Hello all

In the last week my Columbus nav system is not working as it used to do.what it is now doing is it appears to think I am in a different location than I am in .So then if I want to navigate to a location,it things I am 20kms or so from where I am.I notice that my current location as on the sat nav is not where I am.I have reset my home location but it makes no difference.While it is navigating the symbol on the screen is moving but it is in the wrong place.When I bring up the split screen option and select GPS tab it says it has found 10 or 13 sattelites,but it has 0 fixes.The car is 2011 model 1.6 litre superb elegance.Everything else appears to work normally.thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

If it has no satellite fixes it may need a new ariel. My dealer told me this is fairly common on a car of that age, water seems to get in and game over. I think the newer ones have a better seal.

If it's seeing satellites but not locking on to them then it's worth trying the gps antenna as said. Buy a cheap ebay one to validate it first before stumping up for an expensive dealer one though. It's possible it might be a system fault though rather than an antenna fault.

Just noticed tonight that the compass tab on the split screen mode is also showing me driving towards an incorrect compass reading.I presume the compass and the sat nav issue are a result of the same fault.?

Thanhs for the replies.

The compass needs a gps fix to know which way is north. Both faults are the same fault in reality.

Same thing happened to me,

Posted 06 November 2013 - 08:38

Hi All

I've recently had my Columbus lose its GPS signal - the car is a 2009 Elegance -

I checked for water in the headlining and its nice and dry -

From searching forums etc it looked like it was a failed GPS unit in the aerial base.

This part is expensive from the dealer, I found out you can retro fit the GPS part but that looked like too much work.

So I purchased a GPS fakra connection unit from eBay for about £7 - I also bought a set of interior trim tools about £5 -

Installation was quite simple - carefully removing the outer black plastic trim, I found it easier/safer to start at the bottom - then remove torx srcrews - out comes the unit - plug in new GPS unit.

I tried different locations, but finally found out its also quite easy to remove the central vents above the Columbus, starting with the right edge near the dash console. Then at the back of the vent ducts there's a small metal area where I placed the unit (magnetic).

1st attempt was the metal bracket behind Columbus and signal was low figures.

2nd attempt behind vent ducts and this has consistently been 5 plus satellites even to full 9/9 - which has resulted in full 3D fix.

Also to note- the original cable sticker had a manufactures date of MAY 2008!

Hope this helps others -

Hi, it does help thank you.

 

I've a 2009 elegance also, and the exact same issue happened my Columbus sat nav in December (satellites 0/12). I'm assuming the issue is with the shark fin aerial and was looking for posts/pictures from someone who had removed and repaired it, but to no avail. I also saw on another post, what you had done here, so that certainly seems like less hassle. Do you have the name/line to the GPS unit that you purchased? 

 

were there many odd screws in the dash, that you needed the specialist kit for?

 

thanks....John 

All torx screws holding the radio in (Either T20 or T25, can't remember which). I've done the same fix as in post #6 above and it's working perfectly. Just make sure to tape down or cover the cables with foam to stop anything rattling when you're putting it together.