ZUMO 350 Freezing

I called to Garmin Finland today. I talked to the boss and told about freezing issue. This is what he said:

Garmin knows the issue and tries to solve it as soon as possible. New software update will follow in a month or so. PROBLEM is most likely with the FUEL CONSUMPTION CALCULATION. Try to turn off fuel gauge from the GPS as a first aid!!! or use the CAR MODE (car mode doesn't calculate fuel consumption)!!!!!!!

I just got off the phone 15min ago so I haven't tried it myself. Please comment here if it works that way!

Hmm. I don't use that feature. I completely ignore it. And mine has not yet frozen.

Perhaps I should move to Finland as you seem to be getting a more honest and direct approach to your inquiry. Odd that we get no similar respect here in the states.

I'm grateful for your input Jantan and will try those approaches today as I do use fuel tracking. Will post results.

Good luck with your own!

That is interesting. Assuming this is the real issue, Garmin's left hand may not know what the right hand is doing.

One hand is exchanging units that freeze by other units, that are un-fixed and will also freeze.

While the other hand knows it is a software glitch, and should be telling consumers the detour (turn off fuel gauge) until fix is available.

And what about the Frenchies and their GPS's stand "fix"? Different problem or a blue cheese and burgundy wine induced hallucination?

Anyway, let's see if this GPS goes back to my short list of candidates for substituting my aging Nuvi.

Hey Travex,
Have you tried turning fuel consumption off to see if it will solve your freezing problem?

Many thanks to Jantan for sharing what he learned!

Placing the unit in Car mode found it going 325mi without a single freeze today. I've become so accustomed to failures that it felt strange to see it working properly again... IF only in Car mode. I hadn't tried disabling fuel tracking as Car mode was my first choice and it was working.

To clarify: I bought the most expensive motorcycle GPS model available only to down-grade it's operation to Car mode which is the equivalent of my daughter's sub-$200.00 Garmin unit. Yeah... That sounds about right.

As Jantan was told an update to fix the problem is forthcoming I'll bite my lip rather than escalate my complaint until it can be determined if the fix is solid or not. That'll be my last attempt at patience with this matter.

Well, yes, it is certainly a disappointment. But if you turn the fuel calculation off, everything else should still be there.

Thanks for trying and verifying it.

Yeah. Except, I've experimented some with motorcycle mode and frankly, it makes no sense to me at all. That is not to say that it makes no sense; merely that I cannot understand the decisions it makes. The difference seems to be about road choice when routing, and in moto mode it makes what I think are dopey choices, so I leave mine in car mode and am happier with what it does that way. For me, its usefulness is all about it being waterproof so I can keep using it on the bike if it happens to rain while I am on a ride.

If that is all you want from a GPS, you could have bought something a lot less expensive. I use a car GPS in my motorcycle, and with some electric tape covering speakers, SD slot, and the mini-usb connection, it has survived rain and dust for more than 5 years and some 20 thousand miles.

I bought an Oregon 450 for the motorcycle, but it is unreliable with its usb-connection. And screen too small, although it works, a larger screen would be better. So the Nuvi never left its role of primary GPS for the motorcycle.

My reasoning to buy the Zumo 350 (or the montana) was the capacity to instal maps, and import multiple tracks and routes for long, multi-day rides.

Otherwise, I would upgrade to a newer Nuvi, with more features than my old Nuvi 260. And would cost less than half the price of the Zumo 350.

Ok, so I didn't list ALL of my requirements. I also like to install maps, and I like to create long routes over little backroads in BaseCamp and have the GPS guide me along on single or multi-day rides. And with small roads selected, they are often rough, so I need the kind of good power connection provided by the 350 cradle and the Montana AMPS rugged mount, which pretty much leaves out all of the automotive units, especially when you consider that I tend to ride on through even heavy rain.

Software Update Available!

That last bulleted item might be relevant to this thread. Time will tell.

The notes:

zumo 350 (GCD File)

(43.29 MB)
<hr> Change History

Changes made from version 2.50 to 2.60:

• Added the option to display a clock on the map page.
• Added the ability to enter location coordinates using European coordinate systems.
• Improved address entry functionality.
• Fixed the display of speed limits that are enforced only at certain hours of the day.
• Fixed an issue that caused audible traffic alerts to repeat.
• Fixed an issue that caused the device to shut down when used with some 3rd-party GPI files.
• Fixed several search issues.
• Fixed several map-drawing issues.
• Fixed several display formatting issues.
• Improved software stability.

Anyone had a chance to try this update yet?
With/witout fuelconsumtion and/or carmode?

Now I have tested about 600km and here are the results! My 350LM worked nicely without any problems!

and the settings are:
Motocycle MODE
Fuel consumption OFF
Vesion 2.60

Is 600km a long enough test?

So the question is, was it the 2.60 update, or turning the fuel consumption off that did the trick ?

Would the 2.60 have done it on it's own ?

Good to hear of your success Jantan.

Spoke with Garmin earlier today and was told that "the latest release probably fixed the freezing problem".

Won't be riding for a few days but will post results when I have some.

After an horrible journey to the Isle of Mann with the Zumo freezing many times, it behaved absolutely fine for days of local rides with only two notable differences:

- one of the motorcycle mount spring loaded gold plated contacts was stuck down and I freed that
- the plastic bit between the contacts broke away (one of the recommended fixes in this thread)

Could the issue be related to handling multiple short power interruptions?

Returning the unit for exchange as previously arranged anyway, but I guess it's not much use as pointed out by others!

Did you see the last few posts about the software update?

No, update wasn't applied as I was on the road, but again no freezing over 4 days of continuous use. Can't wait to see the thread die down after this update is applied by posters affected!

Can anyone try out the Fuelconsumtion after this new update?

BMW R1200GSA/Zumo 350LM