Sat nav saying "No GPS" 2011 Focus

[gillyallan]

Mine said this the other day too but seems OK now. 2017 model. I think it's the Europeans showing us a taste of life after Brexit

[mozz]

I bought an A to Z,  problem solved. 

 

[Derek Hobday]

Hi all.  I have a 2010 Mondeo with a built in sat nav.  5 days ago the sat nav stopped working and when checked it was not ‘seeing’ any satellites.  Normally it’s 8 or 9.  I’ve read about corrosion and when I examined the sensor under the aerial I expected severe corrosion.  What I found was can be best described as a mild case of what you see when a battery has been left in a torch for a very long time.  It was so mild that pit was barely visible, just a small amount of grey dust.  I cleaned it off with a tissue not expecting anything to happen and I must need a new unit.  Surprise, surprise when I connected the battery, turned on the map it correctly showed my location.  The system was ‘seeing’ 9 satellites.  All working well.

Hope this helps someone. 

[Botus]

not seen it rear its head here yet... and may not be the issue here but could be.  there is basically millennium bug in most older sat nav devices

As satellites weren't designed to last long, the idiots bodged up how they do time and dates really badly.  The GPS Week Number Rollover (WNRO) occurs every 19 years, and should become an issue with the next roll over taking place on 6 April 2019, but some devices started to play up a year early.  I guess when some really badly made satellites muddled there dates resetting of the GPS calendar back to 0 a year early (some owners only noticed in October with the last change in daylight saving and devices got muddled).

It happens when the calendar resets, causing a miscommunication between GPS satellites and GPS receiver chips. As a result, some chips in sat navs will lose the ability to process certain functions.... mostly its related to time, dates and traffic info.

Mercedes have just release an update for latest cars adding a hidden "epoch adjustment menu", on cars running this later software you have a choice to set to different 19 year timeframe And tomtom are offering a 30% discount on old devices they can't be bothered to support with a simple firmware update.

[Jezza3]

Please can someone advise. I have a 2010, 1.6 ford focus and it has a Blaupunkt sat nav which is not working and states "no GPS". From what I have read here, it sounds like the aerial base for the GPS may be corroded or faulty. Would it be best (and less time consuming) to fit a new Ford base aerial unit or fit a magnetic one that is fixed inside the car? If the latter, is the part that plugs into the back of the sat nav/radio, a universal fitting plug? Ive read so much about male and female connections that I'm confused. Could someone please post me either an amazon or Ebay link for the one I would need? 

Would I be able to easily fit either of these myself or would it be better to get a garage to fit? 

Thanks in advance. 

[nodge33]

Hi all,

Plentyof people have asked but i've not seen an answer, basically I have the NO GPS in the bottom left hand of the display, before i go down the aftermarket gps route I'd like to check the arial base for any corrosion but I'm unsure how to take it off lol.

Can anyone point me to a youtube video or explain what needs to be done to access it?

2013 C-MAX

1.6 tdci

Many thanks

[Comares2001]

If its the same as a standard Mk3 focus you pull down the rear of the headlining after removing xmas tree clips to reveal bolts and connectors. But you probably wont see anything obvious. It was a very common failing though so just replace it anyway.

[Rdodi]

On 3/19/2017 at 7:28 PM, JW1982 said:

This is a known problem of many Ford models including the Focus MK3. The GPS antenna is integrated into the aerial base on top of the roof. As a result of water ingress the components of the GPS antenna corrode and the GPS antenna stops working. Because the aerial base is a sealed non serviceable part it needs to be replaced completely.   

There are basically two different solutions for the problem. The first solution is installing a new original aerial base. The part alone costs approximately €80,-. However there is a (relative large) risk that the new GPS antenna develops the same problem within a few years.

The second much cheaper solution is installing an aftermarket GPS antenna with a blue Fakra connector. These antennas can be found on Ebay from about €6,- including P&P. These aftermarket antennas can be installed behind the passenger side A-pillar cover. Because this type of antenna is installed inside the vehicle you will never have the water ingress problem again. I use an aftermarket €6,- GPS antenna for over 2 years now without any problems. the GPS reception is the same (possibly even better) than the GPS reception of the original GPS antenna.

On 3/19/2017 at 7:28 PM, JW1982 said:

 

Hi,

Thanks for the advice.
Helped a lot.

 

[davemc2]

So I now have this issue, I updated the maps and that was fine, so everything was working without issue till 2 weeks ago when the sat nav suddenly lost the GPS signal. It was fine the next day on the way home from work, and stayed fine until earlier this week when the GPS signal disappeared on the way to work and it hasn't come back since – are the original aerial bases still available that would fit a 2011 Focus Sport?

[JW1982]

A 2011 Focus can either be a Focus MK2.5 or a Focus MK3.

The GPS antenna base for the Focus MK2.5 is no longer available. The MK2.5 GPS antenna base is discontinued and replaced by a conversion kit. The conversion kit consists of a new non gps antenna base, a gps antenna that is installed inside the car and the required wiring. The conversion kit is pretty expensive. It is much cheaper to use an universal GPS antenna with Fakra connector.

The GPS antenna base for the Focus MK3 are still available.

[davemc2]

Thanks for the reply! 

Is there a way of knowing the difference between the two MKs? Mine was first registered in January 2011, it has the TravelPilot FX radio in it, as opposed to the touchscreen that came later.

The GPS antenna with Fakra connector is the option that means removing the radio and housing the antenna inside the car, if I've read correctly?

[JW1982]

Travelpilot FX is Focus MK2.5 

Just remove the radio, disconnect the GPS antenna, connect a new GPS antenna and reinstall the radio. For good GPS reception I recommend to install the GPS antenna inside the A-pillar cover.

[davemc2]

5 hours ago, JW1982 said:

Travelpilot FX is Focus MK2.5 

Just remove the radio, disconnect the GPS antenna, connect a new GPS antenna and reinstall the radio. For good GPS reception I recommend to install the GPS antenna inside the A-pillar cover.

There any particular GPS antennas that are better than others, that people have bought and turned out well?

How big a job is it to install it inside the A Pillar cover, sounds like it might involve taking some of the dash out? Apologies for the potentially daft questions but I've not done a lot of work/upgrades inside cars to date, any work/repairs has been exterior stuff until now!

I did take the aerial off this morning just to have a look at it, the glue/sealant will still doing a decent job by the look fit, no water in there at the minute at least, wiped off some white stuff that looked like the grain/dust you get when batteries leak, just to tidy that up a bit at least

[Morty1977]

I'm getting no dab in my mk3 mfd system. What's the best way to reset  this radio sony nav ?