[Keyboard]

Losing the compass and turn-by-turn directions in the Head-Up-Display (HUD) and instrument panel is a known problem for those with the Touring trim.

One way to restore it is to simply disconnect the negative battery cable for 10 seconds. Best of all, you won't lose any of your custom settings, preferences or presets. It'll came back as normal with the compass in the HUD and Turn-By-Turn directions restored.

After you reconnect the negative cable, you may have to take a short drive so that the car can complete the re-initialization process for the ACC, VSA, RDM, CMBS, and TPMS, but that's all.

This is a temporary fix. Obviously, there's still a bug that Honda must resolve, but this seems to be the easiest/quickest way to restore the compass without going through the dreaded Factory Data Reset that wipes out all of your customization, preferences, and presets.

 

[Scotty]

Thanks for the heads up. It looks like there may be a bunch of software issues that Honda will need to patch out.

 

[davidclinn]

Me too. Had the 2018 Accord Touring for a little over two weeks. The day after purchasing, I lost the compass and the turn by turn function. The dealer fixed it by doing a Factory Reset. I thought all was well again. A few days later, I start the car, and the compass and the turn by turn on the HUD is missing again.

I called the dealer, stating that it seems like a common problem on the Touring trim. He states that it was new to him; he never heard of that being a problem.

Now I see that disconnecting the neg cable on the battery fixes the problem. A bit frustrating. Any downside to disconnecting the negative battery cable??

 

[Keyboard]

davidclinn, There's no downside to disconnecting the negative battery cable that I know of.

However, I'm curious to know if you use any Apple products connected to your car (iPhone, iPod, etc.). The reason I ask is that I have a theory that there may be a bug with the Accord when using Apple products.

 

[davidclinn]

Keyboard, thanks!
No, I use Android auto when not using the built-in navi that comes with the car.

So when you disconnect and reconnect the negative battery cable, you do NOT lose any of your settings like you would by doing a Factory Reset of your system? I got the turn-by-turn to reappear by doing the Factory Reset, but then a few days later it was gone again.

 

[Keyboard]

Keyboard, thanks!
No, I use Android auto when not using the built-in navi that comes with the car.

So when you disconnect and reconnect the negative battery cable, you do NOT lose any of your settings like you would by doing a Factory Reset of your system? I got the turn-by-turn to reappear by doing the Factory Reset, but then a few days later it was gone again.

Correct. You do NOT lose any of your settings, preferences or presets when you disconnect the negative battery cable (unlike a factory reset which throws everything away).

A further question: Has anyone used an Apple product in your car to charge it or for any other purpose?

 

[davidclinn]

So today I take my 2018 Accord Touring to the dealer to talk about losing the compass and turn by turn directions on the heads up display! The Shop Foreman stated that Honda is definitely aware of this and is working on a fix. (we'll see). Anyway his fix today was the disconnecting of the negative battery cable. But he says he disconnects the positive cable as well. Then he touches the positive and negative cable and hold them together for 10 minutes. Hey, I am just the messager.

I told him the guys in the forum say just disconnecting the negative cable does the same thing. He says you can try that. He didn't dismiss it, but says taking both cables off and holding them together does something that completely resets everything. Sorry, above my pay grade.

Bottom line is that the dealership isn't too savvy on this. They do know that this is a big problem that Honda is aware of. Let's hope the fix comes soon.

 

[Keyboard]

What does the dealer mean by "completely resets everything"? If it performs a factory reset, then this is not what you want to happen.

I suggest you forget what that dealer told you. Only disconnect the negative cable for 10 seconds (not 10 minutes), AND DO NOT let it touch the positive cable.

 

[davidclinn]

Yeah, I agree with you, Keyboard. I even told him that what he suggests is getting complicated. That's when he said, "you can try that!" The next time I lose the compass and the turn by turn, I will pull the negative cable only.

 

[concordion2k]

Keyboard, thanks!
No, I use Android auto when not using the built-in navi that comes with the car.

So when you disconnect and reconnect the negative battery cable, you do NOT lose any of your settings like you would by doing a Factory Reset of your system? I got the turn-by-turn to reappear by doing the Factory Reset, but then a few days later it was gone again.

Correct. You do NOT lose any of your settings, preferences or presets when you disconnect the negative battery cable (unlike a factory reset which throws everything away).

A further question: Has anyone used an Apple product in your car to charge it or for any other purpose?

Yes. I’ve used CarPlay, both with iOS 11 and iOS 12 beta. Each time, something flaky occurs that causes the screen to go black, until I completely turn off Bluetooth and stop connecting via USB for a day or two.

