2016 Navion stereo/dash info system won’t power on

Navion · 02-21-2020, 08:52 PM

Hello. We just bought a 2016 Itasca Navion (Winnebago) and the dashboard stereo (Xite X2S infotainment system) won’t power on. It worked fine when we drove it home and parked it at the storage facility. It sat for two weeks in cold temps so I shut off the coach batteries. I picked it up today and took it to a wash bay before bringing it home to do some set up with it. The stereo/info system screen is black (no power), but the other accessories on the same fuse (cigarette lighter, glove box light) work fine. I disconnected the chassis battery under the dash and reconnected after a few minutes, still nothing. The house batteries are on as well (If that makes any difference at all). I also noticed that the outside temperature sensor on the dash was bouncing temps all over the place every few seconds and was WAY off from the actual temperature. Any ideas or solutions would be GREATLY appreciated. I’m a first time RV owner so I apologize if this is simple operator error, but I don’t think it is. (Unfortunately)

Morich · 02-21-2020, 09:27 PM

Operator errors are often the cheaper ones to fix, so hope for that! Crow is cheap and I eat a lot of it at times.

One that might hang a guy up that I don't know if you have covered is there may be a dash switch to move the radio from the chassis battery over to the coach batteries. Any possibility that got pushed the wrong way and you are testing with the chassis battery shut off/disconnected for storage?
Lots of little things to find and get used to finding, when something doesn't act normal.

Navion · 02-21-2020, 09:43 PM

Thanks for the reply. Yes, there is a switch that allows you to operate the stereo from the coach batteries when the engine isn’t running and I have selected it to the appropriate position during the corresponding operation, to no avail. My fingers are crossed that I’m just incompetent but I’m afraid (for a change) that isn’t the problem. But I’m hoping to be proven incompetent! (Words I never thought I’d say)

Morich · 02-22-2020, 09:30 AM

With the temp gauge also, it sounds like a chassis problem more than the RV side. Do you know what make /model, etc. the chassis might be? Once I get into the Ford chassis on my RV, I often run into a stone wall for info as it seems to be pretty closely guarded to protect the dealer service. Not much help, there!
That might leave me with two options and neither are good ones. One I might use a meter to test the power into the unit and look for it to be intermittent like a loose connection or missing. Then it would take a real search to trace out where that power is coming from and chase it back to find the fault. Not an easy go, for sure!
But the second option is not one I like either as it costs so much more when I take it to the dealer. On my Ford Focus, the first step is a $98 diagnostic and they admit that it will not show any problem if it is intermittent and working at the time. About 1 in 100 times, it is fails to crank but works fine most times!
Perhaps your problem would be a lot easier for them to sort out as it seems more permanent. Loose connection, bad wire, or widget that's failed? HUMM!
Sorry, no help here.

Navion · 02-22-2020, 06:23 PM

It’s a 2016 Mercedes Sprinter. And a strange thing happened today - I was backing into the driveway and the rearview camera spontaneously turned on! It stayed on until I put it back in park. Then the “Rand McNally” screen popped up, it showed a progress bar (as though it was booting up) then it went black and won’t turn on again!!! So at least it demonstrates that it is capable of getting power, just not sure what the hiccup is. The outside temperature gauge also seems to be working again. I’m beginning to wonder if the car wash a gave it isn’t the culprit somehow?

Mike Owens · 02-23-2020, 10:11 AM

Sounds like a loose connection or corrosion issue. The temp jumping around tells you something is loose, it is a thermister that measures resistance and that equals a temperature. Start be inspection the battery connections on the chassis battery. But I think you stated the issue was still present on both setting for the radio power. So that would narrow it down to being between the selector switch and the radio/gps unit.

Navion · 02-23-2020, 11:08 AM

Thanks Mike. I really appreciate your input. I’m leaning towards corrosion/poor connection or water intrusion after the wash. My question is where to find the other electrical components (other than the fuse in the main fuse box) that are part of the chain? The tricky part will be tracking those things down!

Morich · 02-23-2020, 11:29 AM

Corrosion, may be a good guess but then it is not quite so likely to move and change as you describe. Since you mention water, I might see water producing a short between various systems may be more likely to shift and change. Shorts come in all kinds of varieties as water can move and be heated enough to boil off but be inside a box and the result can be a different problem as it moves over. Also a short doesn't have to be the solid type that blows fuses as they can be a high resistance short and can actually change due to temperature/weather situation. Think of the potential for a bubble of water chasing around inside a box with an integrated circuit?
I had lots of outside telco experience and water is a bear to sort out. Also a bunch of ants crawling through the electrical can do weird things as their fat juicy little bodies do conduct electricity! Thank God it doesn't bother on 12V as much!
If you can find a situation where one item defect stays the same, I would start on one of those and see if clearing one item will lead to clearing more. Finding one item which stays is the trick as it can be like chasing gremlins if it's one stay for long enough to find.

