Kind of off the topic here, but I own a Garmin nuvi 660 GPS that I absolutely LOVE, but the bluetooth functionality just quits working all by itself every few months.
There’s an endless amount of horror stories online about this with various suggestions for a fix, but most people just end up living without the bluetooth or sending the unit back to Garmin each time the bluetooth fails until the warranty expires.
Through my own trial and error, I put together what’s needed to fix the problem yourself.
The bluetooth problem usually manifests itself as such that bluetooth becomes disabled on the nuvi, and enabling it causes the GPS to lock up or freeze. Holding down the power button will reset it, but bluetooth is still disabled and re-enabling just causes it to freeze again.
I’ve put together a fix that contains steps to follow and a file you’ll need to replace on the nuvi 660 while it’s connected to your PC.
I hope this reaches other fellow Garmin owners that just want their bluetooth to work. And Garmin, if you’re reading this, would you please consider providing a PERMANENT FIX TO THIS ISSUE!!??
Link to download fix:
Garmin_nuvi_660_Bluetooth_Fix.zip
chris
July 8th, 2009
would this fix work with the Nuvi 680?
Dean
July 8th, 2009
Thankyou! I cannot express how much gratitude is coming your way right now… I have tried ever – friken – fix in the book to get my 660’s bluetooth working with no avail.
I figured I would have one last stab at it again before sending it back for another one and this seemed to have fixed it!
Again, thank you!
Rich
July 8th, 2009
Dean,
Glad to hear this got you up and running!
-Rich
Don
August 25th, 2009
Tried the fix. Unfortunately, I get the same results. After the Garmin 660 and my LG Xenon pair the garmin disables the bluetooth. Did you get the message on the garmin: “The phone passkey is: 1234″?
Any info would help.
Thanks. Don
Rich
August 27th, 2009
Hmm. . . I do get that message but it does work after pairing. I will say though that to keep mine working I end up doing this fix about once a month. Sometimes it works longer, but typically once a month it quits. .
It’s really frustrating to me that this HAS to be a known issue and Garmin just ignores it.
-Rich
Tommie
October 3rd, 2009
I tried this on my 610 and it fixed it perfectly – thanks!
Tugster
October 10th, 2009
After much search I found the perfect solution here…. it works! Thanks a million!!!!
Rich
October 12th, 2009
I have contacted Garmin support to officially request a permanent fix. I will post their response here when I receive it.
-Rich
Clive
December 9th, 2009
Worked for my nuvi 660 after all other (similar) instructions failed to persuade my nuvi to actually re-install the bluetooth update.
Jeremy
March 1st, 2010
Worked on my nuvi 670!
Thanks very much!
Dan
June 16th, 2012
THANK YOU! I was not able to use the touch screeen after a firmware and map update on my nuvi 660. Followed your steps, reinstalled Bluetooth and now the touch screen works great.
Jimmy L Cheatheam
November 25th, 2019
the link to the Zip file says “404 – File or directory not found.
The resource you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.”
cauld you provide it again.
Thanks, Jim
Rich
November 25th, 2019
Hi Jim,
Thanks for pointing this out. I still have the file and adjusted the link.
-Rich H.