Extremely loud electrical POP followed by loud static

[RockItScientist]

Less than 1k miles on my 22 Limited Powerboost. This happened today and it was frightening. I wasn't as scared by the noise itself as much as what it did to my hearing. It originated from the front passenger area. My right ear is still in pain, and it was a serious pain right after the incident. My dog freaked out and refused to return to her shotgun seat.

This is no joke. I'll place my estimate of the crack up in the 120dB region. That's instantaneous hearing loss territory. Ford needs to get on this before they have a bunch of half deaf truck owners.

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[Lytning]

I strongly encourage everyone who has experienced this issue to file a complaint at NHTSA. This is a very serious issue. The only thing that I can recall that compared to the sound level in my truck was being posted on the take-off end of a runway as driver of a U.S. Air Force P-2 Crash Fire Truck for 4 B-52 bombers conducting a Minimum Interval Take-Off (MITO) exercise at Kinchloe AFB, MI. The incident with my Lightning truck happened 5 days ago, and my ears are still ringing. I honestly believe I have suffered significant hearing damage. I have an appointment scheduled with an ENT Doctor.

Ib18 previously posted this link to NHTSA ... https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#index

 

[RockItScientist]

I strongly encourage everyone who has experienced this issue to file a complaint at NHTSA. This is a very serious issue. The only thing that I can recall that compared to the sound level in my truck was being posted on the take-off end of a runway as driver of a U.S. Air Force P-2 Crash Fire Truck for 4 B-52 bombers conducting a Minimum Interval Take-Off (MITO) exercise at Kinchloe AFB, MI. The incident with my Lightning truck happened 5 days ago, and my ears are still ringing. I honestly believe I have suffered significant hearing damage. I have an appointment scheduled with an ENT Doctor.

Ib18 previously posted this link to NHTSA ... https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#index

Sounds like you got it worse. I base my estimate also on common noises levels such as aircraft and gun fire, along with SPL measurements I've taken of home theater speakers. I'm very surprised these speakers could even make that much SPL, with or without damaging themselves (or our hearing).

Thanks to you and lb18, I filed a report. I wouldn't have though to do so.

I don't want to put too much time into it, but if I could easily set up a laptop in there with a mic recording constantly, I'd do it. If it happens again I may have to do that, or stop driving it altogether. Your ears can only take so much abuse.

 

[Lytning]

Sounds like you got it worse. I base my estimate also on common noises levels such as aircraft and gun fire, along with SPL measurements I've taken of home theater speakers. I'm very surprised these speakers could even make that much SPL, with or without damaging themselves (or our hearing).

Thanks to you and lb18, I filed a report. I wouldn't have though to do so.

I don't want to put too much time into it, but if I could easily set up a laptop in there with a mic recording constantly, I'd do it. If it happens again I may have to do that, or stop driving it altogether. Your ears can only take so much abuse.

I downloaded the NIOSH Sound Level Meter app to my iPhone to have it handy. It may not be the most accurate, but it should provide an order of magnitude SPL reading. For those who have not heard the noise, it is hard to imagine just how loud it is. It is up at gun fire noise level, but continuous. I agree with you that I don't see how the sound system could possibly produce that much SPL. It is even more unbelievable that Ford would install a sound system that would produce an SPL that could cause immediate harm. The CDC states, "Loud noise above 120 dB can cause immediate harm to your ears." I believe the sound level in my truck was unquestionably in that range.

 

[sparetireless]

the sound level of the malfunction is the loudest sound I have ever heard. This will be a major class action. I cannot believe Ford is remaining silent on this.

 

[Lytning]

I recorded the attached file on my iPhone after I arrived at home during my incident. Try to imagine this sound as loud as gun fire or a jet engine inside your truck cab. When I arrived at home my wife was outside. I motioned for her to open the passenger door. She opened the truck door, screamed in terror, ran out in the yard, and yelled "What in HELL is THAT?"

 

[S5snake]

Just found this thread as I was a victim of this buffoonery today. Got into vehicle (22 F150 Lariat - 5,000 miles) this morning and hit the GO button which set off and explosive sound similar to someone shooting out all of my windows at the same time. Then it continued like a disappointing fireworks show consisting of only firecrackers. Shut the vehicle off several times with no relief.

