Loud buzzing noise: Fix #16

[Maine Lightning Owner]

Sometime last winter, my 2023 Lightning Lariat started making a humming sound between the passenger cabin and the frunk when I preheated it. I took it to my local Ford dealer and they said they couldn't recreate it, even after I sent them a video.

After spring arrived, the buzzing started getting louder and more annoying. I stopped in the Ford dealership when it was happening. They heard it loudly and said they thought it was a climate control pump. They replaced 2 of them and said I should be set. The humming was still really loud and my AC was really weak after that. They said there were only 3 pumps and ordered the 3rd one. They kept my truck yesterday and called me and said it was all fixed and my AC should be good too. They delivered it to my house. As soon as I started it, the buzzing was louder than ever and the AC was non existent on a very hot day. I called the dealer and they took my truck and gave me a loaner today. They don't have any idea what is causing the buzzing but shut the truck off because it was so loud.

Has anyone had this experience or does anyone have any idea what may cause this? I would really like to get my truck back. The ICE F-150 they loaned me is a gas hog and gas is so expensive. I haven't bought it in 4 years. Thank you.

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[Grumpy2]

Did you see this post, perhaps the same issue?

Evaporator Core Replacement | Ford Lightning Forum For F-150 Lightning EV Pickup: News, Owners, Discussions, Community

 

[Maine Lightning Owner]

Did you see this post, perhaps the same issue?

Evaporator Core Replacement | Ford Lightning Forum For F-150 Lightning EV Pickup: News, Owners, Discussions, Community

Thanks for pointing me in that direction. I searched the forum but didn't see the thread you suggested. I saw a post with the exact same issue. I PMd the person who posted it and hope he has some info. I watched the video posted there but they mentioned a lot of things it could be. Thank you again.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Seems odd that the sound persists after changing the coolant pump then AC compressor, something wasn't fixed right IMHO.

BTW, moved your thread out of New England to Issues node, more eyes on this situation might help.

Can you share the video/audio of what is going on?

 

[Maine Lightning Owner]

Seems odd that the sound persists after changing the coolant pump then AC compressor, something wasn't fixed right IMHO.

BTW, moved your thread out of New England to Issues node, more eyes on this situation might help.

Can you share the video/audio of what is going on?

Thanks very much for moving it. I have attempted to upload a video which has the buzzing noise. I listened to it on my computer and it doesn't really do justice to how loud it is. (edit: I copied another video in the post below where you can hear the buzzing much better).

 

[Maine Lightning Owner]

Thanks very much for moving it. I have attempted to upload a video which has the buzzing noise. I listened to it on my computer and it doesn't really do justice to how loud it is.
View attachment 115044

 

[chl]

I don't know if they checked this, but there have been reports of bad/stuck valves in the cooling/heating loop.
If a valve was stuck and the pumps were trying to circulate fluid, they could be near a stall condition and overworking causing the loud noise.

Just an idea off the top of my head.

Assuming the pumps they put in to replace the originals were actually good and didn't have bearing problems.

 

[Maine Lightning Owner]

I don't know if they checked this, but there have been reports of bad/stuck valves in the cooling/heating loop.
If a valve was stuck and the pumps were trying to circulate fluid, they could be near a stall condition and overworking causing the loud noise.

Just an idea off the top of my head.

Assuming the pumps they put in to replace the originals were actually good and didn't have bearing problems.

Thanks Chris. I will pass this along to the dealership. It sounds very logical to me. I appreciate it.

 

[RLXXI]

As loud as that is, it should be easy to pinpoint.

 

[chl]

As loud as that is, it should be easy to pinpoint.

Sometimes when things are that loud and there are a lot of moving parts it can be challenging to pin point the exact location by ear.

That sound does remind me of a compressor motor with bad or over worked bearings.

I remember an old Chrysler we had that would make awful loud noises every time I turned the wheel when the power steering fluid was low, but you have to assume they filled the cooling fluid back up?

 

[chl]

Thanks Chris. I will pass this along to the dealership. It sounds very logical to me. I appreciate it.

Just occurred to me - I assume it has enough coolant in the system?
Low or absent coolant could also lead to noise I suppose.
There have been some leaks reported.
I check my cooling fluid one a month just in case.

 

[Maine Lightning Owner]

Just occurred to me - I assume it has enough coolant in the system?
Low or absent coolant could also lead to noise I suppose.
There have been some leaks reported.
I check my cooling fluid one a month just in case.

It could be related for sure. The cooling was fine last summer. The buzzing started over the winter. We just got our first hot days of the year here in Maine. I'm not sure if the dealer changing the pumps caused the lack of cooling or if it was there before. I can see from the app that the dealer has my truck inside their garage. I hope they are figuring something out. I will suggest the things mentioned here if they can't fix it. I am finding out how much I miss my truck very quickly.

 

[chl]

It could be related for sure. The cooling was fine last summer. The buzzing started over the winter. We just got our first hot days of the year here in Maine. I'm not sure if the dealer changing the pumps caused the lack of cooling or if it was there before. I can see from the app that the dealer has my truck inside their garage. I hope they are figuring something out. I will suggest the things mentioned here if they can't fix it. I am finding out how much I miss my truck very quickly.

I sympathize...what a bad time to have to drive a gas guzzler!
Maybe hit them up for some gas money reimbursement?

The same coolant is used for heating and cooling the battery, so winter or summer, it is needed.

I think the owner's manual says to check it once a month. I never saw mine decline. It came from the dealer with the MIN level, so I bought some and filled it nearer to the MAX level

 

[chl]

Hopefully your warranty or extended warranty will cover it.
I believe the thermal management system is covered under the 8 year 100K mile warranty.

 

[Maine Lightning Owner]

Hopefully your warranty or extended warranty will cover it.
I believe the thermal management system is covered under the 8 year 100K mile warranty.

Yes, thanks. I bought the extended warrantee and they are telling me everything is covered.

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