Turn signal clicker too quiet

[Sil3nt611]

Not really a problem with the car, but since I've had this car a bit over 6 months one of my annoyances is that the turn signal clicker is too quiet. The road noise from just driving down the highway drowns it out and listening to music at a normal level does the same. To move over a lane I usually check the lane and then tap the stalk so it will auto blink 3 times, but I can't hear the clicker so I try and verify by looking at the dash light that it is in fact blinking before moving over. I've also driven about a half mile with my turn signal on like an old grandpa... Just wish it wasn't so quiet. It's probably so quiet because others complained in the past that theirs was too loud... If I was playing my music too loud, that's one thing. My old car had a louder cabin while driving down the highway and I managed to hear the turn signal on that one. Anyone else think that as well, or maybe it's a quieter clicker for 2016?

/Rant

 

[dyn085]

No, these are just loud cars-just listen to how loud it is first thing in the morning before going anywhere with the engine idling and radio off.

 

[FastCoolBlue]

You are not alone. I feel the same way.

 

[Gone in 60]

My Ford Five Hundred, which was designed for the AARP set, will bong the warning noise and flash a message on the dash if you leave the signal on longer than about 1/2 mile. But yes, even though I love that the Fiesta flashes thee blinks for lane change, I still have to look and make sure each time.

 

[Sil3nt611]

Fiesta is quiet compared to my old car by a long shot. I can carry on a hands free phone conversation on the highway in the Fiesta, I gave up on that idea after a couple tries when I put in the head unit with bluetooth in my old car. Seriously, I felt like I was in a luxury car as far as cabin noise goes the first couple weeks of driving the Fiesta. Before I put in the Cobb RMM I had to check and make sure the engine didn't stall at idle... A lot of that comes down to personal experience from what car I came from compared to what car you guys came from though. But when driving on the highway or driving in the city with the radio at a normal level the turn signal click just isn't that easy to hear. I prefer to keep my eyes on the road when doing lane changes which is why it would be nice to hear the clicks and I don't want to do a lane change without the turn signal since I don't drive a BMW.

 

[our guile]

and then tap the stalk so it will auto blink 3 times

Holy shit I've had the car 5 months and I'm just now learning this? Mind blown.

Also, I agree, the turn signal clicker sound is too quiet.

 

[FatGuyInALittleCar]

Furthering the frustration for me in this regard is that it seems the tap function on mine is a bit picky, especially to indicate a lane change to the right. If I don't do it *just* right, I am that guy not using his turn signal. On top of that, the way I sit, the right hand indicator is mostly obscured by the steering wheel, meaning I have to crane my neck just to make sure it's blinking.
A minor annoyance in the grand scheme, but an annoyance nonetheless.

 

[Sil3nt611]

Holy shit I've had the car 5 months and I'm just now learning this? Mind blown.

Also, I agree, the turn signal clicker sound is too quiet.

Yep, it's a feature on probably all Fords by now.

Furthering the frustration for me in this regard is that it seems the tap function on mine is a bit picky, especially to indicate a lane change to the right. If I don't do it *just* right, I am that guy not using his turn signal. On top of that, the way I sit, the right hand indicator is mostly obscured by the steering wheel, meaning I have to crane my neck just to make sure it's blinking.
A minor annoyance in the grand scheme, but an annoyance nonetheless.

I'm still used to holding the turn signal when making a lane change from driving my old car, so sometimes I hold it a little longer than a tap and it doesn't keep blinking. That is why I would like to hear it. And yes, the seating position or gauge cluster is off center somehow so that I can't actually see the right turn signal unless I go out of my way to check.

 

[TrickSTer]

You could always add an aftermarket turn signal stalk.

These suckers have a loud mechanical "clack-clack-clack"!

I mean, seriously, what a thing to complain about; if it was any louder, you would probably have an equal number of complaints about that.

 

[Sil3nt611]

I mean, seriously, what a thing to complain about; if it was any louder, you would probably have an equal number of complaints about that.

Yeah, I'm sure the reason it's quiet is because it was too loud for some people in previous model year cars...

#firstworldproblems

 

[FatGuyInALittleCar]

I mean, seriously, what a thing to complain about; if it was any louder, you would probably have an equal number of complaints about that.

Pretty sure no one is complaining, just expressing points of view. While I disagree with the tenor of your input and question its relevance to the topic, your punctuation is excellent. Top marks for that.

