A couple of weeks ago I noticed that I was getting a random, single chime after driving the car only a short distance. The routine is always about the same; start the car (cold) warm up for a minute, drive 1/4 mile...then "chime"! This happens just about every time I start the car cold (but not every time) and a warning light never comes on with the chime. Also, I have noticed that the chime sound is a slightly higher pitch than the chime that I hear when the door is open with the key in the ignition. Is this weird or what? Does anyone have a clue as to what this is all about? Anything I can try to discover the trigger source of this chime? Help is much appreciated.
Rich B.

 

is it the Temp chime that occurs when the Outside temps are 37 or less?

 

Sounds like the cold temp / ice warning. Next time it happens, look at the temp display. If it is flashing then that is the ding.

 

^^^ Yep it's telling you there could be icing conditions.

 

That's my guess too. It chimes every morning as I drive away from the house. (as soon as the cold air starts blowing on it)

BTW, anyone know where the temp sensor is mounted? Just curious.....

 

Temp sensor is up in the front bumper.
Apparently if you remove the bumper and forget to reconnect the sensor, it reads 122 degrees.

 

I had mine read -40 once, after the car had been washed (and it wasn't that cold - honest!)

If the car's parked in a garage or in the sun, it's temperature is initially higher than the cold outside so it doesn't chime; but as you drive the air flow corrects the measurement and then "bing", exactly as described

 

Thanks!

 

Yep...that's what it was! See...and I thought that no one would know what I was talking about. Goes to show you how valuable this site really can be to answer questions, no matter how trivial the concern. Thanks all for your responses!
Rich B.

 

Is it possible for the dealer to disable the chime? I live in California and it annoys me since there's never ice here!

 

So use to it warn you if need to put on a sweater or something.

Zip

 

Does anybody know what it takes to make the chime go off again?

My 9-yr old daughter wants to know. We got in the car last night and it chimed at 37, then dropped down to 36 as we were driving home. It eventually moved up to 39 and stayed there a while. As we approached home (partways up a mountain), it dropped down to 32, but didn't chime again. She wanted to know what it would take to get it to chime again. I told her that I didn't know, but a couple possibilites were:

* it only chimes once after you start the car
* it has to get above some temperature (at least 40, from our experience) before it re-arms the chime

Anybody know the answer?

 

After you start the car it chimes once if the temp is 37 degrees or below. When you turn the car off and start it again, it will chime again if it's still 37 degrees or below.

 

It will chime again if the temp gets warm enough then drops again - I've had it re-chime after driving through a tunnel; don't know how warm it has to get.

 

This is why I love forums. I was worried about my car, but you answered it for me. Thanks for letting me know why my car was talking to me.