Jaguar Club SG

icebear · Senior Member

Jaguar XF 2013 - Windscreen issue with GPS

Tintin in Sg · Member

Hi Icebear, tks for sharing this! very serious concern indeed.
which model is your Garmin?

I have an old Garmin GPS (205W) which I have yet to try on my 2013 2.2d.
Was in fact thinking of acquiring a more advanced Garmin model... but looks like I'd better hold off till we get some updates on the issue.

FYI, I have no reception issue via my iPhone GPS.

icebear · Senior Member

shucks forgot to state.. my is Garmin 255W

am using the android (Note 2) Gps, software WAZE, sometimes it will suddenly lose connection too. The smartphones do work more often, but also sometimes do lose GPS signal. I think they can work better cos smartphones normally have A-GPS, which uses the phone signals to help triangulate position.

samsung77 · Senior Member

I still use street directory book to find the location that I want to go.. Haha..

XFS57 · Member

wow, must wind down window?

icebear · Senior Member

XFS57 wrote:
wow, must wind down window?

gotta stick the gps out the window. once u do that, u can see the signal hit the roof.

zenkinz · Senior Member

newer GPS receiver are more sensitive these days, but in older days, this is indeed a problem, especially if you have solar film like vkool that totally rejects the GPS signal. I use GPS repeater in the past to basically re-broadcast the GPS into the car cabin, you can try that if they can't do anything to it (which I doubt so)

XFS · Senior Member

My windscreen has the fine wire too. I tested my new garmin gps and it seems to work. So maybe zenkinz has a point. Icebear, one of the day lets try my garmin gps on your cat.

zenkinz · Senior Member

icebear wrote:
XFS57 wrote:
wow, must wind down window?

gotta stick the gps out the window. once u do that, u can see the signal hit the roof.

the reason for why that's so is because the initialisation of the GPS requires strong signal strength to be able to download data from the satellites. usually it'll take about 2-3 mins, if you have a solar film that makes the signal strength weaker, you might end up losing connection as you drive, which results in the download to restart again. Once the gps is initialised, you don't need a strong signal so that's why you can still get your location pinned with your receiver inside your car.

so here's what you can do

1. Wait for your gps to get the fix before you drive off (however, if the signal is so weak that you are not getting data downloaded, you end up waiting in the car indefinitely :P).

2. Get the repeater to transfer the signal into the car.

chiaster · Guru

I don't have a standalone GPS but when I do use the maps on my iPhone, it works...

My ride is the 2013 2.2diesel...

One thing though, I did tinting for all the glass on the car before I collected it... If the stock glass has a problem, then wouldn't the extra tint make it worse? Hmm... Heng mine got no problem with signals... *phew*

icebear · Senior Member

zenkinz wrote:
icebear wrote:
XFS57 wrote:
wow, must wind down window?

gotta stick the gps out the window. once u do that, u can see the signal hit the roof.

the reason for why that's so is because the initialisation of the GPS requires strong signal strength to be able to download data from the satellites. usually it'll take about 2-3 mins, if you have a solar film that makes the signal strength weaker, you might end up losing connection as you drive, which results in the download to restart again. Once the gps is initialised, you don't need a strong signal so that's why you can still get your location pinned with your receiver inside your car.
so here's what you can do

1. Wait for your gps to get the fix before you drive off (however, if the signal is so weak that you are not getting data downloaded, you end up waiting in the car indefinitely :P).
2. Get the repeater to transfer the signal into the car.

i have no solar film upfront liao. i thought it was the solar film and had it removed. same problem. the issue is with the windscreen for XF 2013 MFG onwards.

its not possible to get a fix. i tried liao. the only way i can get a fix is to find a big open carpark, wait there for afew minutes, and get a ****ty signal that is broken the moment there's trees or buildings nearby. so there's no point for me to try to get a signal since it'll be lost anyway. When i use on other cars, it get a quick signal in less than a minute, even with film.

icebear · Senior Member

chiaster wrote:
I don't have a standalone GPS but when I do use the maps on my iPhone, it works...

My ride is the 2013 2.2diesel...

One thing though, I did tinting for all the glass on the car before I collected it... If the stock glass has a problem, then wouldn't the extra tint make it worse? Hmm... Heng mine got no problem with signals... *phew*

likewise, when i collected my car, it already had window film tinting done. it wouldn't/shouldn't affect if its non metallic type. IIRC, its the metallic that causes interference, basically turning into a shield against the EM signals. that's why some window film need to cut a small hole for the ERP IU unit.

my android smart phone can get maps too, but sometimes it just loses it, especially when in city area and i need turn by turn navigation. its frustrating to go crazy when i need the last few turns to avoid paying more ERP and getting stuck in heavy traffic again.

chiaster · Guru

Take hammer and smash the windscreen lor... Then get it replaced...

ignitionon · Member

Mine is a 2013 2.2d. Also got this problem, what's interesting is you can get a fix in the car without the eng running. Once you start the car the GPS signal gets weak.
The signal is weakest near the centre infotainment screen.
Hope it's not the interference between the Bluetooth receiver module and the GPS.

zenkinz · Senior Member

simple, just get one of this,

http://www.amazon.com/SBG-190-Re-radiating-Magellan-portable-navigation/dp/B001UI4Z2A

icebear · Senior Member

chiaster wrote:
Take hammer and smash the windscreen lor... Then get it replaced...

all 2013 windscreens are like this.. (according to the technical manager). change liao also same, cos they're in all probabilty, out of 2012 windscreens. lol.

he said he'll try to get his hands on a older windscreen for me.

icebear · Senior Member

ignitionon wrote:
Mine is a 2013 2.2d. Also got this problem, what's interesting is you can get a fix in the car without the eng running. Once you start the car the GPS signal gets weak.
The signal is weakest near the centre infotainment screen.
Hope it's not the interference between the Bluetooth receiver module and the GPS.

i will try out with engine off. my GPS is exactly above the infotainment screen. cos i'm using garmin friction mount (rest on the dashboard) instead of stick on windscreen

Irisons · Member

I am using the GPS from my phone and face the same problem when I placed it at the centre. Manage to resolve the issue by placing my phone on the right corner...so far so good no more losing GPS signal. biggrin

ignitionon · Member

Irisons wrote:
I am using the GPS from my phone and face the same problem when I placed it at the centre. Manage to resolve the issue by placing my phone on the right corner...so far so good no more losing GPS signal.

Yes that's what I do now ,however still unable to get the full 5 bars.

XFS · Senior Member

Hey I tested my garmin gps last on msia trip. And happy to say that the fine wires in my windscreen didn't affect the usage. Tested and proven on mine. Icebear, want me to sell you my garmin?

chiaster · Guru

XFS wrote:
Hey I tested my garmin gps last on msia trip. And happy to say that the fine wires in my windscreen didn't affect the usage. Tested and proven on mine. Icebear, want me to sell you my garmin?