Total Meltdown - Help! - 2022 Expedition Max Limited

[mdexp]

I have a 2022 Expedition Max Limited, Stealth with Sync4a and the 15inch screen. Last night, I remote started the vehicle, unlocked it as I got close, got inside and started the car. As soon as it started, the most horrendous sound imaginable started coming from the speakers (I think). It was a bit like a tornado siren, very scratchy, high pitched, and super loud. I turned off the car, got out, turned the car back on, back off, tried remote start again, turned off alarm sensors, tried adjusting volume, etc. but nothing would stop the noise. After about 5 minutes of trying to get this to stop, I decided my only chance may be to disconnect the battery... unfortunatley I had no tools with me, so I opened the hood, kind of jiggled the negative wire on the battery and the noise stopped. I started the car and drove home normally... I'm a bit concerned that this could happen again and not sure if me messing with the battery wire was just coincidence or somehow actually helped. Way too loud to even think of trying to drive it and not sure what my wife would do if this happened to her.. Any ideas??

I've tried to attach videos I took while this was happening. The first video is when it was first starting and the second video near the end (noise became constant vs beeping through most of the event).
Video 1 - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4ZIXhTgQwcc
Video 2 - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/keGWAYMRGXs

 

[maxlim2022]

That sure would drive one nuts. I have no idea but having video documentation was an excellent move on your part. See what the dealership says about it, if any codes can be pulled or otherwise and please keep up posted.

 

[mdexp]

That sure would drive one nuts. I have no idea but having video documentation was an excellent move on your part. See what the dealership says about it, if any codes can be pulled or otherwise and please keep up posted.

I spoke with them this morning. They said there was a code for a camera malfunction but not sure how that would result in screeching. I have an appointment for them to look at it next week.

 

[Rob6805]

Could be an issue with the amplifier.

 

[mdexp]

Could be an issue with the amplifier.

Thanks for the suggestion- I’ll mention this to the tech when I take it in.

Any and all other thoughts are welcome!

 

[carnevallemarcelo]

For sure is an issue in the sounding system. It seems to me the same as when you do test mode in the Sync 3.

 

[sjwhiteley]

Jiggled wire on negative terminal? You should not be able to budge either of the connectors on the battery.

 

[BravoAlpha]

Batteries and cables/grounding can cause a vehicle, especially modern ones, to appear possessed.

let us know what you find out

FYI

in 2017 my wife‘s 2016 Explorer started some bizarre behavior. Drive able but concerning. key fob issues, a/c compressor cycling, chimes for no reason. Low fuel light when half/tank. Totally random. Then the speakers crackling and squeeling. When to 2 service shops. tested everything, During one visit found the TPS acting out. While chasing down that gremlin, found that 2 of those junk Hankook tires were bad. Aaaaanyway

my neighbor suggested I throw a new battery in it. But but .,but...the battery TESTED good! Oh what the hell. Went to Costco and Discount Tire. New Bat, new grips

problems vanished. Called FoMoCo customer / warranty support. Got with a human, I was very polite and patient ( this is key, they are just people). Provided all receipts. That took time

Ford reimbursed the 75% cost of Battery and tires. Why not all? Cuz I went elsewhere And the car had 8k on it I guess

 

[mdexp]

For sure is an issue in the sounding system. It seems to me the same as when you do test mode in the Sync 3.

Interesting - I will show them the videos and see if they think it could be something related.

Jiggled wire on negative terminal? You should not be able to budge either of the connectors on the battery.

Jiggled may not have been the right word, but I couldn't think of a better one at the time. The wires were tight on the terminals and when I messed with one that was connected to the negative terminal the sound stopped. The terminal connection itself didn't move, but the wire moved slightly.

