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Help! GPS Date on my 09 MMH has rolled back 15 years and I can't figure out how to change it to current date

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1.4K views 23 replies 8 participants last post by  Mountain Escape  
R
#1 ·
Title summarizes the situation.

The date on sync screens display -- the ford manual refers to this as the “entertainment system” -- on my 2009 Mercury Mariner has rolled back 15 years (to be exact 15 years, 7 months and 16 days) and I cannot see any way to change it. Several pics are attached to show this.

I’ve searched but cannot find any explanation to fix it. I found something on reddit (here) that seemingly explains the issue. But that thread is so lightly commented I question if it’s correct. Ford wouldn’t let something so obvious go unfixed for so long, … right?

Pics attached to show what I am asking about. The buttons in Clock and Calendar do not allow a change to the date. The clock screen only allows you to change the time.

Per the sync manual the calendar screen "You are able to view calendars from one previous year and the next 10 years" and even with that there is no button to "Set Date".

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R
#4 ·
That's what I've read also. However I question it.

How come I'm the only one reporting it on here, how come it's not more widely reported overall (beyond here)? Did my vehicle (the sync system in) not get some some software patch/fix/TSB applied that others did and are therefore not having this issue?

That it's not widely reported indirectly says other vehicles with the same sync system configuration are not seeing the issue.
 
T
#8 ·
Hi ME, I have not tried the above options. I did come across a bit of interesting information yesterday. There is a phenomenon known as GPS Rollover - here's the Wikipedia link: https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=b115...1aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvR1BTX3dlZWtfbnVtYmVyX3JvbGxvdmVy&ntb=1
It seems to explain the date all of a sudden going haywire. Of course the big question now is what to do to correct it. Do you think if enough of us appeal to Ford, they'd be conscientious enough to provide a SYNC update to resolve it? (Yeah, I didn't think so either)
I'm willing to do the "Hard GPS" reset, but I'd like to know in advance whether it would properly re-sync the date or just introduce even more problems. ANYBODY out there who has figured out a fix????
 
R
#10 ·
In a follow up to all this. I have tried the battery reset, that did not fix it. I have not tried to contact Sync support, however the the reddit thread (here) said they did. So I may.

I do want to report this old date is having cascading effects. Last night I looked at something under the Sirius screens, favorite sports, scheduled (or something), and one screen showed "No schedules available for 27-DEC-2005."

Yes, I know who looks to Sirius for travel, weather or traffic these days of Waze and Google Maps, so I'll probably turn off that subscription.
 
R
#14 ·
An update.

- Thanks for the suggestions on disconnecting the 12V battery. I tried it and it did not work. After trying I did some internet research and concluded that will never work. Why? Because GPS data signals do not include an actual date. GPS data does include hyper-accurate time, but not an actual date.

Instead of sending an actual date GPS signals send an offset, in number of weeks, from a predetermined date. This offset rolls over (to zero) every 1024 weeks, or approximately 20 years. The GPS receiver needs to account for this, and be able to do the math accordingly. Evidently Ford's SYNC system did not account for the rollover. Which is surprising.

- A head's up to anyone else trying the battery disconnect approach. You may encounter DTC codes triggered by a battery disconnect, so be prepared to either clear them yourself or go to a repair shop or dealer to do so.

DTC codes are a good lead in. I am (still) hoping there is some way to reset the date -- the start date to the latest rollover date, (April 6 to 7, 2019, GPS Week 2,047) -- via either a DTC tool or maybe/lesser so some secret combination of buttons on the sync system, (similar to the button press sequence for programming the door entry keypad or activating a new key fob).

I have a Blue Driver DTC adapter, but so far I have not found an entry to reset the date, I might have missed this and plan to look closer once again. I read somewhere Forscan might be able to to this, but I haven't investigated further. Yet.
 
#15 ·
Retired Coal Miner said:
An update.

- Thanks for the suggestions on disconnecting the 12V battery. I tried it and it did not work. After trying I did some internet research and concluded that will never work. Why? Because GPS data signals do not include an actual date. GPS data does include hyper-accurate time, but not an actual date.

Instead of sending an actual date GPS signals send an offset, in number of weeks, from a predetermined date. This offset rolls over (to zero) every 1024 weeks, or approximately 20 years. The GPS receiver needs to account for this, and be able to do the math accordingly. Evidently Ford's SYNC system did not account for the rollover. Which is surprising.

- A head's up to anyone else trying the battery disconnect approach. You may encounter DTC codes triggered by a battery disconnect, so be prepared to either clear them yourself or go to a repair shop or dealer to do so.

DTC codes are a good lead in. I am (still) hoping there is some way to reset the date -- the start date to the latest rollover date, (April 6 to 7, 2019, GPS Week 2,047) -- via either a DTC tool or maybe/lesser so some secret combination of buttons on the sync system, (similar to the button press sequence for programming the door entry keypad or activating a new key fob).

I have a Blue Driver DTC adapter, but so far I have not found an entry to reset the date, I might have missed this and plan to look closer once again. I read somewhere Forscan might be able to to this, but I haven't investigated further. Yet.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the update, have you contacted sync yet?

it sounds like the old Y2K scare… I wonder if it's as simple as changing the date format to a four digit year?

I am really curious what caused the rollback

I wonder if installing a new head unit would solve your problem… I'm sure not what you wanna do
 
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#24 ·
Just curious, I know that there are sync updates that are available through a flash drive… I wonder if forcing an update would help?

It seems like a glitch… Hopefully you don't have to replace the head unit! I never had any issues with my 2009.

If you wind up attempting a head unit swap, I would hope you have a salvage yard nearby.
I would suggest trying that too… Keep it OE
 
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