Hi all

Had something strange happen to my Z1. The problem occured the other day on my way to the Pepsi 400 with my Dad, I reversed out the driveway as normal and started down the road and noticed my Z1 was stuck on the Pioneer loading screen, I tried to reset it using the end of a pen but each time it tried to load the Pioneer loading screen appeared.

I pulled over the side of the road, turned the engine off, still loaded the same and then pulled over at a gas station a few mins later but it wouldnt budge!

Anyway after it staying that way for 3 hrs on the road we stopped for something to eat. I come back to the car start it up and it suddenly starts working BUT I notice the reverse camera isnt working and hasn't worked since!

Anyway thinking the camera is broken and causing the problem I disconnect it from the Z1.

Anyway all has been fine for a week or so and the other day it froze up again for a few mins and today its done it for about 3 hrs, even had the engine off for about 1 hr and still kept freezing. Then I pull into the gas station for a subway and back in the car after 15 mins and its working fine again.

Its really starting to bug me, I wired it myself and everything has been fine for the last 2 months but suddenly its doing this, I just don't get it!

Anyone shed any light on my problem?

Thank you

Stuart

I've had mine lock up a few times, but I was using a different hard drive in mine. Something was weird with the hard drive and mine started locking up. My stock drive is fine, but with a new drive (something Pioneer doesn't want us doing to begin with) it locks up fairly often. Not that you were swaping out your hard drive, but it might be hard drive related.

Thanks for the reply, it did it again today for 2 hrs, getting pissed off now, any advice on what I should do?

outatime said:

Thanks for the reply, it did it again today for 2 hrs, getting pissed off now, any advice on what I should do?

Try calling pioneer, don't know why no one calls them first :)

Yah, I would call Pioneer. Don't tell them that people who were messing with their hard drives noticed the same lockouts as you do cause they might get suspiscous and think you might have messed with yours. Just play dumb and tell them yours is locking up and ask them what they want to do. They might send you a whole new unit or a new hard drive... who knows?

HeavenSoldier said:

outatime said:

Thanks for the reply, it did it again today for 2 hrs, getting pissed off now, any advice on what I should do?

Try calling pioneer, don't know why no one calls them first :)

Because every answer you get is "canned". The folks you talk to are either incapable of any type of serious help or forced to read from their script. It's pretty well a wasted phone call. However, Pioneer does have an installer help line that will work with you and actually has an idea of what's going on. I hope I didn't lose that number.....

Outatime- I feel your pain. Mine is doing the exact same thing (minus the back up camera). I work in an industry that deals heavily with hard drives and I just can't see it being the hard drive. For instance, it's been hotter than hell here the last couple of weeks, and the Z-1 will not work more than it does work, so I am thinking, this is a thermal issue. Metal expands with heat, so maybe they disk platters are expanding just enough to throw the head alignment off. I know if I hit the reset enough or (oddly enough, hit the "open screen" button enough) it will work.

Chuckzul said:

Outatime- I feel your pain. Mine is doing the exact same thing (minus the back up camera). I work in an industry that deals heavily with hard drives and I just can't see it being the hard drive. For instance, it's been hotter than hell here the last couple of weeks, and the Z-1 will not work more than it does work, so I am thinking, this is a thermal issue. Metal expands with heat, so maybe they disk platters are expanding just enough to throw the head alignment off. I know if I hit the reset enough or (oddly enough, hit the "open screen" button enough) it will work.

chuckzul, can you shed some more light on your situation?

If you do a search, another poster had the same problem. Essentially, I was right, it was an environmental issue (too damn hot). The Z1 has a nominal temp operating range, and on a hot day, I was exceeding that range, which caused the unit not to boot up until the temps came down. That is why it would not work when it got real hot, but later on, when the day cooled down, it would work again. Not sure if this translates excatly with your situation, but that is what happened with me.

Chuckzul said:

If you do a search, another poster had the same problem. Essentially, I was right, it was an environmental issue (too damn hot). The Z1 has a nominal temp operating range, and on a hot day, I was exceeding that range, which caused the unit not to boot up until the temps came down. That is why it would not work when it got real hot, but later on, when the day cooled down, it would work again. Not sure if this translates excatly with your situation, but that is what happened with me.

my concern is that it is this damn hot almost everywhere...its summer, so why wouldnt this be happening TO EVERYONE with this unit....

theblueprint said:

my concern is that it is this damn hot almost everywhere...its summer, so why wouldnt this be happening TO EVERYONE with this unit....

Because it isn't the outside temperature that is the problem, it's the temperature inside your dash where the Z1 is installed. If your Z1, which has a fan on the back to cool the unit, is pressing directly up against something in the dash so little or no air is flowing through the unit then your unit will overheat while someone else who has good airflow won't.

Check how much air can flow where your Z1 is installed.

ufd108 said:

theblueprint said:

my concern is that it is this damn hot almost everywhere...its summer, so why wouldnt this be happening TO EVERYONE with this unit....

Because it isn't the outside temperature that is the problem, it's the temperature inside your dash where the Z1 is installed. If your Z1, which has a fan on the back to cool the unit, is pressing directly up against something in the dash so little or no air is flowing through the unit then your unit will overheat while someone else who has good airflow won't.

Check how much air can flow where your Z1 is installed.

ok will do....is this the problem you are having?

When you say that it locks up for 3 hours, is that with the air contioner on or off? The car interior usually cools down in 10 minutes, and the Z1 should cool off soon afterwards.

sl1234 said:

When you say that it locks up for 3 hours, is that with the air contioner on or off? The car interior usually cools down in 10 minutes, and the Z1 should cool off soon afterwards.

That depends on the airflow under the dash. Also depends on whether or not there is enough room around the Z1 for its internal fan to move some air. Just because the car starts to cool down in 10 minutes doesn't mean the Z1, buried in the dash with possibly no airflow whatsoever, is cooling down.