Hi All,

I have a 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid with all options. In front of the auto dimming mirror there is a little plastic box. It looks like a GPS receiver but I am not sure as there is also what looks like a GPS antenna on top of the roof on passenger side in front of the moonroof. Does anyone know what this is?

Why I am wondering of what this little plastic box is for is that I want to replace the current auto dimming mirror with a Gentek review mirror with homelink and of course the auto dimming feature (not sure why Ford didn't have the homelink option in the first place). This may make things more difficult.

Thanks and happy motoring

 

Hello.

I own a 2008 FEH and the little black box you're describing is more than likely the "brains" for the vehicle's onboard compass. Depending on if you have a Job 1 vehicle (Build date 2007-), you will find a Zone and calibration button on that box. If you have a Job 2 vehicle (2008-) the calibration and zone settings are controlled using the 3 vehicle computer buttons (Info / Setup / Reset I believe) located to the left on the instrument panel. Hope this helps! What you're describing as a GPS antenna on the roof is actually the Sirius Satellite Radio antenna. Hope this helps once more.

 

08FEH,

Thanks for the reply. Mine is a Job 1 vehicle because it was built around late August or early September of 2007. I picked up my car in mid October. I will now take a closer look of that little box and look for the zone and calibration buttons.

So if the antenna on the roof is for the Sirius satellite radio then where is the GPS antenna? Just curious.

Thanks again

 

The GPS antenna for the 2005-2007 models is under the dashboard, just behind the radio deck.

GPS will transmint fairly well through glass and plastic. Not ideal, but "ok".
Also, the Navigation ( 2005-2007 ) only used a periodic, not continuous GPS signal. It is not the same as hand-held units. Once the car "knows" where you are at, it uses gyros and vehicle speed to tell where you are going, once it knows where you are. That way it can go several minutes (and several miles ) with the GPS signal obscured. ( so it works in tunnels, canyons, and cities with tall buildings )

An upside is, the antenna can be "hidden" in some inconspicuous place.
Hand-held units don't have the benefit of gyros and speedometer, so antenna placement is much more critical.

HTH,
-John