2011 Explorer Bluetooth Noise

[VinceL]

Let's get back to the original topic please, and leave the sniping to PM's, the rest of us have no interest in watching cat fights...

It ain't the software. Cheap mic, bad placement......

Which microphone did you purchase, and where did you mount it to fix the issue? How did you know which microphone to replace it with? Did you find the optimal mounting location by trial and error, or by some other method.

Since the software is not to blame, those of us in this thread are very interested in your solution to the problem. Thanks

 

[RonJrSVCMGR]

I'll bet you are a real treat to deal with at Irwin Zone. Nice! Good example of why some of us hate to deal with the dealership on issues.......

Been there 25+ years and that does not happen in this industry unless you take care of people. I have no interest in helping anyone that throws daggers at the place that or person that is trying to help them. If I were paid $1.00 for every minute I dealt with these issues, I would not need to work anymore. Some folks don't like dealerships because of bad experiences and some just see all dealership folks as the bad guy or that we try to hide stuff. We try to be as transparent as we can be. If you are not happy with what I have to say, ignore it. But please do not let one post in response to a dagger thrown directly at me (and the gent has since explained himself and I have forgotten it) that was tongue-in-cheek humor, as are quite a few of my posts, give you a bad impression of me or the place I work. I would gladly help anyone on these boards out in any way I can and I will continue to provide hints, suggestions and information as I get it.

I apologize if I offended anyone and will try to stay on the straight and narrow, regardless of what is said about me or any other dealership.

If you were an engineer and someone blamed you for something you said about or there were faults with the way the Golden Gate bridge was built, you would probably feel the same way.

:scratch:

 

[Wilkinda65]

It ain't the software. Cheap mic, bad placement......

exactly, the placement is the issue in my opinion more so than the cheap mic. When my wife stops moving...wind tunnel noise stops, as soon as she starts moving it comes back and the faster she gets going the worse it is. Mic needs to be isolated with some sort of insulation / foam. Never had an issue in my 2009 Flex or my 2010 Mustang.... those were in the rear-view mirror

 

[182RG]

Let's get back to the original topic please, and leave the sniping to PM's, the rest of us have no interest in watching cat fights...

Which microphone did you purchase, and where did you mount it to fix the issue? How did you know which microphone to replace it with? Did you find the optimal mounting location by trial and error, or by some other method.

Since the software is not to blame, those of us in this thread are very interested in your solution to the problem. Thanks

External Plantronics, mounted on me. I'm not about to tear into the headliner and experiment. My VW has 2 mics, one on each side of the overhead console next to the sunglasses holder and works perfectly. The driver and passenger both sound clear. The Ex has one, mounted too far forward on the headliner, right under the area where the rain noise is, and partly obscured by the sun visor. My bet is the gain is already jacked up to make up for bad placement, and creates the hollow, noisy sound.

 

[Xcel]

Has anyone tried pulling the mic out of the headliner and/or insulating the area around the mic?

 

[RonJrSVCMGR]

Has anyone tried pulling the mic out of the headliner and/or insulating the area around the mic?

DUCK!

I read back through many of the pages and quite a few things have been tried. I suggested some stuff that had been hashed out already. There is another major update coming in the third quarter of 2012 and I am sure this is on the list. I read somewhere about a microphone sensitivity setting and I will investigate that one further and report back. Makes sense to me that this could be a contributing factor.

 

[Wilkinda65]

Has anyone tried pulling the mic out of the headliner and/or insulating the area around the mic?

I talked to a neighbor that had the rain noise TSB done and now he claims he no longer has the wind tunnel noise issue...

 

[VinceL]

Any news on this front?

 

[strick23]

??

I haven't heard anything. We've had our EX for just over a year now, and have yet been able to use the hands free calling! Bummed!

 

[mccorla]

i have been told that i sound like i have all my windows open too. When i try to use Siri through my bluetooth, say to send a text, it rarely gets the message right. Then i tell Siri the samething without the bluetooth and she gets it exactly! Also, the spoken commands get messed up all the time. E.G. i will say "call Mary on cell" and it doesn't understand the command. i am going to the dealer tomorrow again. i have already had them do the upgrade and it didn't really help.

 

[46ford]

Bluetooth noise

Hello everyone, I don't have an Explorer but I had a 2011 Escape with the same wind noise when using bluetooth. Ford replaced the microphone which didn't help. I just bought a 2012 Ford F-150 Supercrew it does the same thing. Our phones are the I phone 4S"s I discovered that if you plug in the ear buds that came with the phones and use the bluetooth, the wind noise goes away, you don't have to have the ear buds in your ear either. So I guess the issue is with the I- phone not Ford. Hope this helps, have a great day everyone.

