I recently purchased a 2009 FEH and as I was driving to work today I noticed the letters CAL were light up near the heater/AC display? Can anyone inform me what this means? I can check the manual after work but I was hoping someone here could help me out. Thanks

 

I did a search for "CAL" against the 2009 owners manual and this is what I found:

Compass calibration adjustment
Perform compass calibration in an open area free from steel structures
and high voltage lines. For optimum calibration, turn off all electrical
accessories (heater/air conditioning, wipers, etc.) and make sure all
vehicle doors are shut.
1. Start the vehicle.
2. To calibrate, press and hold the
RESET control for approximately
ten seconds until CAL appears.
Release the control.
3. Slowly drive the vehicle in a
circle (less than 3 mph [5 km/h]) until the CAL display changes to the
direction value. It may take up to five circles to complete calibration.
4. The compass is now calibrated.

Here's the link to get a electronic version of the Owners manual:2009 FEH Owners Manual 2nd Ed

 

Thanks - I am curious to how it might have lost its way.

 

Is that only for models without Navigation?

In my 2005 with Navigation, I have no compass.
It uses GPS only.
It has gyros for navigating tunnels, forests, and "urban jungles".

 

I'm not sure, John. I just did a search for "CAL" on the 2009 Owners guide and this is what came up. It was the only mention of "CAL" in the guide so I'm thinking it has to be the issue.

Does the 2005-2007 have a heading display somewhere on the dash/mirror/display? The 2008 has it in the information window atop the center console. It gives direction in the standard N, NE, NW, S, SW, SE, etc. format. It is separate from the NAVI display so I assume it's on all models. Not sure if that changed for the 2009 model but I would doubt that it did.

 

The heading display in the 2005-2007 is on the Navigation screen itself. (only)

I also read about the CAL function for compass in the service manual....
for 2005 NON HYBRID/NON Navi Escapes, "if equipped" so I think you have it nailed down.

CAL is for the magnetic compass, if equipped.
Early models with GPS did not have this.

There could be both, ( GPS and compass ) in 2008 or 2009 for redundancy.