Ben Z

I recently upgraded from an iPhone 5 to an SE (5 form factor, 6s internals) and a very strange and annoying issue started with my Tranzit BLU HF which I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered.

It pairs fine, but it keeps disconnecting every 40 seconds and re-pairing (which sometimes is instantaneous and sometimes not) unless I'm in a call or streaming music. In other words, as long as I have Spotify running (but not paused) or I'm actively in a call, everything works as it did before.

Now I know there are tons of reports of BT disconnections with iOS 10 and above, but I was on 10.2 with the iPhone 5 and it worked fine. And my phone pairs and works fine with 2 other cars, one with a 2011 OEM head and the other with a 2011 JVC.

Of course I have tried everything under the sun that I have read on the internet, but nothing works.

I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered this same issue with an iPhone and Tranzit BLU HF and what if anything you did that fixed it. iSimple's help line is helpless.

strathconaman

Not the same issue but, mine stops pairing once and a while. I have to pull it out, use the DIP switches to re-set it. Try that.

Link to Instruction Manual

sober_owl

might be an iphone issue...when i switch to galaxy i notice easier pairing and better sound quality from my transit blu hf

Ben Z

Yeah I guess I'll try resetting with the dip switches. I just did that a couple weeks ago for another issue. PITA to dig it out. And then after reset I need to re-pair the phone, which took me several tries before it finally did.

I'm sure it's an iPhone issue. The fact it stays paired when streaming but when idle it disconnects on a very regular cycle leads me to the theory there may be some battery-saving feature in either the phone's BT hardware or iOS that is reducing the BT signal to some predetermined bare minimum during periods of inactivity, and that bare minimum is below the Tranzit's threshold to stay connected.

Ben Z

Well, it kept taking longer and longer to re-pair, finally it wouldn't re-pair at all. Dip switch reset did nothing.

I replaced the Tranzit. Just the box...accessed it through the side without removing the PCM. The mic and electrical harness are on the box itself, but the antenna connections to the adapter cables are up behind the PCM and I had to do those by feel and then shine a flashlight to make sure they were fully seated, cause there wasn't room to see with my hand up inside there.

Anyway, my phone found the Tranzit right away, paired quickly, and was not disconnecting when idle. So apparently either the old Tranzit was faulty (although I tried re-pairing my old iPhone 5 and it worked fine) or newer ones have updated circuitry and/or firmware.
This time I didn't wrap it in foam, and left it wedged just inside the stack frame down by the carpet just behind the leather side panel. Thinking there will be better heat dissipation without the foam, and perhaps easier for it to pair with the phone if the signal doesn't have to go through all the metal and electronics of the PCM. Whatever, I hope it keeps working!

Kadajaa Green

Ben Z

First thing to try is take the key out of the ignition, stand about 25 ft away from the car for a couple minutes, turn BT off then back on in your phone, then get in the car and try again.
If that doesn't work then go into your phone's BT settings and "forget" the Tranzit and re-pair it.
If that doesn't work then you can try a hard reset of the Tranzit, but if it's hidden inside the dash you'll need to get at the control box to reset the dip switches.
Another thing to try is make sure your phone's name doesn't have any characters in it. For example, if it's "Joe's iPhone", rename it to "Joes iPhone" without the apostrophe.

If none of that works, the unit itself may be bad. That's what eventually happened with mine and I had to replace it. When it was originally installed it was wrapped in closed-cell foam and I think it couldn't cool itself and therefore fried. I made sure the reinstall alowed plenty of air space around it. Computer chips don't like to get too hot. If you do have to replace it you just need to replace the box, no need to change out the wiring, control button or mic if those are working well.
Also, the original unit in mine dated back several years. Later units had updated firmware version but iSimple provided no way to update the older units.