems on Sync 3 issues on here now it's getting impossible to remember who said what when!😀

Lol yeah I knew I'd repeated it on here about it possibly being the APIM,  just wasn't sure where I'd read or first ;-) 

I'm easily confused and I think Ford like it that way. 

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Was passing my dealer this morning so dropped in to organise a 12 month check for later in Feb and had a chat about GPS issues, which they have obviously had a lot of complaints about since I was last in there. Seems they have seen the full range as discussed on here, from no problems at all, through only issues in certain areas like mine, up to won't even work in their car park!

Anyway, confirmed that Wi-Fi update doesn't work in the UK as yet. Ford are still expecting customers to update via the download/USB method but as I pointed out that's no good if you don't have an internet connected computer at home (which I don't at the mo!). So they will update when the car is in if they can. They are aware APIM update is due this year but they don't as yet know timescale or on what basis it will be applied to customers cars.

Have not actually had any problems at all since the end of October, other than the Ghostbusters symbol briefly popping up near home in December (but everything kept working), as I mentioned in an earlier post. So my localised problem theory is still largely holding up, which means I won't  know if any updates have worked until I next visit the problem zone (Wensleydale area) when we open up our caravan in March (subject to weather, so more likely April!)😀

 

 

 

[nashdm2]

New to this discussion. I have ordered a new Vignale which will enter production in a couple of weeks.

Surely Ford would not wildly build new cars with the Sync 3 system with known faults that will eventually be taken to service departments around the UK? So, either they have fixed the problems on new builds or they would delay building any Sync 3 Sat Nav cars?

Finally, one request to those that are dealing with service departments that are very familiar with these issues, could you kindly list the name of your dealers please as it would be nice if when my car comes that I can at least contact a dealer that knows about it if mine develops the same issue. Thanks.......Dave

[Mavroz]

Yes, the built them, still built them and sold them after realising the satnav had issues. They couldn't afford to have halted production on all cars that had sync 3 and satnav. Cheaper to deal with the complaints than stop producing or taking orders.

If you have issues, the dealership can only do so much, it is Ford Customer care that are the tough nuts to crack with issues like this as the dealership has to have their authority to perform any works or they won't get paid for said work.

All mainstream dealerships should know about the issues by now, over a year from first release.

I would be surprised if the new apim modules are not being used for new production vehicles by now. That said, maybe they have a stock of old ones? Who knows.

Hopefully later this year, I will be changing my mk7.5 to either a mk8 st line x or figures depending, an st3. I am hoping the issues have all been ironed out by then.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Yes, agree with @Mavroz, production lines and supply chain are difficult and expensive to interrupt. You only need to look at the oil pressure switch/gpf issues on the Mk 4 over on the Focus forum for other examples. Unfortunately again Ford appear to be trying to bluff it out, blame the customers driving style etc. The most notorious example was many years ago when there were instances of US Ford Pinto fuel tanks exploding in a collision. Some bean counter calculated it was cheaper to pay damages for death/serious injury than to redesign and alter production.

My dealer was telling me yesterday that they can only do what Ford will authorise, and I have sympathy with them for taking a lot of flak over issues they did not cause.

[tef89]

Added to the fact it's not affecting all MK8s, only a percentage, and only a percentage of those will identify it as fault as some may not use the car sat-nav enough (or for a long enough period) to spot it's chronically failing.  I'd hazard a guess that a lot of people don't individually choose the sat-nav option, but rather it's included as part of the trim level, i.e Titanium etc, so it's not necessarily something they would care about as much.

But like Mavroz says, hopefully they've implemented the fix on 2019 built cars.  Just make sure you test it thoroughly when you get it, if there is an issue the dealership is your pressure point as they're the ones you have a contract with 😉

[Eric Bloodaxe]

1 hour ago, tef89 said:

  I'd hazard a guess that a lot of people don't individually choose the sat-nav option, but rather it's included as part of the trim level, i.e Titanium etc, so it's not necessarily something they would care about as much.

😉

That's certainly true in my case. If you could blank the screen and just have a clock display, like my last car (SEAT) or the Hyundai i30N I tried recently, I'd probably not have noticed!😀

[tef89]

5 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

That's certainly true in my case. If you could blank the screen and just have a clock display, like my last car (SEAT) or the Hyundai i30N I tried recently, I'd probably not have noticed!😀

😃 I was exactly the same with my A3 - used the sat-nav 2/3 times in the 18 months I had it.  The rest of the time it was on the media player.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Well, had the car in for 12 month check today as mentioned in the servicing thread. As expected, no further joy on GPS issues - apparently the Ford computer says my car is fully up to date with no new downloads available which seems odd as it is on build 17626 and I know others are on 18025, not that it seems to make any difference to operation, as we know. They said the usual complaint they see with Sync 3 is screen freezing, as a lot on these forums have reported, but I've never experienced. So basically until Ford come up with a solution nothing they can offer. They did say Ford have told them to advise customers to switch Wi-Fi updates "off" as it doesn't work (as if we didn't know!).

