High-pitched "Electrical Whine"

[ARK]

I absolutely hear this sound on mine. It is definitely coming from the driver display screen. It is also not some unusual sound I haven’t heard before, this is very much the type of screen buzz you would hear from monitors in the 90s.

My hearing is not the sharpest. In my circle of friends I find I have to ask people to repeat what they say more often than others. But this is unmistakable and quite loud. You can hear it over the A/C at its lower settings quite clearly. You can hear it over the radio if it’s not too loud. You can even hear it if the radio is loud because most songs have fractional moments where the sound drops down and ‘bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz’ is what you get in the interim.

You can even hear it with the windows down while moving 30-35, though there it’s not annoying anymore because of the wind noise, but it is still perceptible if you are listening.

Most of all it is highly perceptible when the radio is off, the windows are up, and climate control isn’t going at full speed or even half speed. The car is very quiet inside which makes the sound all the more noticeable.

Lots of devices make some light buzzing noise if you listen close enough, but most people ignore that kind of thing. This is not that, this is substantially louder and the tone is quite obnoxious.

The person I was working with at the dealer said he could hear it too when I pointed it out. He promised he would look into it and check other Mach Es for this. I do not recall this noise on the preproduction model from the Mach E tour.

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[Illinibird]

I listened for a whine on my test drive yesterday. Neither my wife nor I could hear any whine coming from that area. We had the radio off and the windows closed. The blower was not running. I have high frequency hearing loss and wear hearing aids but my wife hears very well and she couldn't hear a thing. I did listen to the recording posted and heard nothing there as well so I think people with impaired high frequency hearing aren't going to hear anything which will be very frustrating for those that do and are looking to get it corrected.

 

[Untamed]

I had similar problem with my BMW i3. BMW service replaced the front display under warranty and the problem was gone.
I remember it had something to do with a faulty backlight component ...
Hope you get it fixed asap!

 

[generaltso]

Does the noise change at all if you switch between light mode and dark mode?

 

[methorian]

I had similar problem with my BMW i3. BMW service replaced the front display under warranty and the problem was gone.
I remember it had something to do with a faulty backlight component ...
Hope you get it fixed asap!

That sounds about right. No such sound on my i3 luckily....

Does the noise change at all if you switch between light mode and dark mode?

It does not.

 

[agoldman]

I absolutely hear this sound on mine. It is definitely coming from the driver display screen. It is also not some unusual sound I haven’t heard before, this is very much the type of screen buzz you would hear from monitors in the 90s.

My hearing is not the sharpest. In my circle of friends I find I have to ask people to repeat what they say more often than others. But this is unmistakable and quite loud. You can hear it over the A/C at its lower settings quite clearly. You can hear it over the radio if it’s not too loud. You can even hear it if the radio is loud because most songs have fractional moments where the sound drops down and ‘bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz’ is what you get in the interim.

You can even hear it with the windows down while moving 30-35, though there it’s not annoying anymore because of the wind noise, but it is still perceptible if you are listening.

Most of all it is highly perceptible when the radio is off, the windows are up, and climate control isn’t going at full speed or even half speed. The car is very quiet inside which makes the sound all the more noticeable.

Lots of devices make some light buzzing noise if you listen close enough, but most people ignore that kind of thing. This is not that, this is substantially louder and the tone is quite obnoxious.

The person I was working with at the dealer said he could hear it too when I pointed it out. He promised he would look into it and check other Mach Es for this. I do not recall this noise on the preproduction model from the Mach E tour.

I wonder if you would have noticed it as annoying if no one had posted about it here. Also, is there any way to determine if all units so far have the same noise. That one would be tough unless the same person is listening to all of them. I'm now afraid to put this item on my pickup checklist.

 

[ARK]

I wonder if you would have noticed it as annoying if no one had posted about it here. Also, is there any way to determine if all units so far have the same noise. That one would be tough unless the same person is listening to all of them. I'm now afraid to put this item on my pickup checklist.

I will certainly agree that I noticed it as soon as I stepped inside because I had read about it on this forum and was therefore looking out for it. Otherwise in the commotion of doors opening/closing when the dealer rep and I first got in, the car making its start up chimes, I might not have noticed it immediately.

But even if I had not read any report on this, the sound is unmistakable particularly when the inside is silent. Back when I had a CRT monitor, I remember regularly hitting it to get that monitor’s buzzing noise to stop - these kinds of noises really bother me.

And then the fact that I can still pick it out with the windows down while moving suggests to me it is objectively loud.

 

[generaltso]

Back when I had a CRT monitor, I remember regularly hitting it to get that monitor’s buzzing noise to stop - these kinds of noises really bother me.

There's an obvious question here. Have you tried hitting the MME screen?

 

[methorian]

There's an obvious question here. Have you tried hitting the MME screen?

I have, but not with very much force...

 

[buffasnow]

I wonder if you would have noticed it as annoying if no one had posted about it here. Also, is there any way to determine if all units so far have the same noise. That one would be tough unless the same person is listening to all of them. I'm now afraid to put this item on my pickup checklist.

If someone hears the noise in @methorian's posted video but not in their own car, then I think it's safe to say that the noise is not present in all cars. If a person can hear it in the video, they should hear it anywhere it is present.

 

[benk016]

Google "Coil Whine" and you'll see many products that have this type of issue.
It sucks, but isn't going to affect anything and should be able to be replaced by Ford to resolve. It'll just be annoying until you get it fixed.

I'm picking up mine tomorrow and will check for this as well.

 

[ARK]

Here is the link to the video from my Mach-E.

I tried messing with the HVAC while recording the video to give a comparison of how loud the buzzing sound is versus the noise coming from the A/C.

 

[methorian]

Here is the link to the video from my Mach-E.

I tried messing with the HVAC while recording the video to give a comparison of how loud the buzzing sound is versus the noise coming from the A/C.

Thanks for the video - can definitely hear it on yours as well.

Now I'm looking forward to finding evidence of a Mach-E without the whine!

 

[Mirak]

Here is the link to the video from my Mach-E.

I tried messing with the HVAC while recording the video to give a comparison of how loud the buzzing sound is versus the noise coming from the A/C.

I could only hear the buzz with my volume cranked all the way up and when the phone was placed inches from the screen. I'm youngish and still have pretty good hearing (my wife would disagree). There's just no way to know if these videos are accurately depicting the conditions when sitting in the car. It could be that some screens are noisier than others, and/or that some people are more sensitive to certain frequencies than others. Tough to pin down.

Frustrating for the owners I'm sure! Hope I don't hear it in mine, and I sure hope I don't hear things I wouldn't normally hear simply because now I'm listening for them.

 

[JellyBelly]

Here is the link to the video from my Mach-E.

I tried messing with the HVAC while recording the video to give a comparison of how loud the buzzing sound is versus the noise coming from the A/C.

Yeah - at least to my ears this noise seems to be not as loud as @methorian 's . But its there

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