High pitched noise coming from front

S

SCY7H3

Member
Location
Toronto, Ontario
Car
2012 FX35S AWD
Hey guys, not sure if any of you addressed this issue here before, but I am experiencing a high pitched sound from the front end of my car. Specifically from the grill's right side and behind it are two things, the horn and the buzzer that beeps when locking the car from the door handle. Now i'm pretty sure its coming from there since it's the loudest.

I've been able to re-create the problem since the morning by locking the car with the button on the handle. The remote honks the horn.

It seems that water is entering that buzzer and causes a short enough to keep it emitting a high pitched sound. I have a recording of the sound and a video of where its coming from.

From the posts I searched on various sites, most people never found the cause except that it simply goes away after a while which I assume is when the water evaporates. But it comes back if water enters again. So far I've seen this issue on the FX and the 370Z. Must be a common part among Nissan vehicles.
 
im wondering if you can disconnect the buzzer and blow dry it. Try disconnecting the negative batter for 10 mins then reinstalling it
 
I'll give that a shot though I'm leaning on the side that is has a leak which is short circuiting the internals. I can see the gold colored buzzer with green corrosion on it.
 
So it appears that this only happens when your front end is soaked with salty water and going back to electrical theories, salt and water makes for a better conductor than just water. The ground off the vehicle makes its way into the buzzer just enough to transmit a bit of electricity causing it to sound off. Washing the car stops the issue until it gets soaked with salt water again.
 
Did you ever do anything else about this? Did you confirm it was salt water in the housing and replace the unit? I have a similar problem that just started and my FX is still under warranty.
 
It happened again this morning. Every time I schedule a time with the dealer, it doesn't happen. I'm going to mix some water and salt in a spray bottle to recreate it tomorrow morning. If I can get it to happen, I'll spray it before my appointment

Sent from my SGH-I747
 
lizb said:
Did you ever do anything else about this? Did you confirm it was salt water in the housing and replace the unit? I have a similar problem that just started and my FX is still under warranty.
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Did a test at home today and was able to recreate the issue. So you take a spray bottle, dump some salt into it, maybe about 3-4 tablespoons, can be any type of salt (I used road salt), pour some warm water about halfway, put the spray top on and shake the salt until it doesn't dissolve anymore, then top up the rest of the bottle with cool water.

Now its time to spray the buzzer/beeper on the front end. Facing the grill, spray the buzzer that is located on the upper left corner of the grill. It sits behind the grill, looks like a square black box with round slits in it which contain the metal buzzer dome. Using your salt and water solution, spray the buzzer inside the slits and create a circuit up to the mounting bracket it uses to complete the circuit. You will start to notice a sound coming out of it and as you spray more salt solution, it will become louder (higher conductivity of current due to the solution). This proves your speaker is defective. Mine is corroded and that's why it conducts.

This is how you will be able to make it sound for your appointment to get it replaced since you may not have the opportunity to get that sound going if your appointment is on a day where the roads are dry.

Here's a photo of the speaker box:

IMG_20140119_171045-1.jpg
 

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Thanks! I'm going to schedule an appointment this week and see what they come up with. I never had this issue in my first Gen so there's a flaw in the design of the newer units on the second Gen. I've seen this issue on 370zs as well. Same box on the front.

Sent from my SGH-I747
 
Noticed it when I closed the garage. There was a low tone coming from the front. Occurred during a slushy, wintery drive.



TapaTalkin'
 
I decided to take a video with audio of the high pitched noise so everyone can hear what it sounds like. Tomorrow I'm going to the dealer to get this looked at but I'm debating on just replacing it myself since its only around $40. Why do I choose to replace it myself? Because the boneheads already messed up the right skirt (clips popped out, not replaceable without buying a new skirt) when they jacked up the car last time to look at the front left spring. I'm scared to see what they'll do to get at this buzzer..remove the grill and break the tabs or they'll take off the intake and rip the foam seals upon replacement...I swear man..

Here's the video link:

[video=youtube_share;o6GlTdDurRI]http://youtu.be/o6GlTdDurRI[/video]
 
Thanks! I decided to buy the unit myself and replace it. I'm going to create a hood over the opening to prevent any forced salt water to ever go in there plus spray some rust proofing oil for security. And then I'll need to move somewhere warm like Cali so I don't have to deal with winter and all its havoc lol

Sent from my SGH-I747
 
Its no sweat, I'm always willing to share my experiences with fellow members. If it helped me diagnose an issue, it surely will help everyone else. And others have done the same, so that builds a great community here on iS. :smug:

It would be a waste for me not to say anything nor post any video or audio reference..the opportunity presented itself and it was worth it. Plus I would not gain anything by keeping it to myself.. Knowing how dealerships treat us, all we have is this community to aid us in the worst of times... we have a common goal :handshake::handshake:
 
Hi,
I'm experiencing a high pitch tone inside my fx that appears to be coming behind my steering wheel. Soon as I turn on the vehicle it starts and won't go away until I turn it off...driving me insane. Sounds like ear ringing shrill.

I posted to this thread because the tone is identical to the one shared here on YouTube, only I don't hear it when I'm outside the vehicle, only inside.

Dealer charged me $250 just to tell me fuses are fine, Tire pressure is fine, battery is new and ok and connected a gadget under the steering wheel that gave no error codes. Said they can't find issue and that was that.

Although the sound is ongoing, I did notice yesterday that when I hit a bump, the sound stopped, but almost immediately returned. Aaaargh...

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, as I have been dealing with this tone for almost a month now.

Update... just turned on fx and now the ac blower not kicking in.
 
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Wow, after $250 and dealer can't tell what caused the noise. That sucks big time. I'll stay away from that dealer forever.

Anyhow, just a thought ... I would disconnect the negative side of the battery for an hour or so. Re-install the battery and see if it goes away.

Since it goes away when you hit a bump on the road, it almost sounded like a short or wire breakage somewhere causing the noise. You should be able to pin point where it coming from if you really stick your head/ear near the vicinity where the noise it coming from.

As for the AC blower, does it turn on when when you turn on the heater?
 
la_fx35 said:
Wow, after $250 and dealer can't tell what caused the noise. That sucks big time. I'll stay away from that dealer forever.

Anyhow, just a thought ... I would disconnect the negative side of the battery for an hour or so. Re-install the battery and see if it goes away.

Since it goes away when you hit a bump on the road, it almost sounded like a short or wire breakage somewhere causing the noise. You should be able to pin point where it coming from if you really stick your head/ear near the vicinity where the noise it coming from.

As for the AC blower, does it turn on when when you turn on the heater?
Click to expand...


Hi,
Thanks for quick response!

So I did look behind steering wheel and all the wires appear to be intact, not frayed. Dealer checked these as well (superficially).

Just installed a brand new battery on Saturday. Think I should still try it?

Reference the blower...won't turn on for either. Had AC running, turned off vehicle to replace new battery and when I turned it back on...zilch. Compressor kicks in nicely when I turn on ac still, but no blower.
 
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