Apart from the 1 brief appearance I mentioned a while back, the Ghostbusters symbol has now stayed away for 4 months and everything seems to be working around my home area (including Leeds, York up the East Coast beyond Whitby, and down to Hull). Will be heading up the dales soon, so will see what happens then!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

No earth shattering news, but a couple of points I've found "interesting"😀

a) I mentioned this in one of the many other threads re:GPS. Although Wi-Fi updates apparently doesn't work in the UK, I left it enabled in my car just to see if anything ever did happen. Since 30 March, every time I switch on the car while it's in range of Wi-Fi, a message comes up "Downloading new system update". If I do a "search for new updates" it comes up with "Downloading JR3T-14G391-AD-131059_tar.gz". So I'm just waiting to see if anything does happen on that one - from Sync 3  posts I've seen elsewhere I think I've seen that file number mentioned before.

b) Just made our second journey of the season up Wensleydale and back, again with no GPS issues so TSR/speed alert kept working perfectly, but that enabled us to see that the new Bedale bypass which opened in August 2016, is not on the map. The cursor actually shows the correct location, but there's no road beneath it at that point. So the mapping was apparently already well out of date when I got the car. Of course, no idea why the GPS behaviour has changed.

 

[tef89]

16 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

No earth shattering news, but a couple of points I've found "interesting"😀

a) I mentioned this in one of the many other threads re:GPS. Although Wi-Fi updates apparently doesn't work in the UK, I left it enabled in my car just to see if anything ever did happen. Since 30 March, every time I switch on the car while it's in range of Wi-Fi, a message comes up "Downloading new system update". If I do a "search for new updates" it comes up with "Downloading JR3T-14G391-AD-131059_tar.gz". So I'm just waiting to see if anything does happen on that one - from Sync 3  posts I've seen elsewhere I think I've seen that file number mentioned before.

b) Just made our second journey of the season up Wensleydale and back, again with no GPS issues so TSR/speed alert kept working perfectly, but that enabled us to see that the new Bedale bypass which opened in August 2016, is not on the map. The cursor actually shows the correct location, but there's no road beneath it at that point. So the mapping was apparently already well out of date when I got the car. Of course, no idea why the GPS behaviour has changed.

 

Thanks for the update Roger m8.

I checked with Lawton's at the end of March and nothing regarding the GPS update theorized for Q1 was available.  I've pretty much given up on the Sat-Nav / GPS feature on mine now (since they gave me some money back).  I think if Ford's not fixed it in nearly 2 years it's unlikely they will in this revision of the Fiesta - I could be wrong though (I often am).

[Mavroz]

Will second that.

Ford are not moving mountains to get our faulty Satnav working at all.

We are more than happy with the compromise they gave to us.

We will not be enquiring or chasing Ford or the dealership for any update or fix to the Satnav in our car.

If they find one and approach us to fix, then so be it........

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

As long as the GPS features I find useful (TSR/speed alert) keep operating as they have for the last 6 months, I'm not going to worry about it either!😀

Intrigued about this file that seems to be trying to download though - if it ever completes I'll post an update.

 

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Just a quick report after a recent holiday in Northumberland, an area we know well, but first time in this car. All GPS related features still working ok, 9 months now since last seeing the Ghostbusters symbol. The trip did highlight how out of date the mapping is - the GPS cursor was showing our location accurately, just no road beneath it at several points. As we know the roads in question were completed at least 3 years ago, 5 in one case, it just shows the software was well out of date when the car was built.

Oh - and the screen says the update I mentioned in an earlier post is still downloading when I switch on within wi-fi range!😀

 

[tef89]

12 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Just a quick report after a recent holiday in Northumberland, an area we know well, but first time in this car. All GPS related features still working ok, 9 months now since last seeing the Ghostbusters symbol. The trip did highlight how out of date the mapping is - the GPS cursor was showing our location accurately, just no road beneath it at several points. As we know the roads in question were completed at least 3 years ago, 5 in one case, it just shows the software was well out of date when the car was built.

Oh - and the screen says the update I mentioned in an earlier post is still downloading when I switch on within wi-fi range!😀

 

Sounds like yours is working as well as it was designed to then Roger,  if the maps are the latest. 

