Incomplete journeys and false engine on/off alerts
I know I stopped the vehicle during my drive but it doesn’t show up on the journey report
You can adjust your end of journey settings on the account settings page
Our system is designed to detect genuine stops between separate journeys, rather than temporary stops during your drive. When you stop your vehicle, it will only be recorded as the end of a journey if the vehicle remains stationary for at least 5 minutes AND we receive a confirmation point that the vehicle is still stopped. Brief stops - such as waiting at traffic lights, short delivery stops, or being stuck in traffic - won't be detected as journey ends. This is to ensure your journey report shows meaningful trips from start to finish, rather than being split into multiple segments every time your vehicle comes to a temporary stop. If you need to record shorter stops as separate journeys, you can adjust the minimum stopping time in your Account Settings.
If you only want to know the destinations the vehicle was turned on and off you can also run the Engine On/Off report.
My vehicle just finished a journey, why can’t I see it on the journey report?
You can adjust your end of journey settings on the account settings page.
When a journey is underway, it will appear in your journeys report showing the start location and all trip details recorded so far. Our system works by
- Automatically analysing your vehicle's GPS tracking data
- Detecting and logging each journey from point A to B
- Marking a journey as completed only after we confirm your vehicle has been stationary for 5 minutes
When you park your vehicle, the journey stays marked as "in progress" until we receive a new location update confirming the vehicle is still parked. For the last journey of the day, this confirmation typically comes from your tracker's next hourly "heartbeat" signal is received. If you resume using your vehicle before that, the journey will be marked as completed when you start moving again starting a new journey.
This careful checking process is important - it prevents journeys from being incorrectly marked as finished when
- Your vehicle stops briefly at traffic lights
- You're driving through a tunnel with no GPS signal
- You make a temporary stop in traffic less than 5 minutes
Please be patient - your journey will be marked as completed as soon as we receive that confirmatory location point that indicates the vehicle has been stationary for 5 minutes.
Want to use a period shorter or longer than 5 minutes? No problem, you can adjust these end of journey settings in your Account Settings if needed.
Receiving Engine on alerts when the vehicle is parked
You need to adjust your engine on/off detection. See our Engine On/Off detection setup help page on this to make the adjustment.
When your Track My Ride GPS tracker is installed using the OBDII Plug and Play cable, or the ignition detection wire has not been connected, the engine on/off state is detected using a voltage threshold of 13.2V. The float voltage of a passenger vehicle when the engine is turned off is most typically below 13 volts. When the vehicle is turned on, the vehicle's engine spins the alternator which provides power to the vehicle and boosts the vehicle's voltage to typically around 14 volts. This keeps the vehicle's battery charged and we detect this rise in voltage as the engine on event.
There are various types of trickle chargers, however generally a trickle charge will keep the battery charged by either periodically or continuously boosting the voltage of the battery to around 14 volts. This rise in voltage is then detected by the tracker, and the tracker then assumes the vehicle's engine has been turned on as the voltage is more than 13.2 volts which is the default threshold and method for detecting the engine on/off status.
How to fix
Please follow our guide on our Engine On/Off detection setup help page. You will need to adjust your engine on/off detection method. In this instance the accelerometer based movement detection method instead of the voltage based detection method would be the most suitable. Alternatively, you could also connect the ignition detection wire if you have hardwire installed your tracker though this will require making an adjustment to your installation wiring.
I’m getting engine on/off alerts while driving
You need to adjust your engine on/off detection. See our Engine On/Off detection setup help page on this to make the adjustment.When your Track My Ride GPS tracker is installed using the OBDII Plug and Play cable, or the ignition detection wire has not been connected, the engine on/off state is detected using a voltage threshold of 13.2V. The float voltage of a passenger vehicle when the engine is turned off is most typically below 13 volts. When the vehicle is turned on, the vehicle's engine spins the alternator which provides power to the vehicle and boosts the vehicle's voltage to typically around 14 volts. This keeps the vehicle's battery charged and we detect this rise in voltage as the engine on event.
If you have been been receiving engine on/off notifications while driving the first thing you can do is look over the recent voltage and speed graph for the vehicle in question. To view this you can visit the vehicle page and then click the row with the vehicle in question to expand it. This will open a graph showing the voltage and speed the tracker is reading over the past 3 days.
How to fix
Some modern vehicles use a clutch to disengage the alternator when the battery is charged to save fuel.
While driving, it can be seen that the voltage fluctuates a little, this is normal. If the voltage is moving below 13.2V while driving you need to adjust the engine on/off voltage detection threshold. We use a default of 13.2V, as this is suitable for the majority of vehicles but some vehicles need this to be adjusted.
Alternator with a clutch : Some modern vehicles also make use of a clutch that will disengage the alternator when the vehicle's battery is full and does not need to be charged any further. This will result in the vehicle's overall voltage dropping below 13.2V back to the float voltage, even while the engine is running. If in the voltage/speed graph you can see the voltage of the vehicle dropping below 13.2V while the vehicle is still being driven this is likely the case for your vehicle. You will need to adjust the engine on/off detection to use the motion sensor to detect engine on/off instead of using the voltage method.
A loose wire : If your tracker has been hardwired, in addition to the above alternator clutch situation it's also possible that a wire has come loose. You may need to check your tracker's wiring to ensure that no wires have come loose which are causing an intermittent power condition. If you see the voltage coming into your tracker has fallen below 9V in the graph this is likely the cause. A 12V passenger vehicle's battery will read 11V at its very lowest, even when completely discharged. As such, any voltage reading below that range highly likely indicates a loose wire or connection. Be sure to check the wires connected to the tracker too in the 12 pin power plug too as well as wherever the wires are connected to.
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