Have not used my Garmin since January 2011. Sitting on shelf. Plugged in to my car charger and would not turn on. Would this mean it needs charged?

I had the same problem with mine and got it working by doing the following while on the phone to Garmin. Plug your charger cord into the device and your computer (do not use a laptop, you need the higher current from a desktop for this). Hold the power button down for as long as it takes for the Garmin logo to display, this could be as much as 1 minute. As soon as the image shows on the screen, release the power button. If your Garmin isn't completely shot you will see it boot up.
If you have the Garmin Web Updater program on your computer, run it and update the operating system software to insure you have the latest greatest from Garmin. Once that is done, update your XML data files - they'll be on the list of updates if you need them. Once those are done you can update any voice or language files you'd like.
Lastly, leave your GPS plugged in at least an hour or two to give it a charge. Overnight would be better to insure your battery is really well powered up.
At this point your Garmin should function normally. The Garmin tech I spoke with told me some units start acting funky when the battery runs down too low and if it's REALLY dead it won't even take a charge or power up when you hook up your charger cord. Try holding the power button for as long as it takes to get a spark & you should be on your way. If not, call Garmin's support number for your locale & they're do their best to get you back up & running again.
Cheers, Jeff

The traffic receiver is in the car charger cable. The charger should have a red light on if it is getting power. If the light is on and the unit is not charging and you have no traffic, the charger cable is bad. If the light is off, then either the fuse did not fix the problem, blew again, or is somehow not sitting properly in the charger. Another thing you can check is by using the unit in another vehicle. If it works fine there, then the charger is not making good contact with your vehicle outlet for some reason. You will probably have to buy a new traffic receiver charging cable.

Yes, many aftermarket chargers are not wired the same as a Garmin charger and will cause your Nuvi to think it's connected to a PC. What happened to the original charger that plugged into the cradle (the part your Nuvi snaps into?)

Please see this link:

http://www.sharc.net/gps_charger_repair.htm

- Jim

When you say 'plugged in', do you mean to the charger or your USB port? If it's the USB port, then that's correct - you cannot access the nuvi from it's screen while it is connected to a PC.

If you are using a wall or in-car charger, see the following link:

http://reviews.gpsfaq.com/downloads/garminnuvi660manual.pdf

See page 10 in the manual, which shows you how to reset your nuvi.

I connected the unit to the car charger instead of the USB charger and then held down the reset for 10-15 seconds, after which the system would show the computer connection on the charger and then boot up when not on the charger.

I had the same problem. The plug wasn't sitting right in the charger hole.

Yes, it's possible to have damaged your GPS. I had a customer that sent me a dead Nuvi. I replaced the board and sent it back. As soon as they got it back, they said they plugged it into the charger and within a few seconds it died again. They sent it back to me and this time I asked for the charger. It wasn't a Garmin charger. It was a cell phone charger. It damaged the Nuvi again. So, I put in another board and sold them a OEM Garmin charger. Problem solved.

- Jim
SHARCNET-USA

A dead battery will cause the unit not to turn on, but it should turn on if connected to an external power source like an AC wall charger or DC car charger.

- Jim
SHARCNET-USA

had same exact problem. my unit would come on for a minute and then go black. if you take the silver ring around the face you will see the four screws to take the unit apart if you do have to replace the battery. however first try hitting the reset button on the right side of the unit. remember the cover needs to be off. i hit the reset and my unit powered on with no problems