Navion · 02-23-2020, 11:40 AM

That would make sense as well. I just have to figure out what component could be affected by water. The only thing I can figure is that it must be something under the hood. I have all but zero electrical knowledge whatsoever other than knowing better than to throw a toaster into bath water. It was warmer yesterday when it kicked on/off so I’m hopeful that it will warm, dry and mend itself, if I can’t directly find the offending component myself. I have also read lots of threads about people’s displeasure with the Xite Infotainment system being a glitchy piece of rubbish. But for all of those there are plenty who say they like it just fine. So, who knows.

**creativepart** · 02-23-2020, 02:05 PM

Here's a basic question... is the system SD card inserted in the faceplate of the the unit?

The entire system runs on software on a SD Card. Without that inserted there will be nothing.

Putting the transmission in reverse will light up the system and display the rear view camera. But this part of the system doesn't rely on the SD card. I'm guessing the little slot (I think it's middle right side under the SD logo) is empty and missing the 8gig SD card with the units software.

Here's a link to the Owners Manual for the unit "I think" is in your Navion, but I'm not positive:

https://riverparkinc.com/wp-content/...3014-ver03.pdf

Here's a quick reference guide:

https://riverparkinc.com/wp-content/...ystem-QSG1.pdf

Navion · 02-23-2020, 02:44 PM

Yes sir, the SD card is inserted, and I have another update. The toggle switch that switches from chassis power to house power for the dash radio has been put in both positions with no luck in either case (engine running and not, both positions). I just unplugged the power cord from the coach (main power connect to generator) to plug it into my garage (shore power). Upon doing so, and BEFORE plugging it into my garage, the Xite powered up and is now “working”! The toggle switch happened to still be selected to house power (since I had been checking it for function). There is an obvious glitch here but my painful lack knowledge on the subject offers me no clarity. I still have it selected to coach power and the system is back online, but I am terrified to switch it back to coach power for fear of losing it again. Being that it’s plugged into the garage anyway, I’ll just leave it as is for now. There is a direct link from the coach/house system to the dash stereo that was affected by merely unplugging it from the coach itself. I’m sure there is a clear and obvious reason for this, but the correlation isn’t clear to me. Thoughts?

Dave-Oh · 02-23-2020, 04:56 PM

If you washed the unit and noticed the problem after, I'd have to agree with the water intrusion angle. Same thing happened to my pickup after I went through a wash: I lost my rear view camera - fortunately not the head unit. After several days it came back. I initially didn't think of the wash as the culprit, but when I washed it again, same issue.

Good luck running it down.

Navion · 05-07-2020, 06:31 PM

The story has apparently come to a sad end. The Xite radio system finally quit for good. After all the back and forth looking for lose wires, shorts, fuses, coming back on, going dead, etc, I finally took it to Lichtsinn RV and they reported that there was in fact power to the unit. It apparently has officially died. RIP to that POS. Add me to the list of disappointed Winnie owners who got stuck with the garbage Xite River Park radio system. It’s clearly a failed product and its use by anyone can be met with the expectation of failure. Looks like I’ll need to replace it and I would like to at least be able to utilize the existing camera cable. I’m reading that it is specific to and only compatible with the Xite system. Has anyone else changed out their Xite and been able to use the video cable/camera that came with the RV with any other radio systems??? (Pioneer, Alpine, etc)

tyler97217 · 11-01-2020, 09:21 AM

Did you ever have any resolution to this? I am having the exact same issue after a wash and curious if you replaced or got it working and what did you replace it with and if you were able to use your existing camera.

Seymour2Lane · 11-01-2020, 02:33 PM

Tyler, I went through a bunch of intermittent power issues with my Xcite (RiverPark) before it died and could not be resuscitated at my local stereo shop. I ended up replacing it with a Kenwood DNX997XR with a 6.8" screen. The installer was able to restore the steering wheel controls and the camera works fine though there's no camera audio.
Kenwood also makes a unit designed for RV'S but it was out of stock and we already use a Garmin 780 and Waze if needed.
REALLY like the Kenwood and it came with free traffic reports for 5 years.
Sorry that the pix are so dark. Regards, Mike

tyler97217 · 11-02-2020, 09:38 AM

Thank you. I have an appt with Car Toys to trouble shoot it tomorrow and if not just replace it and good to know an option that will work with existing equipment

tyler97217 · 11-04-2020, 05:03 PM

Just an FYI for anyone interested. I had a stereo shop diagnose it and after a bunch of digging they found a loose wire (installed improperly from factory) going to the back of the HOUSE/CHASSIS switch on the dash and once that was plugged back in and connection made everything worked. Happy to save some money on that one!