I've pretty much given up expecting any fix during this revision's life cycle. I just use the Ford GPS for local jobs in my area (I run an IT Support business).  Anything else is Waze or Google maps. 

I did have one weird anomaly last month... A drive to Stansted and back (400 miles) and the GPS never failed once.  It freaked me out lol. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, tef89 said:

 Sounds like yours is working as well as it was designed to then Roger,  if the maps are the latest

Yes, it's surprised me how I've come to value the TSR and speed alert features, so the improved GPS performance after the initial 6 months or so is welcome, though baffling as nothing has changed that I'm aware of.

The mapping is still on F6 (when service tried updating in late Feb it told them it was up to date). I can't try it myself using the USB stick method as I still don't have an internet connected computer and aren't about to buy one just for that purpose! I have seen comments from those who have updated that the later versions are still not fully up to date, so won't be bothering further myself. It seems that there is a fair chance that any road not built by the Romans may not appear on Ford's mapping! As we've discussed before, we don't use satnav anyway, but you can't get away from the map on home screen and can't see the time anywhere if you darken it!

[tef89]

37 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Yes, it's surprised me how I've come to value the TSR and speed alert features, so the improved GPS performance after the initial 6 months or so is welcome, though baffling as nothing has changed that I'm aware of.

The mapping is still on F6 (when service tried updating in late Feb it told them it was up to date). I can't try it myself using the USB stick method as I still don't have an internet connected computer and aren't about to buy one just for that purpose! I have seen comments from those who have updated that the later versions are still not fully up to date, so won't be bothering further myself. It seems that there is a fair chance that any road not built by the Romans may not appear on Ford's mapping! As we've discussed before, we don't use satnav anyway, but you can't get away from the map on home screen and can't see the time anywhere if you darken it!

I'm on the latest (F8 I think) and yeah, I'd heard they were still not amazingly accurate.

Let me know if you change your mind about trying to update yours and I'll send you a USB with the files on it if you'd like. 😉

[Eric Bloodaxe]

6 hours ago, tef89 said:

Let me know if you change your mind about trying to update yours and I'll send you a USB with the files on it if you'd like. 😉

Thanks very much, Gary. As I say I don't use satnav as such anyway, and as the features I do use (TSR etc) seem to be operating satisfactorily (touch wood) at present, I think I'll leave well alone for now! But thanks again😀

[Terry Parrott]

I have a Feb 2019 Fiesta Vignale and recently it too keeps losing GPS signal. Shutting down the car and restarting brings it back - but that's not a safe way forward on the motorway! Does anyone have the final cure?

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Strangely enough, after all the early shenanigans I had with losing signal, mine still hasn't lost GPS signal/displayed the Ghostbusters symbol since I last posted here in May. I have noted through the summer an increasing number of inaccuracies with the TSR system though, but in virtually every case (when I've been bothered to investigate) this has been due to the camera not reading a sign which is obscured by vegetation, dirty, badly placed, or just plain missing, or GPS data (presumably) not being updated to take account of long term temporary limits being removed, not a lack of signal as such.

Have heard no more via my dealer about a "cure" from Ford that was being talked of earlier in the year so I assume no more has happened in that respect. 

[tef89]

Nothing materialised from the Q1 2019 proposed fix date, so, in all reality I'm sure they're not gonna release one now. 2 years is long enough to come up with a solution. 

I was under the impression they'd solved it on the later cars though. 

As for my 67 plate, and I'm really reluctant so say this out loud, but I've gone from 100% GPS failure on every trip, to 1 failure (that corrected itself) in over 3 months. 

In convinced the hot weather has reflowed the chips crappy solder job in the APIM lol. 

Now I've said that, and the cold weather is here, no doubt it'll return to 'normal' again. 

[Guy Heaton]

That could actually be true, the metal expanding and cooling to make or break a connection.

[John007]

My "Other Half's" 68 plate Fiesta Active B&0 exhibited this exact issue at the weekend, tried to take us off the route and then lost GPS and drifted across the fields, also lost Traffic Sign recognition.  Spent the rest of the journey there and back using Google Maps!

[tef89]

1 hour ago, John007 said:

My "Other Half's" 68 plate Fiesta Active B&0 exhibited this exact issue at the weekend, tried to take us off the route and then lost GPS and drifted across the fields, also lost Traffic Sign recognition.  Spent the rest of the journey there and back using Google Maps!

Sorry to hear that John.  Fingers crossed it was an isolated incident and doesn't become a regular occurrence.