the other day my wife said something strange happened with car (06’ Milan I4 Primere) (LORD help me now, I silently prayed!!)
She described that as she pulled into her work parking lot…the dash flashed, “Check Compass”…she parked…shut it off…& tried to restart the car again right away…it turned over very hard and slow (3-4 times)…she turned the key back off, to start preparing mentally for the worse. Retried to start the car after about 5-10sec…it fired up like a summer day, no slow turning over, no hint of what just happened. No new messages from the dash, no warning lights, beeps buzzers, nothing flashing…to date the “Check Compass” has not reappeared.
i suspect that the slow turning over maybe the result of slush/snow pack under the car…as it sat , even briefly, it melted away enough not to be a problem.
Has ANY other folks experienced this “Check Compass” message?? or any other unusual messages, from the dash
Have the battery, and charging system checked. Modern cars will do some really strange things with low voltage.
If the battery is original, it is four years old and that is about the average life of a battery.
I was going to have the battery checked on next oil change, which is coming up soon.
It hasn’t reared it head since…it also happened on one of the last days of the deep freeze we were in, aprox -20deg without windchill…since it then the temps have become much more tolerable
“(06’ Milan I4 Primere)”
So you figure everyone knows what that is? Alternators have 3 big diodes in them to change the A/c to DC…If one of them fails or gets weak, A/C ripple is pumped into the electrical system…Today’s computerized cars REALLY don’t like that.
So, does the car have a compass? It’s one of those things that tell you which direction the car is facing.
Sorry …Yes I should been more specific
06’, is 2006, the year it was built
Milan means , Mercury Milan, the manufacturer
I4, means it has a 4 cylinder engine, front wheel drive only, not all wheel drive.
Primere is the up scale option package, often comes with leather seats, better sound deading, upgraded sound system…etc…etc.
and thanks i’ll have the alternator checked as well
at the risk of not providing enough information, more is provided.
Primere is the up scale option package, often comes with leather seats, better sound deading, upgraded sound system…etc…etc. i’m going out on a limb and say that all Primere packages have the compass on the dash…it is part of the odometer and trip meter, hour meter, Average Miles per hour (Avg MPH), Average miles per gallon (Avg MPG), distance to go until empty, But this display does not give real time , or direct MPG read out, what you’re getting for economy as you drive, wish it did. SO you get a sense of where it is located
Yes we understand What the compass is and it function…true it would be even weirder to get the message of “Check Compass” if we did not have a compass display/option on it…but it does, so that much does track.