GPS: No data fault

[dhrivnak]

Does anyone know how to resolve the GPS: No data fault error? A search of the forums did not yield much besides the plug on the back of the VDS which I doubt is the issue as the VDS has not been touched in several years. I just returned from a 3 week trip to see this error in my 1.5 for the first time. The date and time on the VDS is correct and the GPS with the radio is working properly. While it was sitting in my garage for over 3 weeks, there have been longer periods of time when I have had the car parked with no issue. I took a short drive and no other issues were seen and the error did not clear up either. Thank you for any possible help or advice.

 

[Roadster]

From the VDS Wiki...

53

Orange

Debug-Only Msg

GPS: No data fault

1) Check if the APS is inhibited in the service diagnostic menu under the Controls submenu (petergrub) 2) Check if the GPS antenna is plugged in at the VMS in the dash above the passenger footwell (petergrub)

 

[dhrivnak]

From the VDS Wiki...

53

Orange

Debug-Only Msg

GPS: No data fault

1) Check if the APS is inhibited in the service diagnostic menu under the Controls submenu (petergrub) 2) Check if the GPS antenna is plugged in at the VMS in the dash above the passenger footwell (petergrub)

Thank you, I did find that and the APS is not inhibited, as I drove the car. I double checked the plugs and they are securely connected. So I am still open to options.

For the record I unplugged the VMS and the date and time of the error message updated to the current date and time.

 

[JohnGarziglia]

This sounds exactly like the same issue I ran into with my GPS sensor. Keep in mind the GPS for the radio is a different and separate one from that connected to the VMS and VDS. The connector at issue for me was not at the back of the VDS but was in the left front wheel well, under the left headlight. See this thread: Caution - Annual Service - Car power-down - GPS issue. Ultimately, I cut out the connector completely and just soldered the wires together since the fault turned out to be in the connection between the wire and the pin in the connector, I could not figure out which one, I concluded it would be unlikely I would be disconnecting the GPS sensor from there and therefore the connector was not needed.

 

[dhrivnak]

This sounds exactly like the same issue I ran into with my GPS sensor. Keep in mind the GPS for the radio is a different and separate one from that connected to the VMS and VDS. The connector at issue for me was not at the back of the VDS but was in the left front wheel well, under the left headlight. See this thread: Caution - Annual Service - Car power-down - GPS issue. Ultimately, I cut out the connector completely and just soldered the wires together since the fault turned out to be in the connection between the wire and the pin in the connector, I could not figure out which one, I concluded it would be unlikely I would be disconnecting the GPS sensor from there and therefore the connector was not needed.

Thank you that sounds encouraging, it appears I need to remove the front wheel to get to the connector, so now I have a project tomorrow.

 

[JohnGarziglia]

Thank you that sounds encouraging, it appears I need to remove the front wheel to get to the connector, so now I have a project tomorrow.

Yes. You might be able to get to the wire by just removing the headlight panel -- if not, then the front splash panel. If you have the messages portion of OVMS running, I found that by wiggling the wire, I could see that it was something there that was giving me the error message as mine was intermittent when I wiggled the wire and the error message would appear in OVMS. But if yours is disconnected completely, you may not get any further messages. If you see that connector in there, I would highly suspect the connector as it is clearly not a weatherproof type of connector to be used where it is. I was somewhat surprised to see it there at all as it is dissimilar to other connectors in the car -- it is more like an after-market Radio Shack connector - I almost thought that the Tesla SC may have put it there in order to update the GPS which I asked them to do, but then found my GPS did not work after they updated it, and they kept telling me they needed a special tool to get the GPS working again. I was assuming they did not update it, but maybe it was their connection. I have no idea and I hate to speculate adversely about it. All of this a long way around of saying I will be curious if your car has the same connector there.

