Extremely loud electrical POP followed by loud static

[Lytning]

It happened again tonight. My ears are still ringing and it’s been more than an hour.

I have potentially very bad news for you .... my ears are still ringing 10 weeks later as loud as they were the day of my extreme noise event. I very strongly you and everyone else who has experienced this event to see an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor as soon as possible. Even if they can't help you, you will have a medical record of your hearing damage.

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[Lytning]

The cold weather seems to play a factor on this issue I have found. Happens more often in fridged cold mornings at startup. I'm at the point where I'm considering installing a power switch in line to the stereo head unit to power it off when this happens. 5 years I've been dealing with this nuisance issue on my 2018 F150 and the dealers play dumb.

I took my truck to the dealership on November 7 for this issue as requested by a Ford Customer "Care" representative. After 1/2 day in the shop (nothing reported done other than to determine 2 speakers were blown) and 3-1/2 days in the parking lot, and no offer of an equivalent loaner vehicle, I picked up my truck on November 11. The Service Manager wanted me to leave my truck at the dealership since a Ford Engineer had been "assigned" to my case, and the dealership was waiting to hear back from the Engineer. I met with the dealership General Manager on December 6, and he confirmed they have still not heard anything back from the Ford Engineer! So, my truck would have been sitting in the parking lot for the past month with no action or service if I had not picked it up on November 11.

Marman, if you have not done so, I encourage you to see an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor, especially due to your multiple extreme noise exposures. I also encourage you, and everyone else who has experienced this issue, to file a complaint with NHTSA.

What REALLY angers me about Ford, is that there is a WEALTH of technical information regarding this issue available from the members of this and the F150 Lightning forums. Ford has representatives on both forums. To the best of my knowledge, Ford has not contacted any of us for technical details of our incidents. Fords has done NOTHING to solicit any information from me regarding details of the incident, details of my injury caused by the incident, or the status of my medical treatment and condition. I have stated on these forums that I am a retired Licensed Professional Engineer with over 50 years of Engineering and technical experience. I have managed over $1 billion of high-technology Engineering and Construction projects around the U.S. and the world for a Fortune 100 company. The majority of those projects involved First-Of-A-Kind technologies and processes, so we frequently encountered "electrial issues of unknown origin." When those issues arose, we ramped up communication with our customers, and solicited their input and involvement while we searched for a solution. We kept them well informed of plans and progress. This kind of thinking and action seems to be beyond the capabilities and/or interest of Ford Motor Company.

 

[Lytning]

I have potentially very bad news for you .... my ears are still ringing 10 weeks later as loud as they were the day of my extreme noise event. I very strongly you and everyone else who has experienced this event to see an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor as soon as possible. Even if they can't help you, you will have a medical record of your hearing damage.

Typo Correction: I very strongly encourage you ...

 

[shelbynorman36]

Today I went to leave the office for lunch. Opened up my door and stepped inside. Before my butt hit the seat, there was an extremely loud electrical sound POP through the speakers followed by loud static. The initial pop was loud enough that I thought somehow windows had shattered, and 4 hours later my left ear is still ringing.

I hadn’t touched anything. No foot on the break, not started, not butt in the seat. I sat there for roughly 30 seconds and started the truck. Static is still coming though all speakers. Truck starts, no problem. Still static. Center screen shows normal with the audio tab. Adjusting the volume on the radio does nothing to the static. No music is playing even though audio tab shows its on. I turn off the radio, still static. Turn it back on, still static.

I powered down the truck and opened the doors. Still static. Got out, closed the doors. Got back in, static still on. So Ieft it.

Come back from lunch roughly 30 minutes later and the static has stopped. Started the truck, everything is normal. Speakers sound good, sub is still working. No issues at all. I thought for sure some speakers would have been blown.

Anyone ever experience this? Any thoughts on what it might have been?

21 Limited if it matters.

***This exact thing happened to me this morning. Pre-started my car with the key (just like every morning) Got in, turned the car on and within 30 seconds a loud electrical pop happened and then the ear piercing static started. I tried turning the volume knob, turning off the radio, turning off the car and opening the door. None of these worked. The static sound lasted about 2 minutes and then stopped. I turned the volume up on the radio and everything worked fine. I thought for sure all of my speakers were going to be blown after that. Car started and ran just fine. My ears are still hurting 8 hours later. After reading this thread this seems to be a common occurrence. Anyone had any luck with solutions?