 

[LedRobster]

This! It seems like such a small thing, but between the quieter indicator and it being easy to position the steering wheel to block the view of the visual indicator I had turn signal paranoia for a few weeks!

 

[CanadianGuy]

Little louder would be nice. The signal indicator may be using the speaker. I have not confirmed this in the FiST but it does in the Edge and it is louder as well as lowers the music to make the sound more relevent. If this was the case for the FiST it would be easy to adjust from a design perspective.

 

[chdrummerdude]

Today I noticed that the wiper relay is quite loud when it kicks off. The quiet signals never really bother me since I'm used to riding my motorcycle.

 

[pleaseyesplease]

This is one of my favorite features of the car (the soft depressing of the stalk for three blinks)!

As for volume, when I drove a pre-facelift Fiesta right after they first started showing up in dealers (2010?) here in the US, the blinker was REALLY loud. Like so loud it seemed like a mistake. I guess maybe you get used to it, but I prefer the volume we have now, even though it's just a bit low. It seems like something we must be able to access a setting for somehow... The positioning of the blinkers in the dash makes it hard to see whether they are on or not due to the steering wheel, so volume adjustment would be really helpful.

Holy shit I've had the car 5 months and I'm just now learning this? Mind blown.

Also, I agree, the turn signal clicker sound is too quiet.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Fiesta is quiet compared to my old car by a long shot. I can carry on a hands free phone conversation on the highway in the Fiesta, I gave up on that idea after a couple tries when I put in the head unit with bluetooth in my old car. Seriously, I felt like I was in a luxury car as far as cabin noise goes the first couple weeks of driving the Fiesta. Before I put in the Cobb RMM I had to check and make sure the engine didn't stall at idle... A lot of that comes down to personal experience from what car I came from compared to what car you guys came from though. But when driving on the highway or driving in the city with the radio at a normal level the turn signal click just isn't that easy to hear. I prefer to keep my eyes on the road when doing lane changes which is why it would be nice to hear the clicks and I don't want to do a lane change without the turn signal since I don't drive a BMW.

This. I was driving a 2002 Crown Victoria before this, which already had louder ambient noise, but on top of that, the turn signal sometimes wouldn't flash right (either didn't flash at all, flashed really quickly, or CLICKED but the bulb never came on!). This made me a little paranoid about the turn signals. My first week driving the FiST I spent a lot of time checking that the quick flash was actually working. Now that I've been driving it for a little longer I've gotten to trust them that they are working, even though I can't hear them or see them without a little effort. But to go back to the old car is almost torturous, having to push the stalk all the way down or hold it to signal a lane change... BARBARIC!

 

[OrangeFiST]

1) My goodness, I'm guilty of the very thing the annoys me most. When I realize my blinkers have been going for a while, I feel really embarrassed and sheepish. Huh, no wonder the folks behind me are changing lanes.

2) IMO the rear view mirror blinkers don't wrap around enough for me to notice. It would be nice to have those red arrows like on the trucks.

3) This dates me, but my uncle had a '67 Coronet 500 (SE!) which had fender mounted blinkers which sounded like tapping cans. Kinda liked them.

4) Bring back that Ford 500 feature. Maybe a small electric shock at the seat after going a mile.

5) A real organic lady in an old Volvo station wagon with bumper stickers in front of me was driving for many many miles with the signals going. I kept a good distance so she'd know I wasn't trying to pass her, but I flashed her every so often. She finally got the message.

6) Its the car's fault. The steering wheel has to travel too far in order to cancel the blinkers.

 

[Sil3nt611]

I got a 2017 Ford Fusion rental because my cooling fan relay burnt itself to death and took out the terminal on the fuse box it was connected to. As a result the whole wiring harness has to be replaced. Never had a literal brand new rental before. When I drove away with it, it had 13 miles on it. A nice change from my last two rentals, one with a screw in the tire when I drove away with it and another that needed new tires, an alignment, and someone had smoked in it.

Anywho, I mention this to say the turn signal clicker on the new Fusion is about as quiet as my Fiesta. I think one too many people complained about loud turn signals and they just turned down the volume on them across the lineup.

On a seperate note, as much as I'd probably be fine getting the Fusion as a family car, I much prefer my Fiesta in most every aspect. This thing is kinda big...

 

[Zerodameaon]

On the SE it seemed a little quite but not as bad. It seems like they just didn't bother to account for the increased road noise.