My daughter’s 2014 Corolla started beeping tonight. After the seatbelt chime stops, another different pitched beep comes from the dash without any warning or indicator lights. I think i counted about 12 beeps and then it stopped. I tried reproducing the beep by stopping and restarting the engine but it did not work. She told me about the problem and a few hours later I got home from work and replicated the beep. Any ideas of why the car is beeping?
Are there any warning lights on the dash? Does this beep sound like a warning used for anything else in the car?
Owners manual
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A beeping owner’s manual? Maybe a road runner flew in, got trapped.
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The manual is located in the glovebox, so it is a reasonable diagnosis.
@RandomTroll and @tcmichnorth
The OP stated in the post that there were no warning lights. Humor, including “inside” humor among forum regulars is fine, but I suggest being careful not to be or sound snarky or dismissive of those who pose legitimate questions asking for help. *climbing back off my soapbox now"
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Sorry, absolutely no snark intended just having a little fun. As far as owners manual suggestion, many people especially myself included don’t think to look in the owners manual. Sometimes I find some very helpful info in there. A designated number of warning beeps probably has a meaning and could very well be documented in manual. Could also be accompanied by a warning light that is not working. In order to see if a warning light is not working the manual will show you how to check this also.
This is helpful advice.
The beeps are probably an air bag warning indicator.
Your owners manual will show you where on the dash the air bag warning idiot light is located. Turn the key one click and see if the air bag idiot light comes on with the other idiot lights
if not the bulb is probably burned out
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There were no other lights on the dash.
The owner’s manual is the first place I checked, and it did not discuss the different beeping sound after the seat belt chime. That is why I posted on here.
The air bag light does come on when I first turn the key on, along with the normal oil, alternator/battery, and normal barrage of other lights. The manual does not address any beeps after the seat belt chime.
I have an older Corolla, and it does a 12 beep thing if I start the engine without the seat belts fastened. I’m pretty sure that is accompanied by a dash warning light though. Does that particular dash warning light on your car come on when the key is turned from off to on, but before starting the car? If not, maybe the dash bulb is just burned out. There’s no other 12-beep sources on my Corolla than for the seat belts that I can think of. The other audio alarms involve the headlights and the doors being ajar. Pretty sure both of those have a corresponding dash warning light. If your car has a security system, those are pretty common to cause this sort of problem. Ask if it can be temporarily disabled as a test.
I did see both the seatbelt light and door ajar light. The second audible beep doesn’t sound like it is coming from the same source as the initial chime when you first turn the key on. Their is a brief pause after the seat belt chime and then the new chime. That I know of, there is no security system on the car.
Try connecting all the seatbelts whether anyone is using them or not to see if that stops the chime. If not, I’d move the seat belt system lower on the list.
I suppose it could be debris in the driver’s seat belt buckle. That might keep the sensor from registering that the belt is buckled. It should be accompanied by the warning light, though.
I was making a little joke about combining @tcmichnorth’s comment with OP’s question, Vaudeville-style stupid-guy (me) question. I meant no disparagement.
It is useful if OP tells us that s/he has done the obvious. Not everyone does.
One weird diagnostic problem I heard of, the customer says the car won’t start sometimes. He brings it to the shop and of course it starts, no problem. The customer asks the shop to keep it for a week, have a tech drive it every day, thinking one of those times it won’t start. Starts every single time, all week long.
The customer returns the next week in a taxi, the tech tells him there’s been no progress on the diagnosis, so he pays the invoice, sighs and decides to drive the car back home without a resolution to the problem. The customer then gets in the car to drive away, and it won’t start. The tech is watching, and can’t figure out why it won’t start for the customer but always starts for the tech. At this point the shop manager comes out. He says he was watching, and he noticed one important difference: the customer put his briefcase on the back seat before getting into the driver’s seat. It turned out that was the problem. The computer thought the weight of the briefcase meant there was somebody in the back seat, and since the seatbelt wasn’t fastened, it wouldn’t allow the car to start (which was a software bug apparently).
So maybe you got something like that going on.
I’m about to change the weak battery in my 2014 VW Tiguan
I checked the owners manual and googled “replacing battery in 2014 VW Tiguan.” and the only precautions are to be sure the ignition is off/all acessories are turned off/the doors are not locked. before disconnecting the battery. If the doors are locked the electronics will think the car is being stolen and it will not start when the new battery is connected.
If my Tiguan was doing this beeping nonsense I would abide by the warnings and disconnect the negative battery cable for 1/2 hour and see if that solved the problem.
If you do this check for any warnings when swappng the battery in a 2014 Corolla in the owners manual and online