It is rather annoying.

 

[ewmarcus]

Disappearing compass/nav

davidclinn, There's no downside to disconnecting the negative battery cable that I know of.

However, I'm curious to know if you use any Apple products connected to your car (iPhone, iPod, etc.). The reason I ask is that I have a theory that there may be a bug with the Accord when using Apple products.

@Keyboard: I have both an Apple iPhone 8+ and a Samsung Galaxy S9+ connected via Bluetooth. I wanted to comment back on your question because I seem to have found some odd correlation with the compass disappearing in the HUD and the use of two 'competing' phones.

Driver 1 (me) is set to have the iPhone setup as a phone and the Android set up for music streaming (Google music). All seems work as expected until Driver 2's key is used for *ANY* reason. Driver 2 has actually never been configured, I just keep it as my spare key... but it does immediately connect to my Android device for phone and music. Anyhow, I occasionally need to move my car quickly -- gotta love the auto-lock! -- and my main key is on a different floor in the house so key 2 is more easily accessible.

Whenever I use key 2, I lose my compass and nav instructions in the HUD the next time I start up - regardless of which key is used. Haven't talked to the dealer about it yet, but there's something about the non-configured key 2 and the loss of the compass/nav in the HUD. Not sure what that correlation really means, but thought I'd share to see if anyone else has a similar experience.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice! Keep a socket right next to stall 1 in my garage so I can unplug the battery a few times a week. Not something I'm loving on a car with 1,700 miles ... but I'm loving the 2.0T!

Thanks!
Evan

 

[atari800]

I found a confirmed faster way to get HUD Compass and navigation back....
Mine disappeared after I removed a USB thumb drive to add music to it, and put it back in. I realized I had no navigation on HUD at a stop sign. I did the following:
I went to the Garmin navigation and set a destination - since there was a car behind my, I picked anything.
BINGO - the directions appeared on the HUD
I quit Garmin and went back to google maps and waze and it remained

So I guess technically, if it happened while I was driving, I could tell Garmin Nav "Take me home" then cancel the drive and it would fix the problem
Hope this helps someone

 

[trafair]

So @Keyboard and @ewmarcus I use an iPod on USB 2 for music and have an Android phone connected so the competing device theory could be true... I also use unassigned key fob 2 from time to time to unlock my car. Noticed the disappearing compass today. The glitchiness of this car is frustrating! Problems since day 1 - that was May 1st... I'll try the Garmin reset trick tomorrow... Glad I found this forum, I thought it was just me.

 

[doughh]

Got in the car this morning and no compass, speed signs or turn by turn in the HUD. Tried setting a destination, as suggested by Atari800, but that did not return the functions. I'll disconnect the negative battery cable and see if that fixes the issues at least temporarily. Disconnecting the battery cable did the trick. Compass has returned and assume the other functions are back as well, but haven't taken it out for a spin yet.

 

[doughh]

I forgot to add that I do NOT have any cell phone paired with my Touring 2.0t. I will report back on how long it takes to lose the compass.

 

[Keyboard]

I forgot to add that I do NOT have any cell phone paired with my Touring 2.0t. I will report back on how long it takes to lose the compass.

Thanks @doughh. Has your phone or any other devices been connected to the USB port? If so, what were they?

 

[doughh]

Have not connected my phone to the Accord. I have connected my flash drive to play music. The flash drive has been connected and removed many times since I bought the car 1 month ago, today. So far only 1 occurrence of losing the compass etc.

 

[doughh]

Got in the car this morning to go to the gym and no Compass. Drove the to gym, sans Compass, worked out and got in my car to go home. Bingo Compass appears. This is weird.

 

[Keyboard]

Got in the car this morning to go to the gym and no Compass. Drove the to gym, sans Compass, worked out and got in my car to go home. Bingo Compass appears. This is weird.

Were you wearing polarized sun glasses when you lost the compass? If so, then the glasses cancels out the HUD display. It's still there, you just won't see it with the glasses on.

Other than that, we'll have to wait until Honda comes up with a fix.

 

[doughh]

I know it's been stated that Honda is aware of this issue, but do we know that for sure? Apparently some dealers are saying Honda is aware of the issue but has anyone actually talked to Honda In-Car Technology or Honda corporate to confirm?

I posted the question to Honda Customer Service on Twitter and they refused to confirm or deny if there was a HUD issue. They just offered to work with my dealer to resolve the issue.