Disable Backup Beeping?

[mkhuffman]

I have had my GT for a month now and the fake noises have been so, so annoying. I decided to try the muffler mod and added a piece of cardboard and foam between the speaker and grill. I can still hear it but it is definitely quieter now, especially outside the garage.

I am going to see if the annoyance factor is sufficiently reduced before I resort to the resistor. I also thought I would put a potentiometer under the dash to control the volume, but I am afraid to mess with the big connector and its mess of wires. Anyway, maybe this will be good enough.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I have had my GT for a month now and the fake noises have been so, so annoying. I decided to try the muffler mod and added a piece of cardboard and foam between the speaker and grill. I can still hear it but it is definitely quieter now, especially outside the garage.

I am going to see if the annoyance factor is sufficiently reduced before I resort to the resistor. I also thought I would put a potentiometer under the dash to control the volume, but I am afraid to mess with the big connector and its mess of wires. Anyway, maybe this will be good enough.

How often are you driving at speeds where the pedestrian alert sound is on? That stops at 17.5 mph. The rest you can just turn off in settings. Or are you in reverse for an hour or so at a time?

 

[mkhuffman]

How often are you driving at speeds where the pedestrian alert sound is on? That stops at 17.5 mph. The rest you can just turn off in settings. Or are you in reverse for an hour or so at a time?

The fake engine noise is not as annoying as the backup beeping. Of course I don't drive very far in reverse, but it is loud and very annoying to hear it every time I back out of my driveway.

And one of the reasons I like driving a car without an engine is the lack of engine noise, so while the fake engine noise is not as annoying, I don't want any noise. Just silence. So maybe the muffled speaker will not be sufficient. I will give it a month or so.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

The fake engine noise is not as annoying as the backup beeping. Of course I don't drive very far in reverse, but it is loud and very annoying to hear it every time I back out of my driveway.

And one of the reasons I like driving a car without an engine is the lack of engine noise, so while the fake engine noise is not as annoying, I don't want any noise. Just silence. So maybe the muffled speaker will not be sufficient. I will give it a month or so.

Same thing I said when I started this thread all those months ago. I didn’t mind the grisly engine noise. It was the backup beeping I wanted a way to end. Then it blew up. Enjoy your near silence.

 

[Ruey220]

You can't unplug it...well you can, but it will say "Pedestrian Alert Fault Service Now". I'm not sure if it will just say it once when you turn on the car but you will get a warning. I also don't know if it sets a light on or if it is just the warning.

The rear dinger appears to come out of the front speaker. The Mach E only has 1 speaker unlike the escape hybrid which has front and rear. The Escape does not ding in backup, it just switches the alert 'sound' to the rear speaker.

It may be possible to change the as built to remove the rear dinger at some point but it is too early to tell and I don't have time to mess with it. I need UCDS to update for the Mach E so I can see what the as built changes in that module.

An alternative to putting a resistor or disconnecting these speakers is punching a hole and tearing the cone of the speaker so it can't produce a sound. It will still have a closed loop in the speaker coil so it is considered still present and connected but it won't do the job of making sounds.

I found this the hard way when I experimented on another vehicle trying to stuff silicone and tape over the speaker the sound still kept coming out. I got so frustrated I ripped the speaker cone and it finally was quiet.

 

[Jonno21]

And where is the push to require noise emitters on bicycles, which are far quieter than even the stealthiest EV and just as potentially dangerous at high speed

Surely that's a thing called a bell, you know where it's the cyclists responsibility to ring it when trying to run people down in pedestrian only areas. Oh wait... nobody seems to fit bells to the bicycles any more. Probably not seen as "cool".

 

[DR.J56]

An alternative to putting a resistor or disconnecting these speakers is punching a hole and tearing the cone of the speaker so it can't produce a sound. It will still have a closed loop in the speaker coil so it is considered still present and connected but it won't do the job of making sounds.

I found this the hard way when I experimented on another vehicle trying to stuff silicone and tape over the speaker the sound still kept coming out. I got so frustrated I ripped the speaker cone and it finally was quiet.

I thought about this too but wanted the speaker just in case I needed to hook it back up. In Texas we have to have an inspection every year to register the vehicle. IF for some reason they actually checked this, all I would have to do is plug the speaker back in. I used blade connectors just like the speaker has on the resistor.

 

[mkhuffman]

An alternative to putting a resistor or disconnecting these speakers is punching a hole and tearing the cone of the speaker so it can't produce a sound. It will still have a closed loop in the speaker coil so it is considered still present and connected but it won't do the job of making sounds.

I found this the hard way when I experimented on another vehicle trying to stuff silicone and tape over the speaker the sound still kept coming out. I got so frustrated I ripped the speaker cone and it finally was quiet.

It is so easy to muffle the speaker or replace it with a resistor. Personally I do not want to damage the car in a way that cannot be easily fixed. In fact, I have ordered the parts to put a volume control on the speaker so I can turn it on, off or somewhere in between depending on my situation. Mostly it will be off, but when I get the car inspected, I will turn it on just in case they start checking for that.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

It is so easy to muffle the speaker or replace it with a resistor. Personally I do not want to damage the car in a way that cannot be easily fixed. In fact, I have ordered the parts to put a volume control on the speaker so I can turn it on, off or somewhere in between depending on my situation. Mostly it will be off, but when I get the car inspected, I will turn it on just in case they start checking for that.

Volume control would be nice. Will you do a write up when you get it done? Maybe it’s even a step toward a miniature sound board to customize the sounds.

