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

[Jimrpa]

Update. Got it back. Car is absolutely all screwed up.

First thing I noticed was the sound was still there as the service advisor had told me.

Second thing was that the cluster had new software. Great, it looks prettier kinda, maybe some new cluster features.

Here's a list of things that are broken now:
- Traction control is unable to be turned off
-Distance indication does not show on IPC
-Lane assist does not show if it is on or off unless you have cruise control on (doesn't have to be set, just on)
-Evasive steering will not turn on
-Lane centering does not function correctly. It gives no keep hands on wheel alert then after 20+ seconds goes "resume control" and turns off
-No parking brake indicator. It says "parking brake ON" then that goes away but no "BRAKE" at the bottom.
-When car in reverse ford chime constantly plays through speakers.
-Codes in IPC for "Invalid data received from ECM/PCM A", and "Invalid data received from restraints control module". These codes come back after clearing.

Sounds to me like incompatible software with the APIM and maybe other modules. If Ford would just release the software for my VIN I could update it with FDRS and solve this. Now I want my old IPC back.....

Also it did not add carplay nav in cluster (probably because old APIM software) or fix the issue with the blue bar countdown with nav directions.

Shame on you Ford for being so disjointed. This is just purely unacceptable. I've been so patient about issues with this car. I get it, it is a first model year of a brand new design. I understand it has kinks that need to be worked out. However when you start breaking the car more....AND wasting a lot of my time...yikes. You think Visteon/AER/UR could have booted it up and been like "oh, it still makes the noise...lets not waste time replacing it..."

Wow! Have you taken the car

Hah, for what reason? I'm not going to have them buy the car back. It's fine, they'll fix it. If this was 2020 when cars were available everywhere I may consider it but finding a new one at MSRP would be tough...or finding something else I want.

Yes I'm disappointed, but to be honest I still am happy with the car overall.

This is truly sad. It’s yet another example of my rule (which I freely and repeatedly admit I broke) “Never buy the first model year of a new car.” I really love my car, and don’t regret buying it, despite all the frustrations I have, but I’d have a hard time recommending a first year Mustang Mach E to a person who isn’t somewhat comfortable with new technology, patient, and backed up by a dealer who will at least make an effort on their behalf. The car is fantastic, but in Apple terms, it’s roughly at the Max OS X Jaguar stage. (For those who don’t remember, Jaguar was pretty amazing and revolutionary for its time but, particularly by today’s standards, it would be considered sort of primitive and limited. It also had hiccups that Apple had to address.)

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[breeves002]

Yes I took it that day have been driving it for the weekend.

Yes I have the same rule yet I have now bought 3 first model year cars hah. Always stupid.

 

[Jimrpa]

Looks like it's a chihuahua prototype. Did they give you the info for the old one?

Why do you say that? I read the label as saying it is material to be used in both Ford Prototypes Production. It’s an assembly made by Visteon.

 

[NoMoShocks]

The buzz is greatly reduced if you select the dark display option!

 

[breeves002]

The buzz is greatly reduced if you select the dark display option!

Mine is louder in dark mode oddly.

 

[ppm]

what's the latest build date that is known to have this issue?

 

[zephiyr]

what's the latest build date that is known to have this issue?

I believe all of them still have the possibility to buzz. The part that buzzes is made by Visteon and it seems to have very inconsistent quality. The members here that have had their IPCs replaced recently still reported some buzzing.

 

[ARK]

Mine is louder in dark mode oddly.

Same here, it is definitely louder in dark mode. There previously was a discussion that the 4/10 brightness level in dark mode is the least worst setting for dark mode, and I agree with that and keep mine on that setting. But 4/10 dark mode is still pretty much worse than anything in light mode for me.

 

[ppm]

I believe all of them still have the possibility to buzz. The part that buzzes is made by Visteon and it seems to have very inconsistent quality. The members here that have had their IPCs replaced recently still reported some buzzing.

Applying a fix to the assembly line is not always the same as fixing the car after it was built.
For example, let's assume that the screen manufacturer fixed the buzzing but now the new screen is just a bit thicker so Ford would have to adjust the assembly line to cut a slightly larger hole for the screen in the dash but it's a fairly simple change. Now, do you really think that Ford is going to ask dealers service departments to cut pieces of the dashes to accomodate the new fixed screens? The only "fix" that they would offer is to switch the screen to another old buzzing screen but one that buzzes less.
Such scenario happens a lot in auto and any other manufacturing industry and in such case the best option for the Mach-E owners that the buzzing is annoying them would be to switch the car to a later build that was coming from a fixed assembly line. Yes, it'll incur an extra expense but might be worth it to finally truly enjoy the car and avoid wasting time by chasing dealerships and Ford.
This is why it is important to accurately monitor whether recently delivered cars still have the issue or not and once there is a good evidence that they did stop arriving with the buzzing then it can be assumed that it was fixed on the assembly line but a good chance that it might never be fixed for the cars that are already affected by it.

