New Park Assist Warning Sound

[ncaadam]

I got in my car tonight and the main screen had a progress bar on it with some text. Basicallly said something like “turn on and off the car.” I didn’t, I just waited for the progress bar to fill then it went to sync normally. For the record, I’ve never seen this screen. Really didn’t think much of it honestly.

I started to pull out and the front left got close to the wall, as usual, so the car started beeping letting me know. But what I heard was a very different beeping than before!

did they update the park assist beep? Was i witnessing a module update that possibly updated it?

has anyone else heard the new beep?

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[Gullwingdmc]

Did the beep sound like it was coming from the dash instead of the speakers?Or lower quality sound?

 

[ncaadam]

Did the beep sound like it was coming from the dash instead of the speakers?Or lower quality sound?

It could’ve been. I didnt really sound lower quality. Maybe I’ll go test it again

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

Ah welcome to what we have started to call the “cheap beeps” (cheap being UK slang for low cost)

Myself and a number of others here have noticed that sometimes when you start the car you don’t get the little fanfare, and when using the parking sensors you get a less polished sound effect.

After ignition off you sometimes revert back to the standard beeping straight away. Sometimes they stay for a few days.

I’ve got a couple of YouTube Videos I posted on the UK forum here….

NORMAL BEEPS


ALTERNATIVE BEEPS

 

[hybrid2bev]

I got in my car tonight and the main screen had a progress bar on it with some text. Basicallly said something like “turn on and off the car.” I didn’t, I just waited for the progress bar to fill then it went to sync normally. For the record, I’ve never seen this screen. Really didn’t think much of it honestly.

I started to pull out and the front left got close to the wall, as usual, so the car started beeping letting me know. But what I heard was a very different beeping than before!

did they update the park assist beep? Was i witnessing a module update that possibly updated it?

has anyone else heard the new beep?

I’ve seen that message too when starting the vehicle.

 

[ncaadam]

I’ve seen that message too when starting the vehicle.

Yes! This is it! What is happening here?

 

[ncaadam]

ALTERNATIVE BEEPS

Oh no. I think this is it. Definitely first time I’ve heard it. Thanks for the info.

Any thoughts on reproducing or avoiding it?

 

[TuxToaster]

Sorry to tell you that this is a telltale indicator that your 12V battery is low. I have not experienced this in the MME thankfully, but had a lot of experience with phantom loads draining the battery in my old Fusion Energi.

Whenever it started happening, the startup chimes coming through the piezo in the instrument cluster instead of through the speakers was the first indication that something was wrong, and other symptoms (such as the system off to save battery message) and general wonkiness soon followed.

Would highly recommend following the guides here to make sure your battery is fully charged and keep an eye on it to ensure you don't have a bad battery.

 

[breeves002]

The technical reason the beeps change is because they're now beeping out of the instrument cluster rather than the sound system.

The reason this happens is if something weird happens (usually when the car is booting up) and the IPC cannot talk to the ACM when it is supposed to it reverts to IPC beeps and chimes until next cycle when it tries to talk to the ACM again. This is for safety reasons so your beeps and chimes continue to work in the event of a radio failure of some kind. The IPC has one tiny low quality speaker in it which is only for the turn signal clicks normally. It is actually a speaker though about 1.5" diameter.

A low 12v battery (or if the car thinks it is low) can easily do this as the ACM will shut down to save power along with the APIM because it isn't necessary.

 

[macchiaz-o]

(cheap being UK slang for low cost)

That's also what it means in New Zealand.*

* This might not be true; I've never been there. It was a cheap shot and I am sorry. No, I'm not Canadian, either. Can we please change the subject?

 

[Gullwingdmc]

Yes! This is it! What is happening here?

This makes sense. So my 2014 Fusion used to occasionally play different beep tones (backup, startup, etc.). They were noticeable because they sounded lower quality and we’re coming from the dash instead of the car speakers. One time shortly after that happened my battery died and the car wouldn’t start. I did some research and found out that when the 12v battery is low the car reverted to a backup wanting system that used less power and had its own speaker in the dash. That lines up with the message you saw on the screen. I’m not saying your battery is going to die or anything, my fusion did it several other times and then corrected itself without issue. My MME has done it once already. If it doesn’t go back to normal after a day or two and yly keep seeing that message I might just check the 12v battery and see if it’s charged.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

Check out these threads too.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/alternate-tones-speaker.9523/

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/eight-bit-tones-instead-of-chimes.6625/

 

[breeves002]

I did some research and found out that when the 12v battery is low the car reverted to a backup wanting system that used less power and had its own speaker in the dash.

So this is not WHY it happens but rather a problem that causes it to happen. It happens because the IPC can't talk to the ACM because the ACM is powered down since it is not needed. There are other reasons it can happen too unrelated to a low battery. Even just missed message timing can cause it to happen randomly. However a low LVB can cause this to happen if it shuts off the ACM and APIM.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

So this is not WHY it happens but rather a problem that causes it to happen. It happens because the IPC can't talk to the ACM because the ACM is powered down since it is not needed. There are other reasons it can happen too unrelated to a low battery. Even just missed message timing can cause it to happen randomly. However a low LVB can cause this to happen if it shuts off the ACM and APIM.

Thank You! You are the first person, including the dealership, to actually know and explain why this is happening. When it kept happening on my Fusion the dealership was clueless.

 

[ncaadam]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I’ll keep an eye on my LVB and any other warning signs

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