SM 49810 - Buzz Noise From The Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC)

[BasicSaber]

Been following the original buzz noise thread for a couple months, and seeing this official announcement from Ford is both extremely disappointing and...not that surprising. ?

The whole "business explanation" for this just sucks. I'm using that term since Sony did the exact same thing with their Playstation 5 consoles. (those in the thread mentioning coil whine in PCs and such will know exactly what I mean). Basically, Sony's response to coil whine was pretty much "that's normal" or "we can't hear anything substantial". Some that managed to have their consoles sent in for repair even ended up getting a louder coil whine! It's a disaster. ?

Anyways, back on track. I was able to test drive a Mach-E at my local dealer a couple weeks ago and fortunately(?) did not hear any coil whine near the displays. I even had the radio and propulsion sounds off (since i was so excited to drive the car I didn't bother to mess with the screen stuff at first) and didn't notice any strange sounds.

I was so impressed with the car that I submitted my custom order right after. But if this coil whine issue is as widespread as it seems, I'm getting worried again. I really hope Ford somehow gets this resolved for later builds (like mine) and that they revise their statement so those affected in this thread will get it fixed.

Who knows? Maybe if my order has that annoying coil whine, I can have the dealer rip out the screens from that demo unit I drove and swap them out with mine? ?

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[Mirak]

Like a $60,000 F-U. Like a “thanks for all that money now go eff yourself” F-you. That kind.

 

[BadgerGreg]

I honestly have no issues with any electronic whine from the instrument panel. My hearing is fine, but I understand I may not have the same high frequency noise sensitivity as others. I don't have any idea what percentage of drivers this impacts, but I can say that I'm definitely not one of them.

 

[CHeil402]

I honestly have no issues with any electronic whine from the instrument panel. My hearing is fine, but I understand I may not have the same high frequency noise sensitivity as others. I don't have any idea what percentage of drivers this impacts, but I can say that I'm definitely not one of them.

When was your build date?

 

[shutterbug]

I don't have any idea what percentage of drivers this impacts

I don't either, but it's obviously not as hot an issue as some random guy choosing to buy a Tesla:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/the-model-y-still-has-the-edge-for-me.6392/
That one is up to 200 posts, while this thread has yet to hit 40.

 

[Stang68]

I don't either, but it's obviously not as hot an issue as some random guy choosing to buy a Tesla:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/the-model-y-still-has-the-edge-for-me.6392/
That one is up to 200 posts, while this thread has yet to hit 40.

And I think that's why Ford isn't too concerned either...they must have data or a survey or employees who could hear it and those who could not...and figured it's not worth "fixing".

 

[Jimrpa]

This. It is an incredible PITA to remove the IPC. It requires disassembly of most of the dashboard! All upper and lower trim pieces have to be removed which means the screen has to be removed along with the drivers side access panel too. It is pretty involved.

If I can get a used one I may open it up and see if I can find the source of the whine. I have a way to boot them on a bench. Whoever suggested CCFL transformers I truly doubt that. I'm 99.9% sure it's an LED backlit display.

That would be me and CFL is very old school. No doubt it’s LED backlit and likely as the video suggests a cap humming, or possibly, as one of the gamers suggested a coil in a display driver humming.

 

[Jimrpa]

Here’s an interesting set of questions: does this actually constitute a “manufacturing defect”? Obviously, there are part variations - not every part is identical. How many, out of the 50,000 units built (or whatever number so far) are objectively (not subjectively) presenting this issue? If it IS an issue that is beyond statistic variability (in other words, some kind of defect or substandard part), is it something that can be corrected without replacement of a $3,000 component (say by adding sound deadening material?)

 

[sockmeister]

That would be me and CFL is very old school. No doubt it’s LED backlit and likely as the video suggests a cap humming, or possibly, as one of the gamers suggested a coil in a display driver humming.

It's definitely PWM noise, probably manifested through the driver you mentioned.
Sadly, they could easily fix this by increasing the PWM frequency, but since the part may be made by a third party, there's probably not much they can do about it -- I bet next year's models won't have this issue, and we'll be left having to buy a 2022 display to fix it

 

[Shayne]

While I agree that my analogy was a bit extreme I still think it is bad form for Ford to say that the issue with 'some cars' is 'normal'. If it's 'normal', I'd think it would be present in *all* cars. And, if it is, for it to vary to such an extreme degree would, in my opinion, indicate a problem with that module that should be addressed - at least on a case-by-case basis.

At least a DB meter test with a line in the sand of what is acceptable and what is not. Not a blanket statement that from the few they have heard they conclude it is not a problem for anyone of their vehicles that has been produced to date and for the foreseeable future. Not all electronics are created equal even if they are the same part number (bin cpu's). With my old ears and history of rock concerts my buzzing is faint to none existent but possibly I just don't have one of the bad ones? Need an engineered procedure to determine if the noise is too loud and not a blanket statement to give people the understanding it is FU. Meter, certain distance, line in the sand.

 

[ARK]

Here’s an interesting set of questions: does this actually constitute a “manufacturing defect”? Obviously, there are part variations - not every part is identical. How many, out of the 50,000 units built (or whatever number so far) are objectively (not subjectively) presenting this issue? If it IS an issue that is beyond statistic variability (in other words, some kind of defect or substandard part), is it something that can be corrected without replacement of a $3,000 component (say by adding sound deadening material?)

My money is on design defect (i.e. they all have it because some component has a poor design, bad schematics) as opposed to a manufacturing defect (something goes wrong during the build process but the design, when built correctly, doesn’t have the issue).

Clearly not a study, but when I raised the issue, my dealer said all the Mach-Es he checked had it. Also one or two videos on this forum of people who thought they didn’t have it, they posted their video, and lo and behold, it was audible to those who could hear it in their own vehicle.

 

[jddrews]

Well, if it cancels out the 4k ring in my ears due to tinnitus I'll be stoked.

I didn't notice anything when I was on a test drive. I'll listen for it again, though, on my next one.

 

[breeves002]

It's definitely PWM noise, probably manifested through the driver you mentioned.
Sadly, they could easily fix this by increasing the PWM frequency, but since the part may be made by a third party, there's probably not much they can do about it -- I bet next year's models won't have this issue, and we'll be left having to buy a 2022 display to fix it

It is probably made by Visteon like all other Ford digital IPC's. They can be software updated though like any other module. The Visteon clusters have the software itself, then they have an EEPROM which stores the as built, miles, and other configuration data.

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