Like others have stated, I had been listening to Sirius before turning the vehicle off and had zero ability to stop the madness even with the radio off and volume at 0. Made for a sweet ride home, wife was very impressed with my recent $69K purchase! The thought of taking it into the dealership to have them tell me they can't reproduce it makes my blood boil. On this forum alone this issue has been discussed since the first part of this year and no fixes from Ford it seems. A loose ground wire was reported by another member from their dealership, if this ground wire has been identified I'd like to know where it is if possible. All of the audio recordings on this thread are spot on.

Let's go Ford, take this issue serious!

 

[Lytning]

Just found this thread as I was a victim of this buffoonery today. Got into vehicle (22 F150 Lariat - 5,000 miles) this morning and hit the GO button which set off and explosive sound similar to someone shooting out all of my windows at the same time. Then it continued like a disappointing fireworks show consisting of only firecrackers. Shut the vehicle off several times with no relief.

Like others have stated, I had been listening to Sirius before turning the vehicle off and had zero ability to stop the madness even with the radio off and volume at 0. Made for a sweet ride home, wife was very impressed with my recent $69K purchase! The thought of taking it into the dealership to have them tell me they can't reproduce it makes my blood boil. On this forum alone this issue has been discussed since the first part of this year and no fixes from Ford it seems. A loose ground wire was reported by another member from their dealership, if this ground wire has been identified I'd like to know where it is if possible. All of the audio recordings on this thread are spot on.

Let's go Ford, take this issue serious!

I encourage you to file a complaint at NHTSA. It may be the only way to get Ford's attention to this serious issue.

 

[Marman242]

This has been intermittently happening for the past 5yrs on my 2018 F150 Lariat since new(B&O sound system). My nephew bought a 2021 Ranger Lariat and it's happening with his truck also. The dealer/Ford plays dumb and have no clue what's causing it, meanwhile so many of us are left with this annoying loud distortion screaming at us at startup. I'm seriously hoping someone will find the solution and post it here. ?

 

[BarryT82]

My 2021 did this a few weeks ago. I got in the truck and after starting it up I heard a loud pop. The radio wouldn’t play anything and the volume stayed at 0 when trying to adjust it. I disconnected and reconnected both batteries and it’s worked fine since then.

 

[Marman242]

My 2021 did this a few weeks ago. I got in the truck and after starting it up I heard a loud pop. The radio wouldn’t play anything and the volume stayed at 0 when trying to adjust it. I disconnected and reconnected both batteries and it’s worked fine since then.

Hey Barry thanks for the reply, been there done that. I've even went as far as removed the stock amp, speakers, subwoofer and installed an aftermarket system. Only the head unit is original and the issue still persists. The pop and loud static distortion is being sent from the head unit via the ethernet can-bus data signal to my NAVTV DSP module which intern broadcasts it to the aftermarket amps. So the issue is obviously within the stock head unit. ?

 

[Je1279]

Does everyone affected have one of the B&O systems or is this happening with the standard stereo as well?

 

[lb18]

Hey Barry thanks for the reply, been there done that. I've even went as far as removed the stock amp, speakers, subwoofer and installed an aftermarket system. Only the head unit is original and the issue still persists. The pop and loud static distortion is being sent from the head unit via the ethernet can-bus data signal to my NAVTV DSP module which intern broadcasts it to the aftermarket amps. So the issue is obviously within the stock head unit. ?

Is the ethernet data cable you mentioned the stock one? I spoke with a car audio company that mentioned they thought this issue might be with the ethernet data cable from the factory. Something about it runs under the driver's seat and it was poorly soldered. I assume this connects the head unit to the B&O amp in the back of the cab. May be totally unrelated but thought I'd pass along in case its worth checking.

 

[Marman242]

Is the ethernet data cable you mentioned the stock one? I spoke with a car audio company that mentioned they thought this issue might be with the ethernet data cable from the factory. Something about it runs under the driver's seat and it was poorly soldered. I assume this connects the head unit to the B&O amp in the back of the cab. May be totally unrelated but thought I'd pass along in case its worth checking.

Yes the data cable is still stock and never replaced. Not sure if there is a junction/connection point in between the head unit and amp. Normally it's a straight run unless they daisy chained to another module. Something I will have to look into. Thx.

 

[Je1279]

Definitely sounds like there is a short in the data cable between the head unit and the DSP module as you've eliminated the other possibilities.

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