High-pitched "Electrical Whine"

[SoriceConsulting]

I've mentioned it before and will say it again - that is f****in annoying!! The only thing I can think of is 'cheap display'. Sounds circa 1980s early 90s CRT monitors. If mine has that when it arrives and it is really noticeable, I'll have to pass.

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[VegStang]

That's a good video of the issue, really settles it for me that it's a defect. Not a huge one, but screens shouldn't do that- hope to see Ford acknowledge, develop a fix or replace the screen.

The screen issue and the roof noise really seem to fall into the early-adopters, brand new vehicle category that I wouldn't refuse delivery over, but do hope there will be a fix.

Hey guys,

So I just took delivery of my AWD 4X Mach-E a few days ago, and I too have noticed the same high pitched electric whine from the small dash cluster display unit. The sound is only present when that display is on, and it does change in pitch and frequency as you change the small display brightness level.

Here is a video I created earlier today to that very clearly captures the issue.

I find it slightly annoying and I would certainly like to have this fixes, but to put things in perspective unless I'm sitting stationary I don't really notice it at all when I'm driving.

 

[SoriceConsulting]

Agreed - definite defect that needs to be addressed / fixed.

 

[mamejunkie]

I didn't noticed it for the last week when driving around. But few nights ago when I was in the car, parked in garage and just playing with the options, I could hear it loud and clear. Now, I can't unhear it It doesn't change when going from dark/light.

 

[CHeil402]

So I finally got to take a test drive today. Loved everything about the car, except that the car I drove definitely had an audible screen whine. In October I got to sit in the road tour car and didn't hear it there. In the test drive, I could hear it clearly from my seated position while driving with no music playing. I think it would be drowned out with music, but not great without it. Really annoying. I took a spectrum capture for reference in the MME and in my current car (Audi A4).

MME (Premium AWD Extended Range - Early December Build - VIN: 3FMTK3SU7MMA03470)

My 2017 Audi A4 with climate and radio off...

Both range from the phone in front of the steering wheel and moved to the seated position. For reference the A4 also has a screen behind the dash. There was a MUCH bigger peak in the MME especially around 117 Hz and a higher average power. Here's hoping Ford can fix this and that mine doesn't have it.

 

[Wildthing]

I can hear it but juste because I tried after reading this thread. I don’t hear it while I’m driving, only if that car is not moving with everything off

 

[JDRGolfer1]

Noticed the noise from the drivers screen always but today while driving it seemed to elevate even louder, now I can't even ignore it without having the stereo very loud. I sure hope this is something in the list of fixes. Seems like this and the wind noise from the roof are the most common.

 

[Colorado Native]

In the test drive, I could hear it clearly from my seated position while driving with no music playing.

On Wednesday I took what was supposed to be my new First Edition for a test drive before accepting delivery. By the end of the drive I had developed a piercing headache.

Being aware of the noise issues described in this thread, I had already installed a similar frequency analyzer app on my phone, so I pulled it out. There was a sharp spike at exactly 20,000Hz - the app continually identified that as the highest dB sound in the cabin. Moving the phone around I could tell that it was coming from the driver's instrument panel. You can see it at the far right side of the image posted by Cheil402, although that display has even worse problems.

Having attended many rock concerts in my early days, it's not surprising that I no longer can hear at 20,000Hz, but that doesn't mean high frequency sounds can't cause physiological problems. The headache subsided on my way back home from the dealership.

FWIW, I refused delivery of the FE (for this as well as other reasons.)

 

[CHeil402]

On Wednesday I took what was supposed to be my new First Edition for a test drive before accepting delivery. By the end of the drive I had developed a piercing headache.

Being aware of the noise issues described in this thread, I had already installed a similar frequency analyzer app on my phone, so I pulled it out. There was a sharp spike at exactly 20,000Hz - the app continually identified that as the highest dB sound in the cabin. Moving the phone around I could tell that it was coming from the driver's instrument panel. You can see it at the far right side of the image posted by Cheil402, although that display has even worse problems.

