Calibrating compass for the 21

[nossiron]

I found the problem, apparently posting to this forum is the culprit... Went on a camping trip out of state this past weekend and noticed my sync screen compass did not work at all. The dash compass was working the whole time though. Truck did great towing though.

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[BigShan808]

My 8" display compass hasn't worked but 3 days straight in over 2 months. Have never taken notice to the trans temp gage. Ford get your act together and take care of your loyals!

 

[Missmy3/4ton]

Rumor has it there is a TSB or service notice for this? Anyone know the number?

 

[Regular Guy]

21-2388?

 

[fmdog44]

21-2388?

Mine finally started working on both screens a couple of weeks ago and I bought it on May 5! Six months!

 

[Regular Guy]

I took mine to the dealer last week for the compass issue. Both my dash and Sync screen worked intermittently, usually frozen north. The service paperwork reads "found TSB 21-2388, updated TCU and GWM to latest levels 212388B, updates confirmed, 750352"

When I picked it up I first notice the sync compass was bouncing around about 15 degrees either side of N for about 30 secs and then froze on N and hasn't changed since. However the dash compass was reading correctly and still is.

When I called the dealer two days later to explain what happened and get the TSB info to share above, they scheduled me for another appt in Jan to see if they can get Sync compass working. I'll update then.

Since this thread is about compass calibration, I'm curious if that could be part of this issue. It isn't clear from this thread if calibration is even possible or needed but I tried anyway when I got home. Driving in circles didn't change anything. Next time I pick it up at the dealer I'm going to watch the sync compass and if I see a bouncing compass I'm going start driving in circles.

 

[Blue Truck]

I had the TSB 21-2388 procedure done on my truck on Dec 30 but had to wait until Jan 3 to pick it up. Both compasses are working now but I’m going to take the truck for a ride today to see if all is still good. I’ll keep you posted.

 

[Blue Truck]

Followup on The Compass TSB
I hope that I don’t jinx things but both compasses are still working perfectly. So, with fingers crossed, I think that this TSB did the job.

 

[Regular Guy]

I wasn't so lucky. As I wrote above, after my update in mid Dec, my Sync compass froze up after 30 secs of acting funny but at least the dash compass worked. I scheduled a followup service for last Thurs.

Between appts I did notice twice that if it was parked far a couple days when i started it up the 2 compasses were like fighting back and forth, bouncing around. Within a few moments the Sync compass froze but the dash still worked.

At this week's service they kept it overnight and tried the TSB twice but only the dash compass works. They contacted Ford and said they should hear something in a couple of days.

 

[Blue Truck]

That’s too bad. I will add that the main reason the truck was in the shop was for an occasional startup system freak-out. Since November this year when I started the truck a bunch of system warning screens would pop up on the instrument cluster and I would lose my ABS, traction control and other warning systems. They replaced a rear axle harness 3 weeks ago with no effect. The Ford Mothership gave them a long series of checks to make including various harness and component connections. Maybe in doing this procedure they “helped” to fix the compasses. The warning screens are gone now and both compasses are working. This video shows the warning screens popping up.

 

[Regular Guy]

That’s too bad. I will add that the main reason the truck was in the shop was for an occasional startup system freak-out. Since November this year when I started the truck a bunch of system warning screens would pop up on the instrument cluster and I would lose my ABS, traction control and other warning systems. They replaced a rear axle harness 3 weeks ago with no effect. The Ford Mothership gave them a long series of checks to make including various harness and component connections. Maybe in doing this procedure they “helped” to fix the compasses. The warning screens are gone now and both compasses are working. This video shows the warning screens popping up.

I guess I don't have it that bad, my only problem so far has been the compasses. Maybe they can resolve this but if not I'm going to let it go. The dash compass is something better than nothing. The only time I need anything more is when I overland with a camper and a dash cam goes on. The GPS dash cam has a nice compass feature.

 

[fmdog44]

My compass did not work for 6 months then it did and has been working fine ever since on both locations.

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