Is the chime on the inst cluster?

pwrwagn · **Joined:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:40 am **Posts:** 192

I'm ready to just kill that thing. No, I don't need lectures about wearing my seat belt, I do. But the passenger seat belt detection AND my buckle switch both appear to be broken or non-functional, and the chime is just headache inducing.

Is it on the cluster itself, or somewhere else? I just need to get rid of it.

geordi · **Posted:** Sun Nov 10, 2013 1:27 pm

I don't know exactly where it is located (I hate that thing too) but it should be located between the steering column and the centerline of the dashboard.

Your best bet to locating it will be to remove all the pull-off and screw-off covers that you can easily get to, and start feeling around while it is binging. On a previous vehicle, the chime was a small box about 2 inches square, with a hole or grille on one side that was easily felt. When your hand is over the hole or grille... The sound changes.

I realize that isn't a huge amount of knowledge, but hopefully it does help.

pwrwagn · **Joined:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:40 am **Posts:** 192

I found my .PDF version of the manual and look what's in the introduction (I never read those... gads...)

Quote:

The chime warning system uses
an electromechanical transducer that is soldered onto
the electronic circuit board inside of the ElectroMechanical
Instrument Cluster (EMIC) to provide audible
indications of various vehicle conditions that may
require the attention of the vehicle operator or occupants
(Fig. 1).

So, I'm pulling the cluster and it's going to DIE today...

geordi · **Posted:** Sun Nov 10, 2013 2:02 pm

If it is the type I am thinking of - all you have to do is cut the top of it off and remove the brass disc that is inside. That disc is what makes the noise.

Good luck!

pwrwagn · **Joined:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:40 am **Posts:** 192

Silence is golden.

I used a soldering iron to melt the solder to both wires, while prying it away from the board. Eventually, I got enough space to stick needle nose pliers behind it and VIOLA!, one wire vanished

It's black, about the diameter of a quarter, a half inch tall or so, and it's behind the top left part of the speedometer.

MRausch82 · **Posted:** Tue Nov 12, 2013 8:15 pm

You can disable it (for the seat belt) by doing something like buckling and unbuckling it so many times within so long of turning the key on, or some such thing. I did it to my CRD and to my wife's Patriot. Disassembling and removing parts isn't necessary!

papaindigo · **Posted:** Tue Nov 12, 2013 8:53 pm

Mike the OPs entire saga with this issue is not in this string. Apparently there is/was an electrical gremlin in his system such that even with the seat belt fastened the chime was more or less constant.

You are correct that the Enhanced Warning System (BeltAlert) can be shut off, per the owner's manual, by a key on/off seat belt buckled/unbuckled sequence. I mentioned this in the other string on this topic but that trick did not work. Best guess is somewhere between the seat belt buckle and the chime there is a failure in the system to recognize that the seat belt is, in fact, fastened. Alternatively the Enhanced Warning System (BeltAlert) is "stuck" in the on position.
Jim

sailwa66 · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2012 9:57 am **Posts:** 32

Thanks for the tip, pwrwagn!

pwrwagn · **Joined:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:40 am **Posts:** 192

papaindigo wrote:

Mike the OPs entire saga with this issue is not in this string. Apparently there is/was an electrical gremlin in his system such that even with the seat belt fastened the chime was more or less constant.

You are correct that the Enhanced Warning System (BeltAlert) can be shut off, per the owner's manual, by a key on/off seat belt buckled/unbuckled sequence. I mentioned this in the other string on this topic but that trick did not work. Best guess is somewhere between the seat belt buckle and the chime there is a failure in the system to recognize that the seat belt is, in fact, fastened. Alternatively the Enhanced Warning System (BeltAlert) is "stuck" in the on position.
Jim

It chimed for 3 minutes, every time you started up and drove it. It made my ears hurt. After much fiddling, rather than throw money at it, I simply removed the chime.

Is the chime on the inst cluster?

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