(T) Connect Nav Stereo issues

Another day, another issue, my Stilo is living up to the FIAT moto, Fix It Again Tomorrow! The latest issue is the stereo/ SatNac fitted to my Abarth, which has started playing up. It turns on with the car, the fiat logo comes up flickers on and off a few times and then goes blank and turns itself off.

If I keep trying to turn the stereo on it will eventually work but takes a good few attempts and seems completely random. I've taken the whole unit out and all the wires seem to be firmly connected at the back.

Anyone had a similar issue?

Thanks in advance.

Not an issue i've experienced personally although I've messed with a fair few connect navs in my time.

For their day they were pretty complex and clever bits of kit and a good satnav system. These days though they're rather outdated and clunky tech. The only real support for them is to send them back to the manufacturer in Italy and I dont know of anybody that's braved doing so to date.

I've got one in bits in front of me and all the connections within are fairly solid by design, so it's not like I can foresee how it's got a loose connection or anything.

The connections on the back of the unit are soldered directly to a printed circuit board (PCB). This PCB is then connected by ribbon cable (similar to the old computer IDE ribbons) to the motherboard.

I know the screen can be a weakness because the backlight can go in them but that doesn't seem symptomatic from what you describe.

Sadly, if it's playing you up; my advice would be to ditch it and get one of the modern android or similar double din units - that'll do satnav, phone and far more besides and be much more reliable than the old CN+.

Thanks Artermis, do you know if any of the double din stereos would be compatible with the Stilo settings? There's a lot of functionality through the stereo (fuel consumption screen, independent boot lock settings, etc etc) that I worry would be lost with a new stereo unit.

Hi Paul,

That's a bit beyond my field of knowledge to be honest. @Davren is very knowledgeable on such matters, maybe he knows?

If you can figure out for certain why part is failing on your CN I dont mind ripping the part out of this one I have here for you to try. The screen died on this one, rest of it may well work fine - although being a CN I can't guarantee it.

After removing the CN+ you would have to carry out the Proxy Alignment procedure to tell the car's Body Computer that the CN+ was no longer present on the CAN (Control Area Network). You can do the PA procedure with Multiecuscan, available from http://www.multiecuscan.net

There's also a function within MES to enable the various settings to return to the MODE button, as they are on Stilos without the CN+
.

Thanks for your replies. It was turning on after the fourth or fifth attempt but even that doesn't work now, so a replacement is on the cards. https://www.fiatforum.com/images/smilies/mad.gif

Possibly the on/off switch on the front panel PCB is not making good contact. It's the small square black switch with white button in the picture below.

If you can get it to switch on one more time, there's a hidden "Service" menu that tests various functions and reports any faulty modules.

Connect Nav+ "Service" Menu

There is an inbuilt menu in the Connect Nav+ unit that allows the user to ensure various modules are working, and that the speakers, antennas and GPS/GSM systems are functioning normally. To access this menu, do the following continuously and quickly:

1. Press "Setup".
2. Press "Connect" 4 times ("Connect" is button 10, 11 or 12 of the 12 buttons along the bottom of the screen).
3. Press "Enter".
4. Scroll down to the newly appeared button "Service", and press "Enter".
5. Scroll through the four or five (can't remember) pages of tests.
.

if the on/off button is momentary action I wouldn't suspect it to cause the symptoms described.

Does it turn off at the same place in the startup procedure? i.e. the same number of seconds after pressing the on/off button? If so this suggests a safety cut-out kind of feature, which likely means a component failure, like the powerAmp IC shorting to ground, pulling too much current and this triggering a safety cut-out.

I have a double-din unit, not a brand name, and even though its advertised as a quad-core processor (1.6Ghz x4) it is achingly slow at doing most jobs compared to my Nexus 5 (also quad-core, officially 2.3Ghz but is old and doesn't like clocking much over 1.2Ghz). However, it gives me reverse camera and radio and TorqueLite etc.

I have a standard radio from a 1.6 2004 if it helps with your swap-testing etc, though maybe needs Davren to say if it has compatible parts etc.

It is a momentary action push-on/push-off switch. The only reason I mentioned it as a possibility is because I had the same problem with one of my CN+'s. Sometimes it would switch on, sometimes not. Traced it to a cracked metal diaphragm inside the switch. Only place I could find an exact match for a new switch was Digi-Key. They sent me a strip of 10 from America.

The internal parts of the Magneti Marelli CN+ are totally different to the standard Visteon radio. The Visteon casing is almost empty except for the CD mechanism, power supply and a couple of LSI chips.
.

- yes, with these symptoms I'd suspect the switch, but the OP has it turning on but then off again without extra inputs.
As a test, can you hold in the switch, does this turn it on, and then after a few seconds turn it off again? If so, the switch becomes a possible culprit again.

- understood

Thanks guys. I've only tried turning it on (just a quick press) but will give it a go tomorrow with holding the button down.

Thanks for the set up info Davren, if it ever turns on again I'll try that out and see what's going on.

I was really asking about the behaviour on a working unit, but by all means try stuff as sometimes the results lead to light-bulb moments

Ill second that... trial and error is sometimed the key to apithinaies! I can vouch for that myself

Oh, I see what you mean. Tried holding it in anyway and still no joy. The times it did work (since its been playing up) it went to the main radio screen when the car was turned on. It now comes up with the Fiat logo, stays like that for 30 seconds before restarting, it does this about 3 times and then turns itself off. The on switch always turns the unit on, but it doesn't get passed the fiat logo. Also noticed the sos button will turn it on but again only as far as the fiat logo.

This sounds like it's not booting up correctly and after a few restarts it gives up.

Can you try reflashing the firmware or updating it somehow, im sure it can be done via USB stick or from a DVD (if it does not have USB functionality).

I'm sure #Davren can assist further with this one.