 

[pjstud1v]

***This exact thing happened to me this morning. Pre-started my car with the key (just like every morning) Got in, turned the car on and within 30 seconds a loud electrical pop happened and then the ear piercing static started. I tried turning the volume knob, turning off the radio, turning off the car and opening the door. None of these worked. The static sound lasted about 2 minutes and then stopped. I turned the volume up on the radio and everything worked fine. I thought for sure all of my speakers were going to be blown after that. Car started and ran just fine. My ears are still hurting 8 hours later. After reading this thread this seems to be a common occurrence. Anyone had any luck with solutions?

There is a TSB for the APIM module. I’m trying to get an appointment to have mine looked at. Dealer that sold me the truck is unable to do anything for me. I’m beyond pissed.

 

[lb18]

yes.... take it to a dealer and MAKE THEM research for a TSB that outlines the problem.... there are 4 things that cause it.... Sync Software, the APIM module, the DSP module, and the ACM Module... I had to go to 3 dealers and I kept hearing the BS about "we can't make it happen, so there's not much we can do...." Once the service manager at the last dealer found the TSB, they replaced the APIM. That was on 22 NOV. So far it hasn't happened again for me.... I'm hoping that was all it took to fix it..... either way I've got a 10MM socket under the seat in case i need to disconnect the battery again... that was the only way I could get it to stop....

I'd report it on the NHTSA site... either Ford will pull their head out and do a recall voluntarily or they'll see all the NHTSA reports and they'll have to start a recall....

Record the radio each time the noise happens.... I had 5 or 6 recordings... that's what finally drove the 3rd dealer to do anything.... or it was just lucky they stumbled on the engineering notes in the TSB database.

Call the Ford customer relations 800 and report it also...

Finally, if you're worried about Ford taking zero action, you can submit your complaint to the Lemberg Law offices..... they have a class action suit pending for all of the problems with the F150's..... 2022 Ford F-150 Sound System Problem | Audio Problem | Loud Pop (lemberglaw.com)

Best of luck.....

Do you have the TSB number to share with the forum? That would be helpful for folks who take it to their dealer.

 

[Lytning]

Apologies if this has been previously posted, but I do not recall reading it ... I was searching for a TSB and came across similar problems reported on the Mach E forum ...

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/high-decibel-“static”noise-arcing.17346/

 

[Ken B]

Today I went to leave the office for lunch. Opened up my door and stepped inside. Before my butt hit the seat, there was an extremely loud electrical sound POP through the speakers followed by loud static. The initial pop was loud enough that I thought somehow windows had shattered, and 4 hours later my left ear is still ringing.

I hadn’t touched anything. No foot on the break, not started, not butt in the seat. I sat there for roughly 30 seconds and started the truck. Static is still coming though all speakers. Truck starts, no problem. Still static. Center screen shows normal with the audio tab. Adjusting the volume on the radio does nothing to the static. No music is playing even though audio tab shows its on. I turn off the radio, still static. Turn it back on, still static.

I powered down the truck and opened the doors. Still static. Got out, closed the doors. Got back in, static still on. So Ieft it.

Come back from lunch roughly 30 minutes later and the static has stopped. Started the truck, everything is normal. Speakers sound good, sub is still working. No issues at all. I thought for sure some speakers would have been blown.

Anyone ever experience this? Any thoughts on what it might have been?

21 Limited if it matters.

Same thing happened to me on my 6 month old 2022 Limited F150. But I think mine happened when I hit the start button. Thought it blew my ear drums out. When I heard the loud static afterwards, I thought is was from all the speakers that blew out from the loud noise. Shut the audio off, but loud static noise continued. Went to am radio and the radio station returned, then went back to my FM HD station. Couldn't find any other issues. Worried it will happen again and damage my ears and scare me to death... Did feel like bomb went off and all my windows shattered.

 

[Lytning]

Same thing happened to me on my 6 month old 2022 Limited F150. But I think mine happened when I hit the start button. Thought it blew my ear drums out. When I heard the loud static afterwards, I thought is was from all the speakers that blew out from the loud noise. Shut the audio off, but loud static noise continued. Went to am radio and the radio station returned, then went back to my FM HD station. Couldn't find any other issues. Worried it will happen again and damage my ears and scare me to death... Did feel like bomb went off and all my windows shattered.

If you think you may have hearing damage and/or your ears are ringing, I suggest you see an Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Doctor as soon as possible. My ENT told me that steroids can sometimes help with hearing damage that causes ringing ears, but the steroids must be administered quickly following the damage. My incident occurred on October 4, 2022, and my ears are still constantly ringing as loud as they were immediately following the incident.