 

[flaguy]

The wind noise is not in the vehicle. It is the person receiving the call that has the problem. I don't see how ear buds in the vehicle would help the person whom you are calling.

 

[46ford]

you are right the wind noise effect is not in the car, it is the sensitivity of the microphone on the I-Phone, by plugging the ear buds into the phone it cancles the external microphone on the I-Phone and uses the mic on the ear buds which isn't as sensitive, whick eleminates almost all of the wind tunnel effect in the vehicle, at least it works in mine.

 

[Don Memphis]

???????
When you use the bluetooth.......It uses the mic up in the ceiling of the explorer, not the iphone?

 

[Since95]

Sounds like it might not completely disengage the mic using bluetooth. I wonder if that is the reason why my jawbone sounds like crap on the wifey's iPhone but crystal clear on my Droid.

 

[dmatmor]

Your assessment is 100 percent accurate. I have had a 2012 Exploerer for nearly a year. I read posts of this "wind tunnel" noise problem in 2011, 2012 and 2013 Explorers--and other fords. I had the mic switched. No help. I had hoped the sync release would help...nothing. Part of the problem appears to be the placement in the headliner. My wife drives the vehicle and every time I am on the phone with her while she is driving, the noise is so aggravating that I cannot talk for more than a couple minutes. I was hoping b joining this forum, that I would find that Ford had some enlightment and action plan.... but I don't see it.

 

[flaguy]

dmatmor, welcome to the brigade of frustrated owners.

 

[flaguy]

I posted this on another thread. I thought it might interest some of you guys:

Rebecca (thanks, by the way) had a company rep contact me and she told me that the engineers (finally) are aware of the problem and have narrowed it down to software. The microphone was ruled out. They are working on a software rewrite that they hope will fix the problem. She said another release of software is expected late in the year. It is encouraging to hear that someone has finally recognized what so many of us have been complaining about.

 

[Tongo]

I posted this on another thread. I thought it might interest some of you guys:

Rebecca (thanks, by the way) had a company rep contact me and she told me that the engineers (finally) are aware of the problem and have narrowed it down to software. The microphone was ruled out. They are working on a software rewrite that they hope will fix the problem. She said another release of software is expected late in the year. It is encouraging to hear that someone has finally recognized what so many of us have been complaining about.

I hate to say this, but I'm starting to think the dev team is totally full of it. Reference this post: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2842318#post2842318. Ford is/has been aware of the/this problem since before "The Big Update". They tried to fix it in software last time and failed.

So, two options in my mind:
1 - They are blowing smoke at us via Rebecca (no fault on you Rebecca, I know you're only the messenger here). The problem isn't really software, but they are going to try to fix it with software (good luck, if the data isn't there because of a crappy mic or crappy placement, it isn't there).
2 - They are incompetent without any kind of rigorous software testing. I can speak from authority here because I am an incompetent software dev without rigorous testing

If there is truly a software issue with the noise canceling, they REALLY should have caught this before the MFT software was originally released. Crap, license some code from Jabra or something. Or use the code that was in our '08 Edge, that worked just fine.

Yea...I'm frustrated. I would love to be able to understand my daughter when she talks to me from the back seat. :frustrate Just again tonight, I had to ask my wife over and over what she said (she's three btw ).

 

[VinceL]

I hate to say this, but I'm starting to think the dev team is totally full of it. Reference this post: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2842318#post2842318. Ford is/has been aware of the/this problem since before "The Big Update". They tried to fix it in software last time and failed.

So, two options in my mind:
1 - They are blowing smoke at us via Rebecca (no fault on you Rebecca, I know you're only the messenger here). The problem isn't really software, but they are going to try to fix it with software (good luck, if the data isn't there because of a crappy mic or crappy placement, it isn't there).
2 - They are incompetent without any kind of rigorous software testing. I can speak from authority here because I am an incompetent software dev without rigorous testing

If there is truly a software issue with the noise canceling, they REALLY should have caught this before the MFT software was originally released. Crap, license some code from Jabra or something. Or use the code that was in our '08 Edge, that worked just fine.

Yea...I'm frustrated. I would love to be able to understand my daughter when she talks to me from the back seat. :frustrate Just again tonight, I had to ask my wife over and over what she said (she's three btw ).

Wait a sec... your wife is only 3?