 

[P. T. Magoo]

A more ambitious mod would be to add a switch with a resister, so you can turn off the speaker with a switch located within reach of the driver. Since the C275 connector is located near the driver, it seems like it might not be that difficult to do. I may try that (when I eventually get my MME). It would be good to be able to turn on the sound if you are in a situation where you prefer to have it on. I would probably turn it on in parking lots.

Rats. I wandered through this whole thread with my solution at the ready, but mkhuffman beat me to the punch. For those who prefer "cut to the chase," skip to #4 below, But I like to talk so...

Like the OP, I work in medicine, so there's always a part of my brain thinking "now how can I maximize safety so I don't have to fill out that pesky RL-6 form when somebody gets hurt," but I'm also a musician, so sounds and sound engineering fascinate me.

The way I see it, there are several possible solutions to the OP's problem.

1. Cut the wire. There are disadvantages to this and they've been discussed.

2. Use the "practice mute" approach -- attenuate the sound at its source with a resistor or a cardboard/styrofoam baffle. This would be better if it was reversible, maybe a nice sink plunger on a motorized lever similar to a plunger mute for a trombone? It'd be fun to have the option of a "wah, wah, wah" sound when backing up. But not especially practical.

3. Not discussed, but a possibility: sound-deadening acoustic baffle or even fiberglass insulation on or in the wall between the garage and the living space. I'd veer away from this one unless you also get the urge to play your trombone in the garage. I think, but can't prove, that this is the reason Elvis installed shag carpet on the walls of the Jungle Room at Graceland. Way cheaper than acoustic baffle for a home recording studio.

4. The solution I'd use: when I was a kid, my grandpa installed something he called the "blab off" on his TV set. He cut the wire to the speaker, and soldered in a length of lamp cord to his chair, with a little rotory light switch on the end. Any time a commercial came on, he'd disable the speaker. It makes me smile to think a guy born in 1886 may have inadvertently invented the TV remote. I propose doing this at the speaker or at the fuse if you can find it, and run a wire under the dash, put a toggle or better yet a push-button with a relay so you can't forget to re-enable the speaker. Disable the speaker when backing into your garage, and enable the speaker elsewhen. Problem solved!

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Rats. I wandered through this whole thread with my solution at the ready, but mkhuffman beat me to the punch. For those who prefer "cut to the chase," skip to #4 below, But I like to talk so...

Like the OP, I work in medicine, so there's always a part of my brain thinking "now how can I maximize safety so I don't have to fill out that pesky RL-6 form when somebody gets hurt," but I'm also a musician, so sounds and sound engineering fascinate me.

The way I see it, there are several possible solutions to the OP's problem.

1. Cut the wire. There are disadvantages to this and they've been discussed.

2. Use the "practice mute" approach -- attenuate the sound at its source with a resistor or a cardboard/styrofoam baffle. This would be better if it was reversible, maybe a nice sink plunger on a motorized lever similar to a plunger mute for a trombone? It'd be fun to have the option of a "wah, wah, wah" sound when backing up. But not especially practical.

3. Not discussed, but a possibility: sound-deadening acoustic baffle or even fiberglass insulation on or in the wall between the garage and the living space. I'd veer away from this one unless you also get the urge to play your trombone in the garage. I think, but can't prove, that this is the reason Elvis installed shag carpet on the walls of the Jungle Room at Graceland. Way cheaper than acoustic baffle for a home recording studio.

4. The solution I'd use: when I was a kid, my grandpa installed something he called the "blab off" on his TV set. He cut the wire to the speaker, and soldered in a length of lamp cord to his chair, with a little rotory light switch on the end. Any time a commercial came on, he'd disable the speaker. It makes me smile to think a guy born in 1886 may have inadvertently invented the TV remote. I propose doing this at the speaker or at the fuse if you can find it, and run a wire under the dash, put a toggle or better yet a push-button with a relay so you can't forget to re-enable the speaker. Disable the speaker when backing into your garage, and enable the speaker elsewhen. Problem solved!

I’m gonna need a part number to the proper Blab-off volume knob.

 

[mkhuffman]

Volume control would be nice. Will you do a write up when you get it done? Maybe it’s even a step toward a miniature sound board to customize the sounds.

Yep! Definitely will post a write-up and lessons learned.

 

[P. T. Magoo]

Well whadaya know. You can find literally anything on the web.

Looks like Gramps bought the thing instead of inventing it. Still a cool device, and he was still what you could call an early adopter of cutting-edge communications technology.

http://images.tedium.co/2017/05/0524_blaboff2.jpg

 

[MachTee]

Being the tin foil hat wearer that I am, I worry that if something happened (like running over a pedestrian) and you did something to your car's pedestrian warning system, you might be in for more serious civil lawsuit than it would've been.

I know the pedestrian warning sound is quite loud outside the car, but I barely hear it while driving. I'm definitely not messing with it.

 

[mkhuffman]

Being the tin foil hat wearer that I am, I worry that if something happened (like running over a pedestrian) and you did something to your car's pedestrian warning system, you might be in for more serious civil lawsuit than it would've been.

I know the pedestrian warning sound is quite loud outside the car, but I barely hear it while driving. I'm definitely not messing with it.

I think there is merit to your point, but I think it is unlikely to matter. In reality, there are quite a few ICE cars that are very quiet. In a parking lot, which is where the danger is, a ICE Honda Accord is as silent as a BEV as it coasts around.

The liability will come from the fact that I hit someone and did not properly observe what is around me while driving in a parking lot. I am not going to hit anyone, but if I do, I doubt the fact that my car makes a fake noise will make any difference at all. No fake noise is going to get me off the hook.

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