Extremely loud electrical POP followed by loud static

[wessermgm]

So disheartening. There are so many things I love about this truck but as somebody with hearing issues already and hoping to have a kid in the near future, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm not sure it's worth the risk... If I get rid of it, just not sure what would check all the boxes my truck fills though. Dang.

It has happened twice now to me. It hasn't been as severe as some - not enough for hearing loss or anything like that. Tonight was number two. Less intense than the first. Loud POP following by what almost sounded like an alarm. Then static. Then nothing. I cut power to the truck and walked away for about five minutes. Came back and it started up. No sound to audio at all. Completely silent. Drive it home. Came back about an hour later, everything normal.

I get what you are saying about risk. I really wish you could always option a standard B&O system on any truck, rather than this Unleashed system that unleashes the sounds of hell. I noticed that the 2024s have a new Unleashed with only 14 speakers. I wonder if it has been redesigned to eliminate this issue. Only time can tell. Best advice I can give is get a Lariat without the Unleashed system. I haven't heard of it happening with the 8 speaker systems.

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[LariatSpaceWhite2.7]

It has happened twice now to me. It hasn't been as severe as some - not enough for hearing loss or anything like that. Tonight was number two. Less intense than the first. Loud POP following by what almost sounded like an alarm. Then static. Then nothing. I cut power to the truck and walked away for about five minutes. Came back and it started up. No sound to audio at all. Completely silent. Drive it home. Came back about an hour later, everything normal.

I get what you are saying about risk. I really wish you could always option a standard B&O system on any truck, rather than this Unleashed system that unleashes the sounds of hell. I noticed that the 2024s have a new Unleashed with only 14 speakers. I wonder if it has been redesigned to eliminate this issue. Only time can tell. Best advice I can give is get a Lariat without the Unleashed system. I haven't heard of it happening with the 8 speaker systems.

Have you put in a complaint with the NHTSA? I believe I posted the link above, but I can post again. Also, after DMing nearly 100 people on here and combing through all threads here, Raptor Forums, Expedition forums, Mach-E forums and even Maverick forums...where B&O is used on Ford products...they're all doing it...even the standard B&O 8-speaker units in the F-150s, albeit much less than the Unleashed equipped F-150s. It seems PowerBoosts with the Unleashed get it the most often and the worst, but any Ford with a B&O seems to fall victim to some form of this pop and static issue with reboots, freezes and such too, but the Unleashed systems in these F-150s seem to get it the loudest and most often..

 

[miller6824]

Hey Miller, how are you doing with it all? Any updates from Ford? Hopefully your ears are recovering. ?

Doing ok. Hearing isn't as bad now, but still noticeable with higher pitched sounds. Ford is definitely dragging their feet. They did send information to a legal analyst on their side to check on medical bills, which I don't have any yet.

They don't seem to care about the actual problem, which isn't a surprise, but frustrating with all of the documented evidence. I don't know what needs to happen for them to put some focus on it.

 

[miller6824]

Doing ok. Hearing isn't as bad now, but still noticeable with higher pitched sounds. Ford is definitely dragging their feet. They did send information to a legal analyst on their side to check on medical bills, which I don't have any yet.

They don't seem to care about the actual problem, which isn't a surprise, but frustrating with all of the documented evidence. I don't know what needs to happen for them to put some focus on it.

So a bit of an update. I finally got fed up and started escalating to the executive team and got a hold of someone in the legal department. It looks like the TSB wasn't correctly applied the last time I was at the dealer. They are currently working with another dealer closer to my house (not the one I purchased the truck at) to get me in to 1) apply the TSB 2)replace the amplifier and send it back to ford 3) replace all the speakers once the previous steps are completed.

 

[LariatSpaceWhite2.7]

So a bit of an update. I finally got fed up and started escalating to the executive team and got a hold of someone in the legal department. It looks like the TSB wasn't correctly applied the last time I was at the dealer. They are currently working with another dealer closer to my house (not the one I purchased the truck at) to get me in to 1) apply the TSB 2)replace the amplifier and send it back to ford 3) replace all the speakers once the previous steps are completed.

Wait, so maybe I don't have to be paranoid that even though I got the update I'm still at risk of the explosive pop? Did they elaborate on how they know the TSB wasn't performed correctly or gave you proof? I'd love to have my buddy who is a tech confirm that mine went through correctly. It's been a good four months since he did the update and so far *knock on wood, everything has been OK...some small cracks and pops quite frequently from the rear speakers only, which are a bit unnerving, but they're never that loud. Did they offer any info as to how the TSB helps? Also, are your amp and speakers being replaced because they were a contributor to the problem or were they damaged during the episode(s)?
Sorry for the nitty-gritty questions, just curious if you had any additional info. Please keep us updated!

 

[Eff0neFitty]

This fake @Ford Motor Company bot account uses the same repeated replies like "Hi there," and "This doesn't sound like the kind of experience we want you to have. " Total BS. It always asks for the VIN which they never actually look at. What does @Ford Motor Company actually do with all these VINs? LOL.

There's another forum called https://www.f150forum.com/ with the exact same bot that uses the same kinds of generated responses. The moderators on https://www.f150forum.com/ are highly defensive about @Ford Motor Company and will delete your posts if you call out the bot for the PHONY that it is. They even banned me for a week just for criticizing it.

Total hoax, prolly a marketing firm hired by Ford to scour the internet and setup fake accounts everywhere.

