Suggestion Having problem with factory NAV losing GPS signal?

[MarkMaxPayne]

I was in the rig today taking photos for my final warranty todo list for my service visit in a few days and found the GPS receiver puck thanks to the suggestion of a forum member. Instead on being on the roof as I had assumed (previous rig and the Sirius up top of front cap) it was simply tossed under the dash near the front windshield with its magnetic mount hanging onto the dash AC/Heater box.

No wonder the stupid thing doesn't work half the time. They took an external GPS antennae and lazily tossed it up to the front of the dash under the removeble access panel. Ugh.

I had installed a Carpuride Android Auto / Apple Air Play display because I had become so sick and tired of the factory NAV saying "GPS signal lost" or "Looking for GPS signal".

At my service appointment I am going to ask that this GPS antenna puck gets installed on the roof where it belongs...

Best,
-Mark

 

[FLSteve]

@MarkMaxPayne ... anyway you can post a picture of what you are referring to. I am having the same issue and need to look for that receiver puck in my dash.

FLSteve

 

[MarkMaxPayne]

@MarkMaxPayne ... anyway you can post a picture of what you are referring to. I am having the same issue and need to look for that receiver puck in my dash.

FLSteve

It looks something like this (ignore the connector on this "stock photo"). I took off the top access cover of my dash (velcro-ed on) and saw that thin wire coming out of the head unit. Traced it about a foot or so where the dash approaches the center of the windshield (below where the MobileEye is attached to the glass) and its magnetic bottom was stuck to the side of a metal box. This wire to the antenna puck normally runs up one of the A pilars and out a hole on top of the front cap. Instead of running the wire correctly and sealing around the hole and the antenna with sealant I guess they decided tossing it under the dash was "good enough".


Best,
-Mark

 

[Neal]

GPS antenna under the dash is done quite common from what I researched and this is where I put mine when I upgraded my ancient Clarion unit with a Pioneer. No issues. Also note my Garmin 890 is on the dash and I don't have issues with that either. So my guess is something else is a problem and not the antenna being under the dash.

The problem with the roof mounted exposed antennas is they will corrode as mine are doing now. They do dicor around it, I would suggest new owners cover the antennas in dicor completely.

 

[DennisT]

Under the dash may not matter.

We were having them work on ours while at the factory last year. The ones in the Superstar are roof mounted.

For testing they hooked up another gps antenna and had it in the passenger seat while driving around. That worked just fine.

 

[MarkMaxPayne]

One last (hopefully) update from me on this frustrating topic...

After purchasing the specific SanDisk 32GB USB Flash Drive that Riverpark technical support recommended (Amazon.com), formatting, and copying the firmware upgrade ZIP file to the drive, the install of the firmware upgrade ran without any problems this time at bat. After the install completed and the unit rebooted for the last time, I was provided with a new GPS MSU Reset option in a secret/hidden menu (should just be there out in the open in settings IMHO) and things worked much better. On my last drive home I did have to do a reset the GPS MSU in the middle of my drive, but it worked the rest of the time.

I also learned something from the Riverpark tech during this process. Supposedly, after a ton of complaints from Newmar owners about the GPS antennae being tossed in the dash and customers then having poor GPS signal as a result, Newmar will now be installing these on the roof again starting with the 2025 model year. I was told that they had quit installing them on the roof as they had been damaging too many of the antennae cables while running them up the A pilar. However, with all of the issues/complaints they were now receiving about the NAV constantly losing GPS signal, they have figured it out according to Riverpark.

My factory NAV faired pretty well after my latest relo of the antennae inside the dash towards the windshield and just in front of the steering wheel (being just to the left of the Mobile Eye worked better than before but would still lose signal occasionally). This was on a very curvy mountainous road in a road that ran along a river cut. Fingers crossed I don't have to relo it again, but if so, I may try my own A pilar routing for a roof mounting.

So... If you keep losing GPS signal do go hunting for that pesky GPS antennae and move it. If your NAV keeps thinking you are headed in the exact opposite direction than you are actually traveling, contact Riverpark for the firmware upgrade to get the hidden menu item to reset the GPS MSU. If you own a MY 2025 or later, let us know if Newmar is indeed mounting these on the roof again. They have to mount the Sirius puck on the roof, so they might as well mount both of them up there like they used to.

Best,
-Mark

 

[SteveMA]

Thanks Mark, great writeup.
Any one in particular at Riverpark to talk to? I tried to go by their offices the last time I was at the mothership in April.

 

[MarkMaxPayne]

Any one in particular at Riverpark to talk to? I tried to go by their offices the last time I was at the mothership in April.

Was all done via back and forth emails using their [email protected] email address. They didn't share names.

Best,
-Mark

 

[MarkMaxPayne]

Okay, another last update? Just finished a 2300 mile trip these least 2 weeks. GPS with antennae puck up by the steering wheel vs near the mobile-eye just under the dash seemed to work really well.

On my way home I did have to use the secret hidden Reset GPS MSU button option once as the rig began thinking I was headed 180 degrees in the opposite direction I was actually traveling. My only issue is it started doing it while I was driving and the option to reset is disabled unless the vehicle is stopped. The upcoming exits feature is kind of worthless when it thinks you are driving backwards... That said, I pulled off of I-5, stopped, did the Reset GPS MSU tap dance, and it began working correctly again.

One thing I learned was how much I liked having 3 nav systems running at the same time. I know, crazy... Hear me out though...

In addition to the built-in in RV nav, I was running the RV Life Pro navigation on my cell phone with it leveraging my Carpuride Android Auto screen. Having both at the same time to compare routes & RV safe recommendations was great. When the built-in Riverpark NAV did its opposite direction thing, the 2nd NAV was a godsend until I could pull off and stop the vehicle to reset it.

Icing on the cake was I also had Waze running in the background on my phone. I wasn't navigating a route with it, but had it running in the background. That provided me with real-time audible hazard and police warnings even though it wasn't displayed on any screen. Was easy to toggle between it and the RV Pro Nav on the Android Auto screen with a single screen press.

Best,
-Mark

 

[Neal]

I use Garmin 890 + Waze on CarPlay. Waze is not setup for navigation, only hazard notifications it offers.