Can you make your car GPS a golf GPS?

Navigon GPS Messing up Honda Civic?

• I have a 2001 Honda Civic ex 2dr and a Navigon 2100 max GPS. I've also used this device in a 03 Chevy Astro AWD. The 2100 max has lifetime traffic updates and uses the power cable as an FM receiver to get that traffic data. In the Astro Van: Using this unit and the DC cable caused the dashboard dials to fail and the fuse to go out. There were also several other problems, I think, but I wasn't driving that van at the time. Whenever the GPS was disconnected, the fuse for the dash was fine and never burned out. Once the GPS is plugged in for a bit, it would go out. In the Civic: On long drives using the GPS, the car would overheat when not moving. Without the GPS I can make long trips and idle without issue. (A mechanic has checked my radiator/cooling system, and found no leaks or faults.) Once, I also noted some weird stuff going on in the backlights of the dashboard; particularly, some of the numbers lost their lighting (permanently), and I smelled some melting. One friend suggested the GPS was drawing too many amps and was sucking power away from the engine fan, but I measured the GPS's current and it is taking in half of what it's rated to use. The car also has a brand new alternator and battery, and nothing else is plugged in when I use the GPS. Another theory I've received is that the FM features of the power cable (which also serves as an antenna) is creating interference in the car computer, messing things up. What do you all think? It's as if this GPS is cursed. If it's in a car, things go wrong. Without it, they run perfectly.

• Answer:

  when the car overheats after a long drive and coming to a stop the problem is usually related to the radiator fan. The purpose of the radiator fan is to pull air over the radiator at low speeds (under 30mph) and at stops. Once the car is running over 30 MPH the airflow over the front of the car is sufficient to remove the heat from the coolant inside the radiator and to transfer the heat to the outside air. I strongly suspect that your GPS has nothing to do with the overheating but rather that you are using the GPS at the same time that you create the conditions for the overheating. Here's one way you can find out--take the car on a long drive with the GPS, operating the car under the conditions that cause it to overheat. come to a stop, then disconnect the GPS, drive the car a bit at speed until the engine temp is Normal and come to a stop again. If you're theory is correct, the engine should stay cool. If the GPS has nothing to do with it, the engine should continue to overheat. My guess is it will continue to overheat. WHen that happens, turn on the air conditioning. THe air conditioning will turn on the condensor fan and that will act as a radiator fan. the engine temp should drop, provided your a/c condensor fan works. if the engine temp doesn't drop at stops, then open the hood and look behind the radiator; you should see both fans running (a/c is still ON). if they are both running and the engine is still running hot then you need to look at coolant level, water pump volume or other items that will cause overheating on long runs. check it as above and let me know if the fans work and the car is running hot with GPS disconnected. my guess again is that the GPS has nothing to do with it and that you're dealing with an inoperative radiator fan. hope that helps