Oh, I have a problem... I just got through replacing my whole shifter assy. and when I put it all back together again, my truck started giving me this chime that I've never heard before. I have a 1999 F-250 with a 7.3L. Basically, it sounds just like the chime it makes when the low fuel indicator comes on... the only difference is that it's over and over again with about one second spaces between chimes. It will do this for awhile, then take a break for a few seconds, then start up again. Funny thing is, there are no indicators going off on the dash! WHAT IS IT!?

Jon

 

Sorry I don't know what the low fuel chime sounds like. Auto or stick shift tranny?

I'm guessing you have an auto and had to remove the key cylinder to get the plastic steering column cover off, and what you're hearing is the door ajar dinger. If you take the bottom half of the steering column cover back off, you'll see a wire that connects to the bottom of the key cylinder. That's your door dinger wire. Odds are, the plastic clip that holds it in place has broken. If you wiggle that wire and hold it just right, your noise will stop.

If you unplug that wire the noise will stop too. This will also disable your door ajar dinger, so make sure you've got a spare key somewhere in case you leave your keys in the ignition and hit the lock button on you're way out.

 

It's an auto. I know that clip you're talking about. I pulled it out and taped it off so I can have my doors open. Put this is more of a beep than a chime... It sounds more like a backup alarm. I wish I knew what it was... especially since there's no dash indicators going off!

 

Airbag wire hooked up properly? That's my guess. As a suggestion, before tearing things apart again, you could try pulling pertinent fuses to help isolate the circuit you need to check. Helps narrow things down a little in that maze.

 

+1 for airbag check.

Make sure the airbag light on the dash lights during prove out. The restraint control module uses a chime as a backup for the light in case it fails.

 

Today, I worked on chasing down my problem... starting with the airbag. For some reason, I got the notion to check out the instrument indicators in the FORD manual and I read about the "Airbag" indicator and (get this) chime... I read on and found out there was another section in the book about it. So I looked it up and come to find out, if there is a problem with the airbags, the idiot light and/or chime will activate (the definition of the sound in the book was a total of 5 beeps repeated several times... exactly what mine was doing). I also read that the airbag idiot light should light up briefly on start up... it wasn't doing that. So I started with testing the harness between the airbag and the connectors under the dash... checked out OK. I went and checked the bulb in the back of the Instrument Panel and it was burned out (I guess the indicator is part of the system as well...). So, I'm assuming that since the indicator is burned out and I'm assumed by FORD to be too stupid to take care of myself, it's a big deal if the light doesn't work so the computer is gonna beep at me till I get it fixed. I hope that fixes it because everything worked fine not but a week ago. I'll update tomorrow when I get a new bulb. Thanks for the input guys!

Jon

 

OK, I just finished replacing the bulb and... it was PART of the problem. Apparently, if the indicator can't light up, then the truck will beep at me till I do something about it. So now, it doesn't beep at me, but the airbag light on the dash stays lit. I know my harnesses are fine so I moved onto checking the fuses. They checked out OK. I then tried out my passenger airbag switch and the off light didn't come on when I turned the airbag off (the truck was on). But now that I think about it, I seem to remember the switch not working awhile back when I tried it out, but I just figured I wasn't doing something right. Also, I never thought about it either, but that airbag light has been on before. So, I think I've nailed the problem, or at least part of it! The chase continues... I don't know if I'll get the switch replaced now, or later. If it's not dinging at me, then I'm not too bothered by it!

Just a quick comment about the manual: as I was reading through it on Sunday, I was laughing at all the disclaimers and warnings that FORD had to put in the manual since all of us are stupid... most of them not even pertaining to the truck! Dad and I were laughing at some of them and we were curious just how much shorter the manual would be without all that stuff in it and just how much money it'd save buyers if they didn't have to pay for all the extra paper and ink needed to make sure us stupid people don't file lawsuit!