Greetings and a couple of Aviator ??s

[AV8JETS]

Hello from the Pacific NW. Nice to see some fellow Aviator owners here. Now that I've seen some of the production numbers for the Aviator, it's no surprise that there is very little info around.

Our own story: Purchased a 2003 "Kittyhawk" edition for my wife in October 2003. It's the first Lincoln product for either of us. Just broke 10,000 miles last month. Everytime she drives/rides in it all she can say is, "I love this thing!", and I tend to agree.

I do have a couple of questions:
1) Has anyone seen any information around regarding mods/fixes for the nav system? Specifically, the over-ride that prevents entering destination info when the vehicle is moving is extremely frustrating. A passenger should be able to operate the nav system without restriction. Also, it would be very nice to display video on the nav screen. Anyone try switching into that?

2) We get a very high-pitched electronic whine any time the vehicle is running. It's like the almost ultrasonic whine from an old TV. It seems louder from the driver seat and seems to eminate from the mid right side. The intensity is quite positional. It does not seem to change with stereo volume, engine speed, or road speed. Anyone else experience this?

Looking forward to any follow or response anyone might have. Thanks for reading.

Cheers,

Ian
2003 Lincoln Aviator "Kittyhawk"
1997 Land Rover Discovery SE
1995 Lotus Esprit S4s

[Nick]

Welcome! Very nice selection of vehicles. I'm a big fan of all three. Have you spoken to the dealer about the whine? I suspect a study of the navigation system schematics may yield a way to wire the sytem to permit on the fly destination changes. I am not sure about video though.

[RJ Sclafani]

Does the noise sound like it is comming from all of the speakers, or one of the appliances (tv, radio units)? Does it get higher pitched as the RPM's go up? The answers will help us locate the problem.

[AV8JETS]

Thanks for the replies Nick and RJ. I haven't mentioned the problem to the dealer yet. The noise doesn't seem to change frequency or intensity with RPM, speed, or anything else. It is possible that the source is the video screen itself, but without a way to "turn off" that screen, I haven't been able to confirm it's the culprit. With regard to the fixes/mods on the nav and video system, it sounds like I'll need to find a wiring diagram and maybe even take my own look at the physical connections.

[RJ Sclafani]

Can you find out which fuse is to the radio/screen and pull that to see if it stops? Either way, I'd take it to the dealer and ask about it, can't hurt. Please do take a look at the connections and report back to us.

[pro-five-oh]

Welcome! We need more Aviator people here, I feel lonely. (the other forums I moderate and my huge post count notwithstanding) ;)

The answer to question #1 is simple: legal liability on navigation systems is a HUGE factor here in America. Don't blame Ford, they pretty much had to do it. Every Navigation system is all "lawyered up" here in the states. In Europe you can have TV tuners installed with the screen and watch things while driving, because the manufacturers assume the driver isn't stupid enough to drive and watch the screen. Not so lucky in America. My advice is to crank up the A/C seats in the driveway while you program the Nav. By the time you get the route ready to go, the engine is warm and the seats are cool.

Haven't experienced the second problem, I'd see if the A/C/heat seat operation has anything to do with it. With any luck, the dealer should be able to trace this problem down.

I am not a big fan of Linc-Merc service departments, as they seem to screw up the fine cars that the sales departments sell us. But with any luck you'll get your problem fixed.

[ June 11, 2004: Message edited by: pro-five-oh ]