Non OEM compasses, interference from somewhere - 2010 Toyota Corolla

[greeno]

I wanted a compass for my car and instead of buying that stupid mirror as a $300 option, I decided to buy a suction cup liquid compass. The problem is when its inside the car it thinks that the front of the car is always south no matter what direction you are going. I tried placing it at other parts in the car and it always points south but when you take it out of the car it works fine.

Same problem with another standard handheld compass I have when its inside the car the front of the car is always south and behind you is north, but when you take it out of the car works perfectly.

Next I decided to buy a more expensive digital compass that allows you to calibrate it if there are any problems. Again outside the car works fine but inside the car the front is always south and the back is north, Tried calibration inside and outside the car and no matter what it screws up. Also tried spinning the car in circle in a parking lot during calibration without moving the compass and same problem. Front of the Car is always South and Behind you is north.

Tried everything I think, car off and car on, there is some kind of magnetic interference coming from the car, I am wondering if someone knows how to fix this, without having to buy the $300 option because I think they rigged the car to mess up other compasses.

[joeylgarcia]

go back to your toyota dealer and ask how to solve that problem. bring all your compasses.

[greeno]

I am afraid they might rip the car apart to find where the interference is coming from. Anyone here on ToyotaNation use a non oem compass?

I don't know its not important to me but sometimes I drive on streets that curve and I forget that I am going north west instead of west or something like that.

[joeylgarcia]

i do use a suction type of compass (i bought it at canadian tire) on my 2009 corolla at times. not all the time. nothing goes wrong.

[cabur]

Originally Posted by greeno

I am afraid they might rip the car apart to find where the interference is coming from. Anyone here on ToyotaNation use a non oem compass?

I don't know its not important to me but sometimes I drive on streets that curve and I forget that I am going north west instead of west or something like that.

Get a GPS. A economical one is around or below C$100. It'll tell you to turn left or right and when.

[FirstXrs]

Having your compass flip out like that kinda creepy, actually. Do you have dealer tint? The consensus here is that the dealer tint is cheap and made of metal, and could therefor be magnetically charged.

... Still a little weirded out about this

[greeno]

I think it may be because the car is parked south all the time, so the car magnetic field is fixed to south. How do you demagnatize a car?

[joeylgarcia]

Originally Posted by greeno

I think it may be because the car is parked south all the time, so the car magnetic field is fixed to south. How do you demagnatize a car?

i just went in the house and installed my suction cup compass. i noticed that my car is also always parked facing south but the compass is good. went around the block 1 time and parked again in the garage. everything is still fine with the compass.

[greeno]

Originally Posted by joeylgarcia

i just went in the house and installed my suction cup compass. i noticed that my car is also always parked facing south but the compass is good. went around the block 1 time and parked again in the garage. everything is still fine with the compass.

OK, I guess my car is just messed up.

[Exit9]

The compass is affected by magnetic fields near the edges of the window. I put mine in the center of the windshield about half way up towards the mirrou and it works fine now.