Having attended many rock concerts in my early days, it's not surprising that I no longer can hear at 20,000Hz, but that doesn't mean high frequency sounds can't cause physiological problems. The headache subsided on my way back home from the dealership.

FWIW, I refused delivery of the FE (for this as well as other reasons.)

That really sucks. I'm sorry about that. I agree. I've really been looking forward to this car and I can overlook a lot of shortcomings. I definitely had a slight headache after the test drive. When I got home I found a website that can reproduce specific tones and when I put in 11 kHz it sounded similar and both my cats and I agreed we hated it... at least I assume that's why they ran out of the room. ?

If my car is as bad as that test drive was I'll seriously consider skipping it. But like I said, when I went on the tour in October I didn't hear it and I was in that car for a while. Here's hoping ?

 

[Mirak]

Hey guys,

So I just took delivery of my AWD 4X Mach-E a few days ago, and I too have noticed the same high pitched electric whine from the small dash cluster display unit. The sound is only present when that display is on, and it does change in pitch and frequency as you change the small display brightness level.

Here is a video I created earlier today to that very clearly captures the issue.

I find it slightly annoying and I would certainly like to have this fixes, but to put things in perspective unless I'm sitting stationary I don't really notice it at all when I'm driving.

It’s funny - in this video some of the brightness settings sound way less noticeable than others, and not the lowest.

But again, tough to give too much credence to videos where you’ve gotta put the phone 3 inches from the cluster just to pick it up.

 

[DaMeatMan]

It’s funny - in this video some of the brightness settings sound way less noticeable than others, and not the lowest.

But again, tough to give too much credence to videos where you’ve gotta put the phone 3 inches from the cluster just to pick it up.

The sound is easily heard from a normal seating position when the vehicle is not moving. I put the phone right up to the display to ensure that it captures the sound on video, and to prove that the sound is indeed coming from that display or the electronics powering the display.

As i mentioned previously, under normal driving conditions this does not really bother me but it's definitely not normal and it should be addressed, others may also be particularly sensitive to high pitched frequencies as well and may find it far more distracting or annoying then myself.

Also, although the pitch changes with the screen brightness, in the video it sounds as if the sound might go away at some points and that's due to my phone cancelling out background noise at points in the vieo. If you listen carefully you see the sound picks up again when you hear my jacket or any other noise in the cabin where the phone then stops muting out background audio.

In any case, this is just an attempt from an ordinary user to document the issue with what i have at my disposal, and pinpoint it's source. It is however up to the engineers at Ford to do their own investigation as i and several others have already reported this issue to Ford.

 

[SteveUk]

How many cars have been reported on the forum to have this screen buzz ?

 

[rgparham]

So I received my premium awd er yesterday. Up to this point I have not heard the "whine". I can clearly hear it on others video. I do notice the wind noise when getting up to speed ( 50-60) on the highway from the panoramic roof area.

 

[TheSteelRider]

Just to add another data point. Took delivery of my Premium RWD ER early this week.

I do not hear a whine when I am sitting normally in the driver seat either when driving, or even when in a completely quiet garage.

If I lean forward and put my face against or on top of the steering wheel, I can perceive the whine, but even at that extreme close distance the volume of the whine is low enough that I would not bat an eye or maybe even notice it unless it was pointed out to me. One thing I should point out, I do have some hearing loss. That said, when I listen to @methorian 's video, I can very clearly hear his whine.

Here is a reference video, taken on a Pixel 2 XL in a parking lot. For reference, the video starts out with the phone resting on the horn portion of the steering wheel. I then move it forward to just on top of / in front of the IR distraction cameras, pause briefly, then move the phone to where it is millimeters from actually touching the screen.

Also for reference, listening back to the video, the recorded whine is not 100% reproduced the way my ear hears it. My ears hear it slightly more like a tiny high-RPM fan (e.g., somewhat of a "whir" blended with a "whine"). I wonder if anyone "on the inside" has any schematics? Could it be there *is* a tiny fan used for cooling?

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