Warning Chime Operation and Characteristics

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2018 Ford F-550 Super Duty, 2018 Ford F-450 Super Duty, 2018 Ford F-350 Super Duty, and 2018 Ford F-250 Super Duty. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

The warning chimes all sound through the audio system except for the turn signal tick-tock chime. The audio system has the ability to sound up to 2 chimes at a time while the IPC can only sound a single chime at a time. In the event of audio system fault condition, the IPC sounds all chimes. The IPC uses multiple network messages to control the overall warning chime arbitrator.

The warning chimes use volume, chime frequency, length of time the chime sounds, length of off time between chime tones, decay of the chime tone and the number of chime tones to identify which chime is sounding. Most warning chimes have unique characteristics, however, there are chimes that do sound the same. The chime characteristics are defined by the different chime types:

Information
Soft-warning
Hard-warning
Tick-tock (on-off)

The IPC receives the engine rpm data from the PCM and door ajar status, delayed accessory and ignition status messages from the BCM over the HS-CAN1. The IPC receives the audio chime status message from the ACM over the HS-CAN3.

The IPC sends the IPC chime request, chime source, chime module power up and chime controls messages to the ACM or DSP module to control the chimes.