Took Sat Nav apart (how hard can it be)

[MaverickV12]

Did this to my car today,



Was getting fed up with a Supercar (I won't mention the V12 engine) with no Sat Nav, as useless as the SatNav is, it's better to have one than to have something that does not work. I had emailed the guy in NZ who did not get back to me and also emailed Auckland AM, who did not get back to me.

So..... "Hello NZ, thanks for all your help...".

I finally got hold of this ....



I'm told it costs £1,000.00 plus, do tell me ....

I thought that the electric eye was not reading the disc, so how hard can it be for me to take it apart and clean the optical eye .......



Umm, so I put it back together again because I realised that it was more complicated than I thought.

I then took it to a place that specialise in Aston Martin electronic repairs, No wait !!! A Volvo specialist. I spoke to the chap who said that they are going wrong all the time. He said that the Satnav is on everytime I turn the engine on, so as soon as the ignition is on, it's powered up and finding satelities. So just because you don't use the satNav, does not mean it should last longer.

I will pick up the recon box in a week or so and get back to you about the costs and what they did.

PS. The complete stereo system will NOT work without the SatNav, so I have to listen to the exhaust all day (its a hard life), however the telephone bluetooth system DOES work.

Any questions please ask away and I'll see if someone has told me the answer ........

[drofnavi]

Thanks for the write up. I would like to see a lot more technical DIY stuff like this on here.

[mikey k]

Electronics coffee and pain killers
This will end badly

[MaverickV12]

mikey k said:

Electronics coffee and pain killers
This will end badly

I needed both as it took me the best part of 3 hours to take the damn thing apart, even with a manual. With it apart I drove it without the seats in (no sound proofing) and it sounded wicked .....

Then took me about 15 minutes to put it back together.

[Steve*B]

MaverickV12 said:

So..... "Hello NZ, thanks for all your help...".

Maverick, you are so impetuous

I did post to let you know that I was in the process of moving house and would get back to you....but it seems I'm too late!

What the hell have you done to your car?

[MaverickV12]

Steve*B said:

Maverick, you are so impetuous

I did post to let you know that I was in the process of moving house and would get back to you....but it seems I'm too late!

What the hell have you done to your car?

Hello SteveB, I'm still open to any suggestion anyone has, please help me, indeed us, if you can.....

Any links you have, any idea how Auckland AM did? what did they do? The video screen does not come apart, so how did they do it? Did they only load new software? Did they change the actual SatNav box in the parcel shelf for a different one?

Questions, questions, questions......

[Steve*B]

MaverickV12 said:

Questions, questions, questions......

Okay, please bear in mind that I didn't install the satnav and so locating the third party that did should be your first task.

I was introduced to the system by Mike Culleton, the service manager and an expat from the north of England somewhere, of the Aston dealer in Auckland and I'd suggest firing off an email to him in the first instance.

[e-mail]

Tell him that I (Steve with the DBS and V8V) suggested you contact him and I'm sure he'll be helpful.

I met the installer briefly at the AM dealership and each car, DBS and V8V, were in for an afternoon each for it to be fitted. The system is operated, turned on and off, by using the original dash mounted switches although all other operations are by touchscreen. If, as has been suggested before, the operation looks awkward because it is touchscreen, all I can say is that it looks that way because I'm trying not to obscure the camera view with my hand whilst creating the short videos. In reality, it's as easy as touching the screen which if you find difficult from the drivers seat then you may wish to reconsider the unit and stick with the joystick method of inputting destinations, etc. FWIW, I found it much better than using the joystick.

Let me know how you get on.

[MaverickV12]

I am supposed to pick up my SatNav main unit tomorrow, all according how much time i have and if the snow is on the ground, I'll tell you how I get on and how much it costs.

[MaverickV12]

Today I picked up this ......



So I had to this to the back of the car (again) ......



and this to the front of the car ......



So that I could put this back in its place, which I took out to see if I could take it apart ......



I turned it all back on and i got this .......