 

[zephiyr]

Applying a fix to the assembly line is not always the same as fixing the car after it was built.
For example, let's assume that the screen manufacturer fixed the buzzing but now the new screen is just a bit thicker so Ford would have to adjust the assembly line to cut a slightly larger hole for the screen in the dash but it's a fairly simple change. Now, do you really think that Ford is going to ask dealers service departments to cut pieces of the dashes to accomodate the new fixed screens? The only "fix" that they would offer is to switch the screen to another old buzzing screen but one that buzzes less.
Such scenario happens a lot in auto and any other manufacturing industry and in such case the best option for the Mach-E owners that the buzzing is annoying them would be to switch the car to a later build that was coming from a fixed assembly line. Yes, it'll incur an extra expense but might be worth it to finally truly enjoy the car and avoid wasting time by chasing dealerships and Ford.
This is why it is important to accurately monitor whether recently delivered cars still have the issue or not and once there is a good evidence that they did stop arriving with the buzzing then it can be assumed that it was fixed on the assembly line but a good chance that it might never be fixed for the cars that are already affected by it.

What you’re saying makes sense (trying to determine if fixed part can be retrofitted) but I am not aware of models that do not have buzzing. It would be interesting to see if any of the new GT or GTPE owners can hear the buzz.

That said I am definitely not going to reward (pay) Ford by buying into a new model year for a defect they should fix. I’d sooner 3D print that plexiglass shield to mitigate it.

 

[ppm]

By the way, you can try to do another test to see if the buzzing is really related to the PWM dimming of the screen and if this screen really uses PWM dimming at all:

Install and open the "Camera+" app on iPhone (I don't know if there is an android version for this app but I'm sure there is some android app with the same functionality that I'm going to describe) and click on the AUTO icon at the middle in the bottom. This will expose two scrolls, shutter speed on the left and ISO on the right. Start increasing the shutter speed (as you increase the shutter speed the image will become darker, to increase the light you can increase the ISO value on the right scroll) and watch for visible black lines on the Mach-E screen (easier to spot them when the Mach-E screen has some large/bright graphics on it) through the iPhone, once you see static or moving black lines, the lowest shutter speed value that they appear on, this is about the Hz frequency of the PWM dimming of the screen. Changing the brightness levels should widen/narrow the black lines because PWM dimming is a (rather cheap) way to dim LED screens, instead of increasing or decreasing the backlight, the backlight is constant and the screen is turning off and on (flicker) at specific Hz frequency. For example, let's say the screen has PWM dimming at 4 Hz which means it's capable of changing its on/off state 4 times per second. At the max brightness level the screen won't turn itself off at all so no flicker: the span of one second will be on-on-on-on, at 75% brightness it'll turn itself off once every second: on-on-on-off and the result is that to our eyes the image will appear darker, at 50% brightness level it'll be on-off-on-off and we'll see the image more darker, etc...
It may sounds complicated at first but it is really simple once you try and by using this method you'll be able to hunt flickering screens or lights from now on Almost any car (eletric or ICE) with LED headlights has them on pretty low frequency PWM flicker so you can test it on them and this is why by the way some people find them uneasy on the eyes, especially in the spatial vision area where flickering is more noticable.

 

[Fleuret]

What you’re saying makes sense (trying to determine if fixed part can be retrofitted) but I am not aware of models that do not have buzzing. It would be interesting to see if any of the new GT or GTPE owners can hear the buzz.

That said I am definitely not going to reward (pay) Ford by buying into a new model year for a defect they should fix. I’d sooner 3D print that plexiglass shield to mitigate it.

Was at the dealership (doing the PaaK update) and just checked one of the GT's they got in. Still has the same exact buzzing as my own. I mean... Only a sample size of one but still.

Update: GT Performance Edition has it as well.

 

[ppm]

Was at the dealership (doing the PaaK update) and just checked one of the GT's they got in. Still has the same exact buzzing as my own. I mean... Only a sample size of one but still.

GT can have a build date of May or June as well, right?

 

[HuntingPudel]

GT can have a build date of May or June as well, right?

Earliest GTs we know of are July.

 

[Fleuret]

GT can have a build date of May or June as well, right?

Normal GT was July 27th.
Performance GT was July 24th.

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