Clicking sound with hybrid

[Red Ryder]

Anyone else notice an "arcing" sound?

Aside from the clicking sounds, which I liken to process automation equipment with relay boards, I have occasionally noticed a sound similar to an electric arc when slowing the vehicle. It seems to emanate from the upper left dash area. I first though it may be mechanical, like unibody flex creating a noise against some interior plastics, but it isn't consistent with body movement or deceleration. It does happen under braking, so I wonder if some "excess voltage" is arcing somewhere, perhaps related to the faulty cable issue?

Lots of unsubstantiated speculation in that last sentence, I know.
It may be nothing, just something I've noted in my three months of ownership.

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[ITSATRUCK]

Mine too does this clickity clack. Interesting stuff. Also a winning / beebing noise at low speed. Like an alarm is going off.

 

[AnthonyMav]

All new cars do this. It’s related to the relays and computers shutting down and getting ready. VW’s do it a lot too.

or maybe it’s due to the soft paint and tailgate not lining up…

 

[Hbhatia]

I am getting the same noise (or at least seems like the one OP described). This is for my Corolla Hybrid.



Do you think it's the same?

 

[OB1e]

My clicking sets off the perimeter alarm. I guess I show turn the sensitivity down.

 

[RAnSD619]

Sat in my (new) Mav today installing a bunch of interior pieces and was surprised at how much the relays click. After awhile I started timing it:

 

[OneAlienBoi]

I am hearing a clicking sound when my hybrid is turned off while sitting in truck. It sounds like the doors are locking then unlocking which they are not.
Any ideas what this is?

Coolant relays opening to let coolant circulate around the battery after it's driven to cool it down faster. This helps improve longevity.

 

[OneAlienBoi]

I can be around it hours later (after parking) and hear it doing its thing. I just hope those relays and solenoids have a high duty-cycle.

I can assure you if an engineer designed a system for a vehicle, they have to prove that it will still function properly over the course of years, decades. That's a major part of the validation process every new vehicle goes through.

 

[GPSMan]

It does do more than the 2005-2007 Hybrid Escape ever did.

Part of the frequency is based on it going to sleep and you waking it up.

 

[GPSMan]

Sat in my (new) Mav today installing a bunch of interior pieces and was surprised at how much the relays click. After awhile I started timing it:

I wonder if most of those were based on it going to sleep and you kept waking it up. Opening a car door, pressing any button are things that can "wake" the system up.

 

[GPSMan]

Coolant relays opening to let coolant circulate around the battery after it's driven to cool it down faster. This helps improve longevity.

I think this is unlikely below 105°F.
I've not often been hotter than this though.

 

[Red Ryder]

I can assure you if an engineer designed a system for a vehicle, they have to prove that it will still function properly over the course of years, decades. That's a major part of the validation process every new vehicle goes through.

Having that role you mentioned early on in my career, designing automotive control systems components, as a Ford Q1 supplier, I can assure you that parts were extensively tested to failure. Sometimes things were too good and changed to meet lower duty cycle targets. Planned obsolescence is a real thing in the automotive industry, especially compared to my later work in the nuclear industry, where absolute rigor and reliability are paramount.

As other owners mentioned , the Maverick is click-happy, even relative to other Ford hybrids. I am hoping that they anticipated the amount of cycles those relays have to endure for those that plan on keeping these vehicle an extended period of time.

That's a major part of the validation process every new vehicle goes through.

Don't forget that the Maverick was Ford's first vehicle to be fast-tracked through the design process. Perhaps some of this validation was abbreviated? Such as the harness debacle.

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/inside-the-mavericks-fast-tracked-development-process/

 

[Eagle11]

I wonder if most of those were based on it going to sleep and you kept waking it up. Opening a car door, pressing any button are things that can "wake" the system up.

Bingo

 

[OneAlienBoi]

Don't forget that the Maverick was Ford's first vehicle to be fast-tracked through the design process. Perhaps some of this validation was abbreviated? Such as the harness debacle.

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/inside-the-mavericks-fast-tracked-development-process/

Fast tracked by auto industry standards means 3 years instead of 4 or 5. It's not like they rushed it out the door without a care in the world. One of the most commonly cited reasons why Ford was able to fast track the maverick's development in the first place was because they started with the rock solid reliable c2 platform that had already accumulated around 10 million miles of durability testing before the maverick was even developed. By the time the maverick was developed, c2 had around 16 million miles of durability testing on it. Along with billions of miles of real world data and usage from the hundreds of thousands of products that were driving around with that platform.

The most time consuming process of most products development is creating something from scratch, and proving it out. If you can start with a platform, and a series of powertrains that are already extremely reliable, then you shave years off a development cycle without harming quality, and long term reliability in the slightest. In fact, the approach used by the maverick team is what you want if you want a reliable vehicle. Using a bunch a parts that have been around for years, decades, without engineering too many new components.

It's the same principle my grandfather, and other Boeing engineers incorporated when working on the development of new aircraft. Boeing aircraft are quite possibly the more reliable, safest, yet complex machines on the planet. Millions of individual components that have to function flawlessly for decades and millions of miles, and you only have a few years to bring that plane to market.

His team was given maybe 10 years max to develop new aircraft offerings, and that was only for ambitious programs like the original 1960s 747 he worked on, quite possibly the most iconic and influential aircraft in history. It was usually well below that 10 years window.

The way they saved time was to repurpose and reuse a ton of existing components from other planes. Interiors, electronics, control systems, landing gear, even engines, were all repurposed and reused. If the system works for a plane made of millions of parts, it works for a car made of a few thousand parts.

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