Hello all,

I own a 1991 SSE and I did a rather large "upgrade" to the stereo and electronics system.

Ever since the compass has never quite worked right.
I didn't know where it was located in the car until I read your article about it, in the trunk.

My question is, if I move the compass, does it have to remain "level" or can it be put on it'* side? Or will that goof it up.

IE if I was to mount it to the side wall of the cars trunk, by the jack kit/air pump.

Thanks

In my opinion, it must be level because it anticipates magnetic fields from the sides, front, and back. It probably isn't designed to sense fields from the top and bottom, which would now be the sides if the sensor is mounted on its side.

Fuddy is right. I used to deal with these in F-4'*. They have to remain in the same orientation. Just move it back as far as the stock harness will allow. Have you seen the Techinfo article on this?

I wasn't able to move the compass back far enough to avoid the magnetic field of the speakers. It kept goofing up, so I decided to experiment anyways.

I mounted it on the inside wall of the car, by the antenna, with some good old fashion duct tape.

It took longer to calibrate (few more spins around the parking lot), but it works just fine.


Just thought I'd let you guys know how my experiment turned out.

You're probably getting inaccurate readings, especially when outside interference is present. If you don't car, then leave it there. If you do car, rig some kind of bracket to change it back to a horizontal mounting.

Why would you have to drive in circles to set the compass? To set it you just have to set your zone(you find out by looking in your manual).
Is there a different way? I know you set the compass on a rearview mirror this way.

Newer Bonnevilles have an automatic calibrating compass. The older ones don't have that feature. This calibrates the compass to compensate for magnetic fields which can develop inside the vehicle.

tony, on the 88-91(for sure, not sure about other years) you must drive in circles at 5mph if u dont know where true north is. when u set the zone to 00, u must point ur car to true north for it to work correctly. if you read your manual, it is in there, i am lookin at it now.

Devon