So my SatNav is fixed and it works perfectly, it showed the wrong parallel street for about 30 seconds, then found itself.

Whilst I think that the SatNav is a st Volvo unit, it does still work. Out of interest the Aston Martin SatNav is actually a Volvo Unit from Sewden....... ummm ........ No its not. Its a Mitsubishi Unit from Japan. Yes you read that right, its a Mitsubishi unit.

Just goes to show that the Japanise don't always get it right

[DB9VolanteDriver]

MaverickV12 said:

Nice work on the woofer cone...

[LordBretSinclair]

DB9VolanteDriver said:

Nice work on the woofer cone...

Turn the volume up to 11, it'll pop out

[MaverickV12]

Before I start to drag myself through eBay or the internet generally , can anyone point me towards the latest updated software disc? I would love to have a Postcode search let alone the latest road maps . Driving through Bristol I realise how new a lot of the City is.

Does anyone have a link to the latest updated SatNav discs?

[brakedwell]

Full 7 letter postcode search and much improved lane guidance arrived in the 2010 (DVD) update. Google Volvo or AM satnav updates and will find 2012 discs for less then £50.

[MaverickV12]

ukkid35 said:

London to Spa - Fastest Route

Found this on a Piston Heads general Gassing site.

At least our OEM AM SatNav's are not that bad .... !

[steveatesh]

MaverickV12 said:

Found this on a Piston Heads general Gassing site.

At least our OEM AM SatNav's are not that bad .... !

I've just bought a Boxster for the mrs and hence been taking an interest in the Porsche forum. There have been a lot of complaints about new cars coming with say nav which didn't even have seven figure post code search, then Porsche releasing an update which they wanted to charge for.

Conversely, my son has just bought a BMW with professional sat nav installed and it's in a different league. Whilst personally I don't think the AM sat nav is too bad, having seen the BMW offering I do think it's time they moved forward with their communications technology.

[Zod]

Teh latest BMW Pro SatNav is amazing. Once you get beyond the higher maginification levels, it uses Google Earth to show the landscape. You can download complex routes from BMW or from a USB stick. It is connected to Google local search, so you can find hotels, restaurants, shops, museums etc and input them into the Nav system.

[GTDB7]

On the rear woofer, it's only the dust cap that's pushed in. Using a sewing needle you can insert the needle through the centre at a sharp angle and pop it back out.

Or you can just leave it, as it doesn't affect the sound at all. It job is literally to stop dust getting down in between the voice coil and magnet.

I replace those dust covers on Pro audio drivers, usually as a result of some kid pushing his fingers through them when used in public places.

The only thing special about them in the glue used for obvious reasons.

[Arjxh56]

Random question, but why is your decking wrapped in cling film!?

[CraigV12V]

MaverickV12 said:

Before I start to drag myself through eBay or the internet generally , can anyone point me towards the latest updated software disc? I would love to have a Postcode search let alone the latest road maps . Driving through Bristol I realise how new a lot of the City is.

Does anyone have a link to the latest updated SatNav discs?

http://www.satnav-updates.com/

[MaverickV12]

Through out these forums and posts I have been a clear advocate of how absolutely rubbish the Volvo / Mitsubishi Satnav is. I recently went on a bit of a 3000 mile plus trip and had to use SatNav. Being someone who likes to be prepared, I took a Garmin freestanding unit, my TomTom in my smart phone, the DB9 SatNav (Volvo) and as a back up, a map.

My smart phone crashed so many times I gave up within about 1 hour, I then blew a fuse in the car and so gradually lost the Garmin unit, this left me with the Volvo unit and a 3000 mile trip.

Duck it ............ I had obvioulsy got the unit working perfectly and I had also upgraded the discs to the lastest full postcode type.

I HAVE CHANGED MY VIEW ON THE VOLVO UNIT.

The damn thing took me the full 3000 miles, ok it got confused in cities, but that was me not following the .....



I am genuinely surprised how good the damn thing was, I used the map to make sure we were heading in the right direction, but aside from that ..... I now have full respect for the Volvo unit.