Garmin Drive 61 BT issues

I just had this problem with my DS55. Same basic unit. Go to the Drive app on your phone, and click on your device. Click on the "having Trouble Connecting" test. It will tell you to press and hold the off button on the unit and hold till says, turn off unit and turn it off. Then restart. When it restarts, press "Continue" in the Drive app on the phone and it will reconnect.

Thanks for your advice. Do you mean Smart Link app on Iphone? I don't see any option to select any device?

I'm sorry, I thought the d 61 was Drive compatible. Try Rebooting your phone. Then reboot the D61 by holding the off button until it restarts. Do not release the button when the OFF Option appears. Keep holding it till it restarts.

The try to Pair the unit to your phone.

If your vehicle integrates with your phone for hands free calling, you may need to turn the hands free calling feature off in the Drive 61. I have to do this with my DriveLuxe 51 which is the same generation of device as the Drive 61. My vehicle is a Kia Optima that uses the steering wheel buttons and microphone for hands free calling. So I only use Smartphone Link for traffic. If I leave the hands free calling enabled on the DriveLuxe, the Bluetooth pairing fails, so the Smartphone Link traffic doesn't work. But if I disable the Garmin's hands free calling feature, the Bluetooth pairing completes successfully for Smartphone Link.

My phone is Android, so it may be a different issue with your iPhone.

I do have Bluetooth handsfree calling feature in the car and I do exactly like you. I have unchecked phone option in DriveSmart and keep only Smart phones services on. It works for few days or I think almost every other day, Smart phone services option gets unchecked on Garmin. I have to re-check to enable Bluetooth BLE for traffic. It use to work flawlessly and I never had to re-pair it but something got changed on it.