 

[eHorses]

This sounds exactly like the same issue I ran into with my GPS sensor. Keep in mind the GPS for the radio is a different and separate one from that connected to the VMS and VDS. The connector at issue for me was not at the back of the VDS but was in the left front wheel well, under the left headlight. See this thread: Caution - Annual Service - Car power-down - GPS issue. Ultimately, I cut out the connector completely and just soldered the wires together since the fault turned out to be in the connection between the wire and the pin in the connector, I could not figure out which one, I concluded it would be unlikely I would be disconnecting the GPS sensor from there and therefore the connector was not needed.

I have the same message on my 2.0 roadster. Do you by chance have a pic of that connector?

@dhrivnak, can you please take a pic and post of your connector when you work on your car.

many thanks

 

[dhrivnak]

My module on my 1.5 looks different with a different connector. Assuming I have the right part which was on the underside of the drivers front fender, above the liner, the wiring and connector looked good and no change after reassembly. Is this the proper GPS module? If not exactly where is the part I am looking for? Thank you

 

[slcasner]

I think that is the TMPS antenna (note the name BERU). The GPS receiver is a round hockey puck made by GARMIN.

 

[JohnGarziglia]

My GPS antenna for my 2.5 Roadster was screwed to the flat shelf that is under and slightly to the left of the left headlight. This is not my car but just a photo I quickly found -- the red circle represents my best recollection of the location of the GPS sensor which is held on by one very small nut and bolt through a flat horizontal surface under the headlight assembly:

If you take a look at this photo below which is looking toward the front of the car from the wheel well with the headlight assembly above, the GPS sensor is on that "shelf" showing about six inches forward of the red/white/green/black wire coming out of the left hand side of the connector:

 

[dhrivnak]

I think that is the TMPS antenna (note the name BERU). The GPS receiver is a round hockey puck made by GARMIN.

Thank you and you are correct. It is on a little shelf just below the headlight held on by a small 7/32 nut. But while the unit and connection look good, I still have no GPS even after unplugging and cleaning the already clean looking contacts. The connection appears to be automotive grade. I will try to see if I can update the firmware to see if that brings the unit back to life. Hopefully someone has posted on how to build a serial cable.

 

[dhrivnak]

My GPS antenna for my 2.5 Roadster was screwed to the flat shelf that is under and slightly to the left of the left headlight. This is not my car but just a photo I quickly found -- the red circle represents my best recollection of the location of the GPS sensor which is held on by one very small nut and bolt through a flat horizontal surface under the headlight assembly:
View attachment 522423

If you take a look at this photo below which is looking toward the front of the car from the wheel well with the headlight assembly above, the GPS sensor is on that "shelf" showing about six inches forward of the red/white/green/black wire coming out of the left hand side of the connector:View attachment 522422

Yes this was spot on. Unfortunately no issues were found.

 

[JohnGarziglia]

Then you might want to investigate updating the firmware. See: Caution - Annual Service - Car power-down - GPS issue. But before you do that,you might put a voltmeter on it to see if there is 5 volts coming through two of the wires (probably the red and black wire but I cannot say for sure). If no power, then an update to the firmware is not the answer.

Also, be absolutely sure that one of the wires going to one of the connection pins is not open. Before doing anything else you might disconnect the connection and on the GPS side using an ohmmeter or other continuity checker, stick a needle in each wire (one wire at a time) and check to see if there is continuity going to the relevant pin on the connector. On the car side, before doing this disconnect the two plugs from the VMS under the dash (I think it is the black connector that powers the GPS sensor but disconnect both to be sure there is no current flowing through the wires) and do the same thing on the side of the connector leading into the car. As I noted in my post above, it was a break in the continuity between the wire and one of the pins, not the connector itself, that was my issue. Since you have the wheel off and everything apart, it makes sense to be absolutely certain that all of the wires and connections there have integrity.

 

[dhrivnak]

Then you might want to investigate updating the firmware. See: Caution - Annual Service - Car power-down - GPS issue. But before you do that,you might put a voltmeter on it to see if there is 5 volts coming through two of the wires (probably the red and black wire but I cannot say for sure). If no power, then an update to the firmware is not the answer.

Thanks for the heads up, now to pull the tire AGAIN. ARGHHH!