My truck is at the dealership now to have the Audio Control Module (ACM) replaced as directed by a Ford Field Engineer. No one at the dealership can or will tell me if Ford specifically diagnosed the ACM as the solution to the issue. I am aware of another owner who said Ford had their dealer replace the APIM for this same issue. It may be that Ford is attempting different potential fixes with different vehicles to see if they come across a solution. I have no sense in attempted discussions with the dealership Service personnel that Ford actually knows what is causing the problem and how to fix it.

I also suggest you file a NHTSA complaint since this issue is obviously a design or manufacturing safety defect.

 

[Ken B]

If you think you may have hearing damage and/or your ears are ringing, I suggest you see an Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Doctor as soon as possible. My ENT told me that steroids can sometimes help with hearing damage that causes ringing ears, but the steroids must be administered quickly following the damage. My incident occurred on October 4, 2022, and my ears are still constantly ringing as loud as they were immediately following the incident.

My truck is at the dealership now to have the Audio Control Module (ACM) replaced as directed by a Ford Field Engineer. No one at the dealership can or will tell me if Ford specifically diagnosed the ACM as the solution to the issue. I am aware of another owner who said Ford had their dealer replace the APIM for this same issue. It may be that Ford is attempting different potential fixes with different vehicles to see if they come across a solution. I have no sense in attempted discussions with the dealership Service personnel that Ford actually knows what is causing the problem and how to fix it.

I also suggest you file a NHTSA complaint since this issue is obviously a design or manufacturing safety defect.

Ok, will do, thanks...

 

[Draper C]

As I mentioned in another thread I had the same issue with my 2022 F150 limited. I am hoping FMC will reach out to me also.

I have a 2022 Platinum I took delivery of about 6 months now.
A few weeks ago I had a small pop and brief static then after restart, the stereo worked fine.
Yesterday evening I got in my truck and I had the loud POP happen and then the static. The pop was so loud, I jumped out of my drivers seat into the driveway.
After driving for a few minutes it went away. Luckily my two toodlers weren’t in the vehicle with me.
I hope this can be resolved as I worry about it happening when my children in the truck.

 

[pjstud1v]

I have a 2022 Platinum I took delivery of about 6 months now.
A few weeks ago I had a small pop and brief static then after restart, the stereo worked fine.
Yesterday evening I got in my truck and I had the loud POP happen and then the static. The pop was so loud, I jumped out of my drivers seat into the driveway.
After driving for a few minutes it went away. Luckily my two toodlers weren’t in the vehicle with me.
I hope this can be resolved as I worry about it happening when my children in the truck.

Check your auxiliary battery (the one under the back seat) charge. Mine apparently went bad. That and reprogramming my apim seem to have fixed it.

 

[Lytning]

Reports of the extreme noise issue have declined recently. Ford replaced the ACM and 12 volt battery in my 2022 Lightning in January. Does anyone know if Ford has "embedded" a software update for this issue without publicizing it?

 

[wpbear]

Reports of the extreme noise issue have declined recently. Ford replaced the ACM and 12 volt battery in my 2022 Lightning in January. Does anyone know if Ford has "embedded" a software update for this issue without publicizing it?

Last week and once more two months ago I had another event where it was the same symptoms but instead of loud and won't turnoff it just popped and then radio wouldn't work. I read that switch to AM and then back to FM resets the HD amp or something. Well that works so I haven't taken it for service.

 

[Marman242]

Reports of the extreme noise issue have declined recently. Ford replaced the ACM and 12 volt battery in my 2022 Lightning in January. Does anyone know if Ford has "embedded" a software update for this issue without publicizing it?

Thanks for the progress update on this issue Lytning. As I posted before my 2018 F150 Lariat has been doing this since new intermittently. Now it's out of the warranty period and ford will charge me to replace the ACM. Even though it's a documented service issue since new they will not cover it unless it becomes a recall issue. They screwed me the same with a power mirrors ratcheting issue at startup I also had since new that was never resolved until just last month. I stumbled on a ssm update that a user posted on this forum to resolve the issue and had them perform it (Driver Door Module and Passenger Door Module update). It resolved the power mirrors issue but they charged me to do the update. Dealer says once the vehicle is out of warranty even with previous documented service issues it's no longer covered. So rule of thumb if you have any issues with your trucks make them fix it and keep bringing the truck back repeatedly until it's fixed!
I said to the service adviser..... I have no control when your service updates come out, I stumbled on the solution on an F150 forum. Sad that I the customer had to point the service tech to the solution. It's just another loop hole for the dealers to dodge unresolved issues with our trucks until the warranty expires. Just an FYI folks.

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