 

[miller6824]

Wait, so maybe I don't have to be paranoid that even though I got the update I'm still at risk of the explosive pop? Did they elaborate on how they know the TSB wasn't performed correctly or gave you proof? I'd love to have my buddy who is a tech confirm that mine went through correctly. It's been a good four months since he did the update and so far *knock on wood, everything has been OK...some small cracks and pops quite frequently from the rear speakers only, which are a bit unnerving, but they're never that loud. Did they offer any info as to how the TSB helps? Also, are your amp and speakers being replaced because they were a contributor to the problem or were they damaged during the episode(s)?
Sorry for the nitty-gritty questions, just curious if you had any additional info. Please keep us updated!

They were able to check via my VIN and my connected account on the app I believe. I think the TSB is supposed to solve the issue of the popping at startup or as related to the CarPlay, wireless issue. I will post more once I go to the dealer and have it applied. They think the amp could be a contributor, the speakers were at my request bc of the frequent issues and now poor sound quality.

 

[fordtruckman2003]

This fake @Ford Motor Company bot account uses the same repeated replies like "Hi there," and "This doesn't sound like the kind of experience we want you to have. " Total BS. It always asks for the VIN which they never actually look at. What does @Ford Motor Company actually do with all these VINs? LOL.

There's another forum called https://www.f150forum.com/ with the exact same bot that uses the same kinds of generated responses. The moderators on https://www.f150forum.com/ are highly defensive about @Ford Motor Company and will delete your posts if you call out the bot for the PHONY that it is. They even banned me for a week just for criticizing it.

Total hoax, prolly a marketing firm hired by Ford to scour the internet and setup fake accounts everywhere.

Not a bot, just low paid low level tech support like you get calling most places. They can't access much, but can point you in direction of dealers or help to escalate a case with Ford. Can also piss off the dealer you are working with when they get notified.

Better off just going to another dealer if no results from the one you are currently using.

 

[fordtruckman2003]

DSP update didn't fix pop activating camera or crackling/popping when receiving text message.

Recent sync update did stop pop with camera but I still get the crackling/popping playing the text message sound.

Can't speak to the extreme sound issues some have experienced. Never had that happen to me but I was hoping to correct the more mild issues. Still work to do but happy they made some progress with it in my case.

 

[superfordman]

DSP update didn't fix pop activating camera or crackling/popping when receiving text message.

Recent sync update did stop pop with camera but I still get the crackling/popping playing the text message sound.

Can't speak to the extreme sound issues some have experienced. Never had that happen to me but I was hoping to correct the more mild issues. Still work to do but happy they made some progress with it in my case.

Do you hear a small pop noise whenever the everything fires up, say open a door, or if you hang around long enough for everything to fully shut down, just sitting there or leave the door open for a while? Mine starting doing it after the latest ACM and DSP updates so regretting that now...

Also my chimes have been stuck in the cluster ever since as well and haven't heard them through the speakers since.

 

[HammaMan]

I have an aftermarket setup replacing the B&O, but it still turns on the A2B converter in the same manner it does the B&O amp. I've found the issue to be that it turns it on and off every 8 seconds or so, very strange. Just reconfigured my amp turn off delay so it stays running for 20 seconds after receiving shutdown command. With extended door opening it's not affected by it turning on and off. The initial wakeup from unlocking the vehicle turns on and soft pops one time before opening the doors.

Someone should try running a 12ga single wire between the ACM's ground and the amp's ground to see if it's a grounding issue.

 

[fordtruckman2003]

Do you hear a small pop noise whenever the everything fires up, say open a door, or if you hang around long enough for everything to fully shut down, just sitting there or leave the door open for a while? Mine starting doing it after the latest ACM and DSP updates so regretting that now...

Also my chimes have been stuck in the cluster ever since as well and haven't heard them through the speakers since.

Never had any of those issues.
Only issues with a few random pop sounds. Been mostly quiet now other than once or twice a week when I get text it will be crackling. This is the Ford Sync texting not AA or Carplay.

 

[rugedraw]

So a bit of an update. I finally got fed up and started escalating to the executive team and got a hold of someone in the legal department. It looks like the TSB wasn't correctly applied the last time I was at the dealer. They are currently working with another dealer closer to my house (not the one I purchased the truck at) to get me in to 1) apply the TSB 2)replace the amplifier and send it back to ford 3) replace all the speakers once the previous steps are completed.

At no point in your truck's vehicle history does it show any attempt made to install the update. As a matter of fact, no one has even looked up the TSB under your VIN according to vehicle history.

 

[TheDIG]

It has happened twice now to me. It hasn't been as severe as some - not enough for hearing loss or anything like that. Tonight was number two. Less intense than the first. Loud POP following by what almost sounded like an alarm. Then static. Then nothing. I cut power to the truck and walked away for about five minutes. Came back and it started up. No sound to audio at all. Completely silent. Drive it home. Came back about an hour later, everything normal.

I get what you are saying about risk. I really wish you could always option a standard B&O system on any truck, rather than this Unleashed system that unleashes the sounds of hell. I noticed that the 2024s have a new Unleashed with only 14 speakers. I wonder if it has been redesigned to eliminate this issue. Only time can tell. Best advice I can give is get a Lariat without the Unleashed system. I haven't heard of it happening with the 8 speaker systems.

I had this issue today for the first time. 23 XLT PB, I do NOT have the unleashed system. Hit the start button, had an extremely loud pop/alarm for a second (like the volume was on max) and then some max volume weird static. The radio touch screen was working, but when I adjusted the volume it never went off of zero. I stopped, turned the truck off for about 2 minutes, started back up and everything was normal. I really think this truck is trying to break my spirit. Interested to know if anybody has a cause/solution for this or is it just another gremlin.

 

[KDecker]

I have a 2012 F150. It just started doing this. Turning it off. Opening door and waiting a couple minutes brings back Sync and audio. I don’t trust my dealership at all. Long story. I wonder if a non ford shop could help me?
Is the fix expensive if you are out of warranty?

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