Compass needing calibration

[vito]

I've had my new 2011 OB for about 2 weeks now, and have about 900 miles, and yesterday my compass feature in the rear view mirror got stuck in the "SW" reading. Regardless of how I turned the car, or switched the compass feature on and off, it stayed on "SW". I went through the calibration process as described in the owner's manuel and it now seems back to normal, but it made me a bit worried about the compass' reliability. I have no idea what might have affected the compass, its not as if I was parked next to an electric magnet or something. I wonder if this is common or if possibly there is something wrong with the compass in my new car.

[chrisi]

Some others have had the same problem. Click "Search" on the forum menu and use the word "compass" and you should be able to find them.

[Green LTD]

We have had our OB ltd for about a month and the compass has gotten "stuck" several times, it's stuck on SE right now...We have the rear camera with screen in the mirror, if that makes any difference. Anyone had this problem fixed?

[bigdadi]

If you need compass calibration after new car delivery, it means your Subie dealer did not do its job. There should be a check list for that preparation before delivery the new car to an excited Subie owner. I bought it used so not as exicted as the new car owners.

[vito]

As I stated in the first post, last night I calibrated the compass and went home. I thought all was well. When I started the engine this AM it again was stuck on "SW". I drove to a parking lot where I could drive in a circle and calibrate it again, which I did , and came home again. After shutting the engine I re-started it and the compass was correct. I'll see later if it is back on "SW" or otherwise not fucntioning properly. I definitely will complain to the dealer but I wonder if this is a fixable problem or a design flaw by Subaru.

[arnobarno]

This is exactly the problem I have. You calibrate it and it works for a bit then it gets stuck on a direction. Then, mysteriously, it starts working again. Until the next time it gets stuck on a direction.

I talked to the service manager (who spoke to SOA) and he said they don't know of any problems. The only suggestion was perhaps I had an EZpass or some other electronic tolling thing interfering. Well, sure enough, I had an RFID proximity sensor for our building's garage. So, I removed that.

And, ...

It made no difference. So, I'll be calling the service manager back and trying to schedule a fix - probably when we have our 3000 mile checkup.

For the record, our car is the 2011 3.6 Ltd with the moonroof/backup camera/compass/homelink combo.

[Green LTD]

As noted by others we also have re-calibrated the compass several times, had it work normally, then get stuck on a random direction. Sometimes after shutdown it works again, sometimes not. Seems accurate when working.

[Somerset Max]

Originally Posted by vito

I definitely will complain to the dealer but I wonder if this is a fixable problem or a design flaw by Subaru.

It may well be a design flaw, but since Subaru buys these mirrors from a generic supplier, the flaw is not one of Subaru's doing.
This is a warranty issue. If you register your complaint, and if the dealership can verify the problem, the mirror should be replaced under the terms of the Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty.

[WTA]

First post. Subaru owner since 1995. Only car brand that I have bought two of in a row and now three. Our third is a 2011 2.5 limited that we just bought July 8th. The compass has been working off and on since we got the car. The first time I noticed it was stuck on one direction I pulled into an empty parking lot and calibrated the compass according to the owners manual. The zone was set for Indiana not West Virginia. The compass worked fine the rest of that trip. The next time I drove the car, which was several days later, the compass was again stuck. I went through the same recalibration procedure, same results. Worked awhile then stuck again. This past Thursday the wife took off early as we were planning a weekend trip. We had to take the dog to the kennel and the trip took us by the Subaru dealer. I wheeled into the lot and told the service manager that I thought he might need to order me a new mirror as mine was not working properly. He said, “Let me try and recalibrate it.” He gets in and goes through the recalibration procedure setting the compass for zone nine. The wife, still sitting in the car, tells him its supposed to be zone ten as we have already done this twice. She digs out the manual and shows him the chart which clearly had WV in zone ten. They drive around in circles a few times and stop near me. Its hot standing in the sun so I jump in the back. We do a few more circles and I tell him I have done this twice already and the mirror seems to have a mind of its own. He tells me if it acts up again to just drive around in circles until it sorts itself out. I said. “ You mean with out going through the recalibration procedure?” And he says, “Yea, just drive around in circles”. We left and headed for the kennel. Before we got back home that evening, which had to have been less than 45 minutes since leaving the dealer, it had screwed up twice and twice we circled the wagons and let it sort its self out. We headed for the mountains Friday and it worked most of the time. I never did any more circles but it could have been that the roads were so crooked that it thought I was going in circles and was able to properly orient itself. I paid attention to it on our return trip today. It worked fine for 220 miles with me shutting down the engine twice. I paid close attention to it as we turned into our subdivision. Down the hill, north yea that's right. Then west. Then back south. Into the driveway due west. **** things stuck on south.>>

[BobNE]

I mentioned this intermittent problem before in an earlier thread. Recalibration and proper zone setting have nothing to do with the compass locking up. So driving around in circles is useless to solve this particular issue. It appears to occur in mirrors with green NSEW characters and build-in backup camera display. I don’t believe cars with backup displays built into the navigation module have this issue. It could be that all the gizmos stuffed into the mirror are overwhelming the compass’ electronics at times. It’s definitely an annoying defect that needs to be corrected.