Batteries and cables/grounding can cause a vehicle, especially modern ones, to appear possessed.

let us know what you find out

FYI

in 2017 my wife‘s 2016 Explorer started some bizarre behavior. Drive able but concerning. key fob issues, a/c compressor cycling, chimes for no reason. Low fuel light when half/tank. Totally random. Then the speakers crackling and squeeling. When to 2 service shops. tested everything, During one visit found the TPS acting out. While chasing down that gremlin, found that 2 of those junk Hankook tires were bad. Aaaaanyway

my neighbor suggested I throw a new battery in it. But but .,but...the battery TESTED good! Oh what the hell. Went to Costco and Discount Tire. New Bat, new grips

problems vanished. Called FoMoCo customer / warranty support. Got with a human, I was very polite and patient ( this is key, they are just people). Provided all receipts. That took time

Ford reimbursed the 75% cost of Battery and tires. Why not all? Cuz I went elsewhere And the car had 8k on it I guess

Also an interesting example - another question I'll pose towards the tech.

Appreciate everyone's feedback! I take the car in this Wednesday, so we'll see what they come up with and I'll update everyone with what I find out.

 

[Pete Costanza]

When I used to work on Lexus vehicles at the dealership, we would occasionally get issues almost exactly like this. It was just about always the Amplifier for the sound system. We would replace them and it would be all good. Good luck.

 

[no MORE_MPG]

Hello mdexp.
I'll share a story that may or may not be relevant.
Upon returning from a week of business travel, I found that I was not able to unlock my vehicle (not a Ford) with the keyfob. There was no sign of anything electrical going on at all. I had locked the physical key inside the vehicle (feel free to knock me for this). So, after calling for a back-up physical key, I opened the door and noted that the LCD odometer was blank.
I opened the hood, visually inspected the battery connections, which all looked normal. Upon touching the connections (not disconnecting, just touching), everything came to life and worked perfectly. The battery was fully charged.

The only conclusion that I could come to was that while the cables were connected physically, they were not connected electrically. There must have been some corrosion occur between the post and clamp.

In your case, there may have been a poor connection to the battery which confused the regulator causing it to tell the alternator to over-produce current (or maybe voltage). This is at least partially negated by the fact that it apparently started without issue using remote-start.

Best of luck getting this issue resolved! (or having it never happening again)

Ben

 

[Tripoli]

Sounds like a dot matrix printer from hell! Dang, I ordered the exact same vehicle. Hope I don't have that to look forward to.

 

[mdexp]

When I used to work on Lexus vehicles at the dealership, we would occasionally get issues almost exactly like this. It was just about always the Amplifier for the sound system. We would replace them and it would be all good. Good luck.

That's great - with 2 replies pointing potentially to the amplifier it sounds promising. Appreciate it!

 

[NorthWestYuppie]

the aliens are coming................

 

[mdexp]

I'll keep this updated in case anyone else has the same issue at some point... although not much of an update to give. I had it in the dealership today- they ran the normal scans and tried to reproduce the issue, but not surprisingly, were not able to find anything. I mentioned the amplifier as a potential culprit and also the sync3 test mode. He did not think it was a test mode because he indicated that normally moves from speaker to speaker. He did think the amplifier could potentially be involved, but couldn't find anything not functioning correctly.

If it happens again or I have any more info I'll update this thread.

 

[Rob6805]

When it happened was the vehicle powered on? Either running or in aux mode?

 

[mdexp]

When it happened was the vehicle powered on? Either running or in aux mode?

I had remote started the vehicle, got inside, and powered on fully (pressed brake/hit start button) - it began making the noise immediately after I started the car.

 

[Rob6805]

I had remote started the vehicle, got inside, and powered on fully (pressed brake/hit start button) - it began making the noise immediately after I started the car.

And the sound was coming from the speakers? All of them? You have B&O audio, right?

 

[NC12South]

I know this is not helpful, but my first thought was are you friends with James May or Jeremy Clarkson?
Will give you one more thought, if you are having any other electrical issues, have them check the harness below the battery. Mine had been stored somewhere before delivery where mice made just enough damage to create intermittent issues. Just a thought.

 

[mdexp]

And the sound was coming from the speakers? All of them? You have B&O audio, right?

The sound was coming from all speakers (the best I could tell- honestly it was so loud it was a bit hard to decipher). I do have the B&O sound system.

I know this is not helpful, but my first thought was are you friends with James May or Jeremy Clarkson?
Will give you one more thought, if you are having any other electrical issues, have them check the harness below the battery. Mine had been stored somewhere before delivery where mice made just enough damage to create intermittent issues. Just a thought.

Another good suggestion- I'll try to check this out to see if there could be any damage.