Strange chime after start up

[GrantP]

It's not consistent, but sometimes after I start my truck I'll get a single chime and the ABS and brake light will illuminate in the dash and then shut off. The truck starts fine and runs without any issue, just wondering if anyone else has encountered this and is it warning me of some more serious upcoming issue?

I'll be leaving for a 4k mile road trip this weekend and this problem just started, I'm not sure how worried I need to be. I have read that it could be a bad bulb but all check out fine.

 

[Chase Chapin]

Hey Grant, if I'm not mistaken that is normal, my truck does the same thing the chime typically indicates that the seat belt alarm is disarmed. Does the seat belt alarm sound? Just sharing my experience. I hope it helps.

 

[GrantP]

Hey Grant, if I'm not mistaken that is normal, my truck does the same thing the chime typically indicates that the seat belt alarm is disarmed. Does the seat belt alarm sound? Just sharing my experience. I hope it helps.

I do have the seat belt alarm turned off. The seat belt light illuminates but no chime. I have had it turned off for years so this is something new.

 

[Tuesdak]

Is the ABS light on during the "bulb check"? If it's coming back on during the chime one needs to check the ABS for codes.

Aside of that my first thought is "Ghost Chimes" come from the "Lamp Out" indicator and an intermittent connection. It clears up so fast you don't have time to see the lamp out indicator. If you think it's Lamp out, Shotgun it: Replace the brake light boards, all bulbs, and the front turn signal lamps and sockets. Just changing bulbs won't fix it very long.

 

[Ozymandias]

Had exactly that random "ghost" chime when a bulb went bad, it was so fast that the lamp out didn't show up. After a couple days it went on solid.

 

[GrantP]

Is the ABS light on during the "bulb check"? If it's coming back on during the chime one needs to check the ABS for codes.

Aside of that my first thought is "Ghost Chimes" come from the "Lamp Out" indicator and an intermittent connection. It clears up so fast you don't have time to see the lamp out indicator. If you think it's Lamp out, Shotgun it: Replace the brake light boards, all bulbs, and the front turn signal lamps and sockets. Just changing bulbs won't fix it very long.

The ABS light is on during the bulb check, then very briefly comes back on along with the brake light after starting the engine. After that I get the single chime and all of the lights go away. I'll see if I can pull any ABS codes with my scanner.

 

[GrantP]

Had exactly that random "ghost" chime when a bulb went bad, it was so fast that the lamp out didn't show up. After a couple days it went on solid.

The chime is intermittent at this point, if it's just a bulb going bad (or bad connection) I'm going to hit the highway. All of the bulbs were functioning properly when I checked them. I do not have a lamp out warning either.

 

[Tuesdak]

The low current and low voltage randomly trips the lamp out with a bad connection. But it doesn't stay on long enough for you to look down and see the lamp out light on. I had a black spot appear on several front turn signal bulb connector "wires" as I replaced one. The higher voltage would overpower the bad connection and light the lamp. It finally got bad enough the lamp wouldn't light 6 months later. Thus the "shotgun" approach to solve it before it drives you nuts. The socket will continue to be a problem even with new bulbs.

 

[Crunch]

It's not consistent, but sometimes after I start my truck I'll get a single chime and the ABS and brake light will illuminate in the dash and then shut off.

I had the same problem a couple of years ago. The only difference with your experience is that it would occasionally come back while driving, usually on bumpy roads. I didn't have any P-codes, and had the codes checked by a dealer (for free, believe it or not) and didn't have any ABS codes. I thought it was a bad connection so I used Deoxit on the connector and pins. It only happened when it was cold out, and in the late Spring it would stop doing it. Came back in the winter, so I used the Deoxit again. Someone here said it might be the ABS sensor in a bearing, and in the Spring I had to change the right hub bearing. It's never come back since then, so I can't say for sure if the Deoxit finally worked or changing the hub bearing worked. But it's gone and I'm happy.

 

[GrantP]

I had the same problem a couple of years ago. The only difference with your experience is that it would occasionally come back while driving, usually on bumpy roads. I didn't have any P-codes, and had the codes checked by a dealer (for free, believe it or not) and didn't have any ABS codes. I thought it was a bad connection so I used Deoxit on the connector and pins. It only happened when it was cold out, and in the late Spring it would stop doing it. Came back in the winter, so I used the Deoxit again. Someone here said it might be the ABS sensor in a bearing, and in the Spring I had to change the right hub bearing. It's never come back since then, so I can't say for sure if the Deoxit finally worked or changing the hub bearing worked. But it's gone and I'm happy.

I ran across this old thread and thought I should update it with the "fix". It seems to have been another case of the electronics doing weird things when the batteries were heading south. I think the chime was the old "canary in the coal mine". Since it was intermittent to begin with I never really noticed when it stopped doing it, but the batteries were toast by August (two months after I posted this) and it hasn't happened again since replacement.

I think that's the second time this truck has thrown a curve ball at me thinking something more serious is going on when it was just a symptom of dying batteries.