I purchased my Civic Sport Touring in 2018, and since day 1 it has intermittently beeped. I have had ongoing issues with the TPMS that required multiple visits to two different dealers, and at each visit (and each oil change) I have begged them to figure out where the beeping is coming from. No luck yet, because “the issue cannot be replicated.” Well, of course not- one, because that’s the definition of intermittent, and two, no car in the history of EVER makes the noise/does the thing when it’s being watched by the mechanic.
I have shown the various mechanics multiple videos, and they “hmmm” sympathetically, but not one has actually proposed a solution (or even a theory of what it might be).
It’s a single beep, not multiple beeps in a row or a lengthy drawn-out beep. There are no warning lights that come on when it beeps. There is no consistency in when it happens- ie, when I’m accelerating or slowing down, or when I’m city or highway driving, or between certain speeds. Some days it doesn’t beep at all; other days it will beep every three-four minutes for the duration of my drive. I love my car, but it’s slowly driving me crazy.
I’ve posted to Honda tech forums with no luck (even though I attached an audio file of the beeping to help with diagnostics). So, TMs, any suggestions?
I have a 2013 Civic, which has these 2 pod things on the dash–apparently motion detectors, tho my car manual for some odd reason does not mention or discuss them. They give off beeps once every 5 seconds. Could that be what you are hearing?
Your location, in the US and a US model or some other country?
What is the weather like when it beeps, when it doesn’t beep? Could it be prodding you to turn on full headlights? That sort of thing. Fuel getting low? It is odd that there is no indication on the dash or warning lights that will indicate why it is beeping.
In the US; US model. Weather doesn’t matter, time of day (thus headlights or no) doesn’t matter, fuel level doesn’t matter, how long I’ve been driving the car doesn’t matter.
I went to the doctor the other day; it was bright and sunny, about 45F, smooth ride via highway for about 25 minutes. Nothing on the way there; about 15 minutes into my ride home… beep. And it beeped every few minutes after that til I turned into my driveway. Some days it will be the inverse- it will beep on the way to my destination, but not on the way home.
The lack of warning/indication lights just makes it more mysterious and frustrating. I thought when it was first happening that it was warning me that something was in my blind spot, but I don’t have that option on my car and, again, there’s no consistency to it.
John DiFool- my car does have those pods, but the beeping isn’t that consistent. I will definitely look into that as a potential cause, though, thank you!
It sort of sounds like a driver attention monitor. From this description, the behavior of such a monitor seems pretty aboveboard and obvious, not just a subtle beep every once in a while.
Unless this description is for an earlier version than what you’ve got (2017 article, your car is 2018), and the current iteration has been downgraded to just a beep to keep you awake when it thinks you are becoming too still…
Aw, man, I wish mine had a coffee cup, that’s adorable! The 2018 does have a similar alert, but it vibrates the steering wheel and gives you a visual alert on the dash. It’s popped up several times when I’ve been on a long, straight road and haven’t needed to make any steering wheel movements in a while. Scared the heck out of me the first time because it’s very similar to the ‘lane departure’ alert.
I don’t know how much help this will be since it was a different make/model but I had a similar issue with a 2010 or 2011 Mazda CX-9. Random beeps that no tech could explain. After some experimentation I discovered that it was the gauge cluster brightness knob. It was turned up as bright as it could go, which for some reason caused intermittent beeping. I just did a quick search and I guess it is now a known problem.
Probably doesn’t help you but I do understand your pain! I seriously thought about getting rid of that car just because of the beeping!
Brilliant! We have advanced from a potentiometer with hard stops to a quadrature encoder talking over canbus to a computer that beeps at you when you hit the max.
In my Chevy Volt, the right-front airbag is turned off if nobody is sitting in the seat. So there’s a weight sensor in that seat. Sometimes, if I leave some small object on the seat and drive around, the airbag system will turn on (BEEP BEEP) and then it may turn off (BEEP BEEP) a few minutes later, as the weight shifts. The indicator light for this is not on the dash, so it took me a while to figure it out.
The 2018 does have a similar alert, but it vibrates the steering wheel and gives you a visual alert on the dash. It’s popped up several times when I’ve been on a long, straight road and haven’t needed to make any steering wheel movements in a while. Scared the heck out of me the first time because it’s very similar to the ‘lane departure’ alert.