 

[dhrivnak]

I verified I do have 5V power to the module, or at least the connector. And the + power is on the red pin with the black pins (there are two) being ground. slasner is loaning me his cable to see if the firmware update does the trick. Thank you all for all the help!!

For me I have to remove the front tire and then the bottom plastic plate, in front of the tire to gain access. If the firmware does not work it looks like one can purchase a new unit from Garman Garmin GPS 18x OEM™ | Sensor for $80.

 

[eHorses]

My GPS antenna for my 2.5 Roadster was screwed to the flat shelf that is under and slightly to the left of the left headlight. This is not my car but just a photo I quickly found -- the red circle represents my best recollection of the location of the GPS sensor which is held on by one very small nut and bolt through a flat horizontal surface under the headlight assembly:
View attachment 522423

If you take a look at this photo below which is looking toward the front of the car from the wheel well with the headlight assembly above, the GPS sensor is on that "shelf" showing about six inches forward of the red/white/green/black wire coming out of the left hand side of the connector:View attachment 522422

I verified I do have 5V power to the module, or at least the connector. And the + power is on the red pin with the black pins (there are two) being ground. slasner is loaning me his cable to see if the firmware update does the trick. Thank you all for all the help!!

For me I have to remove the front tire and then the bottom plastic plate, in front of the tire to gain access. If the firmware does not work it looks like one can purchase a new unit from Garman Garmin GPS 18x OEM™ | Sensor for $80.

Thank you both for sharing. @dhrivnak Please post updates once you fix it, good luck.

 

[TOBASH]

I verified I do have 5V power to the module, or at least the connector. And the + power is on the red pin with the black pins (there are two) being ground. slasner is loaning me his cable to see if the firmware update does the trick. Thank you all for all the help!!

For me I have to remove the front tire and then the bottom plastic plate, in front of the tire to gain access. If the firmware does not work it looks like one can purchase a new unit from Garman Garmin GPS 18x OEM™ | Sensor for $80.

Sticky???>>>> Mods?

 

[dhrivnak]

First my hats off to this group for helping locate and trouble shoot. I am especially thankful to slcasner who VERY promptly shipped me the cable to update the firmware. Unfortunately for me this did not work as I suspected. It seems the firmware solves the date function which I was not having. So I suspected another deeper issue. So I just purchased a new unit from Garmin. Slcasner, if it is OK for me to keep the cable another week I would like to do so, on the off chance the new unit has old firmware as well. But if someone else needs it now, I am happy to direct ship. I will keep everyone posted as the new puck should be here next week. Thank you

PS as I said I do not suspect the wiring as I know the power is working, and the connectors look good. No one has worked on that area of the car and the unit went out while I was away. No-one had driven or even turned on the car as we were all gone, and wires rarely break just sitting in a garage.

 

[slcasner]

Was there any response at all from the sensor when you connected the test cable and ran the SNSRXCFG utility? That is, was it able to connect?

Note that the new sensor does not come with the connector that Tesla used, so you will need to splice wires or buy new pins to crimp on. You could reuse the existing connector shell.

You may certainly keep the test cable for a week. I don't have any pending requests, other than @hcsharp is waiting for warmer weather to try again (he was not successful with the first version of my test cable).

 

[JohnGarziglia]

PS as I said I do not suspect the wiring as I know the power is working, and the connectors look good. No one has worked on that area of the car and the unit went out while I was away. No-one had driven or even turned on the car as we were all gone, and wires rarely break just sitting in a garage.

The conditions you describe replicate my experience with my sensor and connector exactly. My car sat at the SC for several months waiting for a new VMS. The GPS worked when I dropped it off at the SC and did not when I picked it up. I did not check for the 5 volts but I do know it turned out to be not the connector itself, but one of the crimped wires that went into the connector that likely became corroded with the moisture from sitting around and a lack of vibration from driving the car. But if you have a new GPS sensor on the way, you will need to do some wire work anyway so either way hopefully you will solve your issue.