Comand APS malfunction
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Switzerland
Mercedes Benz ML350
Comand APS malfunction
Hello everybody,
I am reading this forum for quite sometimes, and I finally decided to register to share with you a little problem I did encounter this week.
I hope you can help me.
I bought a ML350 from the USA 6 months ago, imported it to Switzerland, and it was wonderful, I changed the odometer and the COMAND APS (which I found new on eBay). Mercedes Benz of Switzerland did the installation, everything was working just fine !
Since monday, my car doesn't have GPS signal anymore... I am unable to get a signal, I went to Mercedes Benz, but as I expected, they are trying to sell me ANOTHER Comand APS, which is the same euro model as I currently have... For 6'500$ !....
Anyway, did any of you encounter that kind of problems ?
What I found strange, is that it was perfectly working for 6 months, and then, suddenly, no signal...
I was in Holiday 1 week, and the car did stay in the garage without signal for 1 week, could that be it ?
Thank you so much guys for your heads up.
I am quite a "beginer" in everything technical...
Have a nice day !
Best Regards
Jonathan
I am reading this forum for quite sometimes, and I finally decided to register to share with you a little problem I did encounter this week.
I hope you can help me.
I bought a ML350 from the USA 6 months ago, imported it to Switzerland, and it was wonderful, I changed the odometer and the COMAND APS (which I found new on eBay). Mercedes Benz of Switzerland did the installation, everything was working just fine !
Since monday, my car doesn't have GPS signal anymore... I am unable to get a signal, I went to Mercedes Benz, but as I expected, they are trying to sell me ANOTHER Comand APS, which is the same euro model as I currently have... For 6'500$ !....
Anyway, did any of you encounter that kind of problems ?
What I found strange, is that it was perfectly working for 6 months, and then, suddenly, no signal...
I was in Holiday 1 week, and the car did stay in the garage without signal for 1 week, could that be it ?
Thank you so much guys for your heads up.
I am quite a "beginer" in everything technical...
Have a nice day !
Best Regards
Jonathan
Last edited by Droobui; Oct 7, 2008 at 04:01 AM.
PREMIUM SPONSOR
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 615
Likes: 3
From: Chicago, IL
ML350, Lotus Elise
Hello everybody,
I am reading this forum for quite sometimes, and I finally decided to register to share with you a little problem I did encounter this week.
I hope you can help me.
I bought a ML350 from the USA 6 months ago, imported it to Switzerland, and it was wonderful, I changed the odometer and the COMAND APS (which I found new on eBay). Mercedes Benz of Switzerland did the installation, everything was working just fine !
Since monday, my car doesn't have GPS signal anymore... I am unable to get a signal, I went to Mercedes Benz, but as I expected, they are trying to sell me ANOTHER Comand APS, which is the same euro model as I currently have... For 6'500$ !....
Anyway, did any of you encounter that kind of problems ?
What I found strange, is that it was perfectly working for 6 months, and then, suddenly, no signal...
I was in Holiday 1 week, and the car did stay in the garage without signal for 1 week, could that be it ?
Thank you so much guys for your heads up.
I am quite a "beginer" in everything technical...
Have a nice day !
Best Regards
Jonathan
I am reading this forum for quite sometimes, and I finally decided to register to share with you a little problem I did encounter this week.
I hope you can help me.
I bought a ML350 from the USA 6 months ago, imported it to Switzerland, and it was wonderful, I changed the odometer and the COMAND APS (which I found new on eBay). Mercedes Benz of Switzerland did the installation, everything was working just fine !
Since monday, my car doesn't have GPS signal anymore... I am unable to get a signal, I went to Mercedes Benz, but as I expected, they are trying to sell me ANOTHER Comand APS, which is the same euro model as I currently have... For 6'500$ !....
Anyway, did any of you encounter that kind of problems ?
What I found strange, is that it was perfectly working for 6 months, and then, suddenly, no signal...
I was in Holiday 1 week, and the car did stay in the garage without signal for 1 week, could that be it ?
Thank you so much guys for your heads up.
I am quite a "beginer" in everything technical...
Have a nice day !
Best Regards
Jonathan
Hello jonathan,
The loss of gps signal could be a few things: it could be a bad antenna, it could be an issue with the teleaid module (which shares the GPS antenna with the nav) or it could be the aforementioned command that is the problem.
When you went to the dealer did they do a diagnostic test on the systems and do you have the results of the test? what we want to find out is whether or not the teleaid system was getting a gps signal and they can test for this...
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Switzerland
Mercedes Benz ML350
Hello jonathan,
The loss of gps signal could be a few things: it could be a bad antenna, it could be an issue with the teleaid module (which shares the GPS antenna with the nav) or it could be the aforementioned command that is the problem.
When you went to the dealer did they do a diagnostic test on the systems and do you have the results of the test? what we want to find out is whether or not the teleaid system was getting a gps signal and they can test for this...
The loss of gps signal could be a few things: it could be a bad antenna, it could be an issue with the teleaid module (which shares the GPS antenna with the nav) or it could be the aforementioned command that is the problem.
When you went to the dealer did they do a diagnostic test on the systems and do you have the results of the test? what we want to find out is whether or not the teleaid system was getting a gps signal and they can test for this...
Thank you very much for your informations.
When I first gave the car to Mercedes Benz, they did the installation, and everything was runing just fine. I do not know if they did a "diagnostic test" and I do not have the result.
What are you suggesting ? That I try to replace the "antenna" ?
That they try to change the Comand APS to see if that works ?
If I can, I would love to avoid the replacement of the Comand APS, almost 7'000$ I mean....
Anyway, thank you for the informations, I will take the car to Mercedes soon, and I will let you know.
Any other informations are welcome !
Thank you guys for your support !
PREMIUM SPONSOR
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 615
Likes: 3
From: Chicago, IL
ML350, Lotus Elise
The service department can plug your vehicle in make a better determination of where the problem is exactly. Specifically they need to test both the command and teleaid systems to see if either system is reporting a GPS fault. (they share the same GPS antenna). So if both report a fault then it is likely that the problem is the GPS antenna or (to a lesser extent) the GPS splitter. If only one unit reports a flaw then it is either a problem with the unit or a wiring problem.
The quickest way to test is to get a hold of a GPS antenna with a blue FAKRA or SMB end and plug it directly into the command GPS input. then see if gps fix is restored (remember the unit can take up to 10 minutes to register position).
It is almost *never* the command itself that is the problem when it comes to gps issues unless there has been damage (e.g. water in the unit or something like that). it is usually the GPS antenna that goes bad due to corrosion or a wire is pinched and eventually failed.
The quickest way to test is to get a hold of a GPS antenna with a blue FAKRA or SMB end and plug it directly into the command GPS input. then see if gps fix is restored (remember the unit can take up to 10 minutes to register position).
It is almost *never* the command itself that is the problem when it comes to gps issues unless there has been damage (e.g. water in the unit or something like that). it is usually the GPS antenna that goes bad due to corrosion or a wire is pinched and eventually failed.
