Mysterious BEEPING noise.. please help!

[gumbyy]

Lately while driving my GT I have been experiencing a very annoying beeping noise, and it seems to be coming from somewhere behind the driver seat (i think). The noise comes and goes randomly and only appears to happen when I'm alone in the car (yes I have made the GF sit in the back seat keeping an ear out for it but nothing..) At first, I thought it was the seatbelt chime on the fritz, but after deliberately setting off this chime i notice it's a different pitch..

I should probably add that whilst the frequency is random as far as I can tell, whenever it does beep I have studied it to do the following:

1. Beep for 5 seconds
2. Silence for 5 seconds
3. Beep for 30 to 45 seconds
4. Silence.

And the cycle continues sporadically.. sometimes starts again in 10 mins, sometimes 20..

It's driving me crazy! Anybody have a similar experience??

[WhiteGTB]

You definitely sure it is an electronice "beep" or more of a clicking.. tap tap.. sound?

May be something being knocked around.

Only occurs when the car is in motion?

[gumbyy]

Nah it's a real beep, no doubt about it. Slightly more high pitch than the seatbelt chime. So far experienced it with the engine on, both in motion and stopped at the lights. Stereo all the way down, can hear it very clearly, just cant seem to pinpoint the location being stuck in the driver seat and in traffic.

[2mbas]

could be parking sensors? if you have them maybe the noise from that is gone haywire??

[gumbyy]

The beep sounds oddly like the parking sensors in my old car, but no my GT isn't fitted with them!

[smythie]

when it happens next time, have a look at the roof console to see if you have the red front seat passenger light on. I have had mine go off momentarily at 100km/h when a water bottle fell onto it

[Boxer]

Any weight on the passenger seat will trigger the seat belt not activated beep

[gumbyy]

Yeah guys, it's got nothing to do with the seat and I'm basing this on the fact that the chime and beep are two different sounds. Not to mention my seats are always empty.

[drndrn]

. Not to mention my seats are always empty.

How do you drive without sitting in your seat!? Okay sorry I just couldn't help myself.

Anyways seriously, my first stop would be good ol' Subaru. I've never heard of any such beeps except for the seat belt chime. So yeah I assume they'd be the best people to go ask.

[gumbyy]

UPDATE: Think I found the problem.

I just happened to catch the beep yesterday going off longer than usual, so I quickly pulled over. Seems to be coming from underneath the drivers seat.. where my power inverter was. Though I did not catch it in the act of beeping as it stopped while I was crouching down to look, I'm almost certain its the inverter.. I turned it off to see if it ever comes back again. Now all I can say is WTF.. do power inverters beep?@? I completely disregarded it as I've never known one to do so before..

Just FYI, the inverter is there for my Mediagate and I usually leave it on. Never caused by any problems before.. but alas hopefully switching it off will cease this excrutiatingly annoying problem. Good news is it doesn't appear to be a Subaru problem

[Boxer]

UPDATE: Think I found the problem.

I just happened to catch the beep yesterday going off longer than usual, so I quickly pulled over. Seems to be coming from underneath the drivers seat.. where my power inverter was. Though I did not catch it in the act of beeping as it stopped while I was crouching down to look, I'm almost certain its the inverter.. I turned it off to see if it ever comes back again. Now all I can say is WTF.. do power inverters beep?@? I completely disregarded it as I've never known one to do so before..

Just FYI, the inverter is there for my Mediagate and I usually leave it on. Never caused by any problems before.. but alas hopefully switching it off will cease this excrutiatingly annoying problem. Good news is it doesn't appear to be a Subaru problem

Generally inverters will beep when the voltage drops below their optimal operating range (as in the DC input voltage - not the output voltage)

Standard car cigarette wiring is notorious for voltage drop with such heavy load devices. Better to wire them straight to the battery, like you would a hifi amp.

[gumbyy]

Actually it is wired directly to the battery. I havn't used it for a while though even before it started beeping.. I just left it on without any plugs in it, basically it stayed idle. Don't know why it beeped infrequently like it did.

[overl0ad]

battery giving up?

[gumbyy]

Nope I replaced the battery a few months ago!

[Jiyujin]

I thought I would bump this old thread as I'm experiencing the same thing. Beeping sound coming from under the seat or dash....happened several times while I was driving.
No, nothing on the seats to set off the seat belt alarm is a very different sound. Any thoughts?