I've been looking at the firmware upgrade CDs. I don't have software to examine the content other than "Notepad" but my gut feeling is that they ran out of memory space in firmware. If it was just a simple matter of massaging a file to correct the problem it would have happened long ago and a patch issued.

 

Memory is cheap and I find it hard to believe that was the case. It only seems to be Denso. My Delphi nav works fine and it's older than these. To develop a product that was being installed in a 2011 model year car that would knowingly fail in only 8 years (assuming your theory is correct) seems very improbable. I think there's much more to this than simply running out of space for a table.

 

The upgrade uses two CDs. The first updates the navigation system and the second updates the audio system. Firmware is normally loaded onto a particular kind of non-volatile flash memory chip. There has to be a good reason why the file size is an odd 37,056KB. The second CD file is a more usual 512KB which is a typical chip capacity. These binary files are loaded as one big long data word. Flip or add a bit somewhere and the data is offset in the registers and everything goes bananas. This is why the last step of the process is to verify the data checksum to make sure the data has been correctly loaded. Every bit of data has its place in the matrix. If the space allocated for the GPS tables is not big enough you're screwed. If you consider the possibility that the guy that created this mess was maybe near retirement and the thing only had to work until he got out the door it all makes sense.

 

I had the same problem on my 2008 STS. The clock disappeared after I disconnected the battery. I also noticed that GPS performance was not as good as it used to be. It was taking forever to pick up a signal.

The clock is connected to GPS as it gets time info from it. It appears that GPS unit is affected by the current flow from the battery.

The security system sucks power like there is no tomorrow draining the battery. I replaced the old battery and left the car unlocked overnight. Next morning the clock was back. The only slight issue I still have with it - it is telling me that I live in January 2001. And I have not figured out the way to reset the date.

I also notice that GPS performance gets better if I leave the car unlocked overnight (even with a new battery). I took me over two month to figure out the dependency between battery drainage GPS and clock.

 

Only thing I have to say is WEIRD.

Do you think GPS is working normally now that you have the time back? Or is it still slow to lock because the date is wrong?

Also, since you're in 2001, could you buy some stocks for me that are much higher now?

 

Original poster here. Never thought my question would generate this many posts!
It's weird to me that my original reason for disconnecting the battery was that the car was dead, simply dead with no electrical response whatsoever. I fixed this by disconnecting then reconnecting the battery. Even then the car would not start until briefly putting the starter button into acc mode. Have not had a problem since other than the damn clock.
Weird, yes wierd.

 

Add me to the list! Left something on in the car Saturday night and came out to a totally dead battery yesterday...Recharged the battery and as expected... --:-- :banghead:

Called GM, Rep was very nice but totally clueless as expected. Advised I take the car to my nearest Cadillac dealership for inspection. Guess we'll just hope and pray for a fix, out of pocket more than likely too.

Also called Key Cadillac in Edina, MN. Their service manager had not encountered this yet on an STS or DTS. Gave him the bulletin ID and he took my info down and said they'd try to let me know if they hear of a fix from GM.

 

I have also lost my clock and GPS signal after disconnecting battery in Jan 2019. 2008 STS V. Could be satellite got damaged?

 

Yes it's probably a problem with the multi billion dollar satellite network rather than a consumer device.

 

And just as mysteriously as it vanished, it is back. My clock is back!

Anybody else get their back?

 

Did your date come back properly... I bet it didn't.

EDIT

NVM I see Im correct.

 

Did you do anything special to get it back?

 

Nothing at all. No clock yesterday. Today clock.

I parked next to a Mazda, that was about the only thing different.

 

Mine has not come back.

 

My clock came back today, but the date is reading 31DEC2000. I had to adjust the time manually. Pressing GPS gives a false time.

 

Ya know, I did not even check the date. My time was way off too, but this time I could actually adjust it.

 

For those that have the clock back, is it still taking a long time to get a GPS lock?

 

Guess I'll join the club, battery died 2 weeks ago due to the cold, got another battery and lost the time like everyone else here. Weird because I have disconnected the battery multiple times over the last summer without issue, now this happens.

 

This started last fall.

 

My customer just told me her clock came back by itself! Knew it was a satellite problem!

 

:bigroll:

Try disconnecting the battery again and see how long it takes the clock to come back. And did she check the date? And is the Nav locking on quickly like before (no one has answered this yet).

I am finding it hard to believe that some people just think the multi-billion dollar GPS network had a problem that they finally fixed after a few months. But wait, there was nothing on the news, and wait, this problem with the GPS network only affected Denso consumer devices. That's one specific problem.

Don't you think it's more likely that some are getting the clock back because a software routine timed out in the Denso unit. And they still aren't working right. The date is wrong and people are having to set the clock manually because the time from GPS is being interpreted incorectly. But maybe the US Government hasn't fully fixed the problem that only affects Denso Nav units. They are really slow.

 

I disconnected the battery on my 2007 sts for maybe 2 hrs to erase the engine light when I reconnected the battery no dash clock I tried every thing I could think of still no clock I bean having this problem for about 3 weeks

 

Want to know how to get it fixed? Just ask.

 

Hello, I am in France and I have a sts of 2006 as you following a change of battery the clock has disappeared ...

 

My GPS locks in right away like normal. I have my clock back but the date is wrong.
Gonna give it more time hopefully it'll come back too.

 

The GPS is a joke why pay for a updated Cd every year . I use google on my phone google will find me and give much more accurate directions

 

Have you disconnected your battery yet? When you do so, tell us how much you like having a nav unit in the center dash that has a clock that doesn't work because of a firmware issue that is/will affect a few hundred thousand vehicles.

 

I'm just sure that my whole life will be topsy turvy when the clock craps out in the NAV unit in my car........ NOT!

 

Grow a pair, man. Go out and disconnect your battery overnight. Tell us about your life in the morning. I double dog dare you.

 

My dealer said they had a bulletin from Cadillac which said, “Cadillac engineering is aware of the problem and is researching a fix, will notify when fix is available.”

 

Do you REALLY believe this will happen?:bsflag:

 

Did you not see the bulletin stuff I posted from that Corvette forum that someone else linked? That is why I am not calling - it said exactly what he quoted, and was an official GM bulletin. They already know about it. A couple dozen more calls from folks on this forum will not do anything except waste time.

 

A couple dozen more calls from folks on this forum will not do anything except waste time.

You are so WRONG! You clearly have no understanding of the history of GM and other car manufacturers of taking responsibility and fixing problems. Just because they acknowledge it, does not mean they will fix it. Use your voice, guy.

 

You are so WRONG! You clearly have no understanding of the history of GM and other car manufacturers of taking responsibility and fixing problems. Just because they acknowledge it, does not mean they will fix it. Use your voice, guy.

They would not have issued a public TSB acknowledging the problem saying that Engineering is looking into it, if the plan was to deny or do nothing. That doesn't guarantee a fix, but neither does calling. If it is possible and economical by some standard, they will fix ALL of the vehicles listed in the TSB and we are already on that list - they already know our clocks are broken and it is systemic rather than some individual unit fault (like a battery or other failure). The whole thing behind calling is to convince the OEM that there is a widespread issue in the first place (as opposed to "no, we've never seen that"). They already know about it and, most importantly, publicly acknowledged it. So that part is done.

Corvette people care about this. Presumably the truck people do. Do you think GM is like "it's gonna take 12 more calls from random people on the Cadillac forum or those STS people are SOL" ?

 

Its just like the oil burning issue on the 3.6 L . I was told by the local dealer I did not complain soon enough. I know there is a service bulletin on the issue but the dealer won't offer to help. It will be a cold day in hell before I buy any more vehicles from them