08 M35X GPS woes

[Ruckus08M35X]

Back last October I traded my BMW 328XI in for an Infiniti M35X. I love the car in every aspect except one. The Navigation does not function as it should, I searched this forum and found that I am not the only one with issues in this regard. The first time I used the nav it was jumping all over the place. I was cruising down I-66 in VA and it suddenly thought I was on a road perpendicular to the highway. I took it to Nationwide Infiniti in Timonium, MD where I bought the vehicle and explained the issues. Their solution was to update the maps at cost to me. I was naive enough to think that was what I should do since a service rep from the dealership was telling me so. WRONG. This past weekend I was in DC with my wife and my parents to see the Nats play the Braves. After the game we decided to find a restaurant to eat at. We found one on the internet and I input the address in the nav. What followed was a nightmare. The nav screen was literally spinning in slow circles. At one point it had us going the complete opposite direction than we needed to go. My father finally said "Turn the useless piece of [explicative] off. I'll use my [explicative] phone."
So this morning I have been researching this nav issue and it seems to be due to the placement of the gps antenna. So my questions are:

A. Is there a tutorial anywhere that I can use to relocate the antenna myself?

B. Is there an aftermarket antenna that anyone here has used with success to mount on the exterior of the vehicle?

I haven't been able to find answers to either of these questions. There doesn't seem to be many good Infiniti resources besides this forum. Thanks!

[wingFeather]

There are no issues with the factory placement of the antenna. Do you have window tint? It may be interfering with reception.

[Ruckus08M35X]

No, I do not have window tint.

[Ruckus08M35X]

I've seen other people's posts about the same issue and in some cases the dealer has replaced the Nav unit and the problem persists, another guy had both the Nav unit and the antenna replaced. Neither action fixed the problem.

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[TDot]

Was it cloudy? I did the nav hack and noticed on cloudy days when I flip the switch it takes an extra long time to lock back up if at all. Basically the car is loosing track of the sats and having a hard time picking them back up. Unfortunately, I don't have a solution for you.

[Ruckus08M35X]

It happens to me no matter what the weather conditions are, however it was cloudy and rainy all day Saturday. It was noticeably worse. How is it I have owned two different vehicles with in dash Navs and used garmin gps and I have NEVER had any issues like I an having with the M? It makes it just about unusable.

[wingFeather]

I've owned two M's with nav, and never experienced these issues. Sorry to hear it, and I hope a simple solution is discovered.

[cruzad3r]

the 06-07 gps ant is in the center of the dash where center channel speaker is. if you can find the service manual for 08 and up, you can trace it from there. sorry, not much of help here.

i do think once you relocate or at least provide better ground to the antena, your reception will be better.

ps. check this site for the FSM. it might have it here

[Ruckus08M35X]

Thanks cruzad3r! I think I have a weekend project.

[TDot]

Before you start this project and put your whole weekend into it, I think this will be a waste of time...in my opinion...even though I do not have a better solution. There is no better place unless you plan to sit the thing on the dash or roof...back window is just no good either. And it doesn't operate off the same principles as an antenna where finding a different ground is going to help. At most I would think the magnet from the speaker is interfering with it, but I kind of doubt that. I also doubt that being in the dash is affecting it Terribly to need to be relocated, GPS is pretty powerful unless going through thick concrete or metal. I have my computers GPS in my glovebox with no issues. Just my opinion, but if you go through with it, hopefully im wrong.We

[wingFeather]

Then again, the previous owner/mechanic may have tugged on the antenna cable, causing it to come loose or unplugged. Or it got crimped. Worth a look IMHO