[MichaelThwaite]

Does anyone have instructions on how to disable the noise generator on the latest Smart ED?

Please don’t think me rude but only post if you have an idea, lead or know how to. Please don’t post off-topic opinions on the process, I think we’ve discussed that thoroughly and I do want to create a helpful how-to, thanks

MPT

 

[gary sandlin]

there is no way of taken it out will cause the car to go into a fail safe mode.
there is another way.
you drill 2 small holes in the box, one on each side of the speaker and fill both side of the box with spray foam
you can get It at any hardware store.

 

[MichaelThwaite]

Gary,

Thanks for that, it's good to know that disconnecting triggers an error. Where is the unit? I have my can at the ready. I also wonder if it's possible to disable it by dismantling it and inhibiting the speaker through a 'fault'.

MPT

 

[gary sandlin]

It is up front on the right side.
It is not easy to get to.
You need to take off the right front fender.

 

[wrumbarger]

I'm not a lawyer, but as I recall it's a federal regulation to have the noise generator operational?

 

[gary sandlin]

It is a federal law not to disconnect it.
That's why the car will not move if you unplug it.

 

[gary sandlin]

Not that I know.
You would have to confuse the control unit so it thinks the speaker is still there.
The spray foam keeps the speaker from moving and the control unit will still see the speaker and not set a code.

 

[kcfoxie]

It kind of bothers me that MB has set up the 453 to not start if the speaker fails. What kind of warning do you get? Does it self correct? Has anyone tested this?

 

[Yinzer]

It is a federal law not to disconnect it.
That's why the car will not move if you unplug it.

Virtually any federal MVSS or EPA emissions standard that can be altered (or simply fail) without immobilizing the car! The feds do not mandate any kind of car immobilization for the disconnection or breakage of any gadget needed to meet a standard. So don't blame the feds for this.

The number of ways MB micromanages us with busybody-ware programming is enraging. Especially becasue, in a couple more years, there will be no dealers or shops to fix a Smart ED/EQ immobilized from a software fault detection that needs to be reset - your mechanically-perfect car will be a brick.

 

[Yinzer]

Good idea. But instead of a canbus connection, it might also just be simple interlock where a pair of wire at the connector just need to be jumped.

 

[smark]

Why would anyone want to disconnect, a safety feature. Aimed at saving the lives of pedestrians. walking near a quiet EV vehicle moving.

 

[lebikerboy]

Why would anyone want to disconnect, a safety feature. Aimed at saving the lives of pedestrians. walking near a quiet EV vehicle moving.

Agree...

 

[MB DNA]

Why would anyone want to disconnect, a safety feature. Aimed at saving the lives of pedestrians. walking near a quiet EV vehicle moving.

Agree...

It's all good - I'm sure that they have already disconnected their AIR BAGS . . . :bangwall:

 

[Yinzer]

One of the whole benefits of EV's is quieting the urban environment, the noisemaker works against this.

Most pedestrian-vehicle accidents are the vehicle drivers fault - typically making right or left turns into pedestrians already on the crosswalk and having the right of way. The noisemaker does nothing to prevent these.

At the low speeds the noisemaker operates, and EV does not present a hazard to even jaywalking pedestrians. The car has a horn, and brakes.

 

[lebikerboy]

In today's US litigious society, if a safety device has been disabled
by the owner of the vehicle and said vehicle is involved in an pedestrian
involved accident, the personal injury attorney would have a field day...

 

[DreamCarOwner]

I'm pretty sure disconnecting the noisemaker and shorting the wires together would cause an error code just same as disconnecting it because can bus indirectly reads resistance. That's the reason they make error canceling can bus resistors when you replace your headlight bulbs with LED's or HIDS with a ballast that changes the expected resistance value in a circuit. When I put HID's in my Fortwo it did cause an error code to set, but it wasn't a code that would light the CEL. I merely found it when I did a scan for another issue. It told me the headlamp resistance was out of spec on my left headlight and my right. So you would probably have to ohm out the speaker and include a resistor in the circuit of you did disconnect the wires. DCO

 

[Rob22304]

The noise maker is almost impossible to hear inside the vehicle even with the windows open unless I am in a covered parking garage. I wouldnÂ’t disable it. ItÂ’s most useful in parking garages where there are no pedestrian walkways and walkers lollygag when they donÂ’t think a car is coming.

ItÂ’s also useful to warn jaywalker and jay bicyclists.