Indicator volume

[Tony.Rogers]

Is anyone aware of a way to make the indicator 'clicking' louder please? 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Is this for an IQ (posted in the IQ forum) or a Yaris (as per your profile)?

[Witless]

I'd be interested to know for my IQ.

Have found myself driving along with the indicator on on several occasions, and I have suspicions that the return isn't all it could be. It's inconsistent though so I'm in two minds whether it's just my imagination. I think part of the problem is that the indicator ticker is too quiet, so I miss the chance to spot the root cause because it's been and gone half a mile ago.

[Tony.Rogers]

On 6/10/2023 at 9:44 PM, FROSTYBALLS said:

Is this for an IQ (posted in the IQ forum) or a Yaris (as per your profile)?

iQ. 

I'll update my profile. 

[Gerg]

I'm not an iQ owner, but, just in case you didn't already know, the indicator ticking sound is likely to come from a speaker on the back of the speedo cluster (possible location arrowed in picture of iQ cluster), so, unless I've missed something here, any extra sound would have to come from an add-on unit that you'd have to custom-fit to the indicator wiring. 

These are available for fitting to motorcycles, where the same problem exists.

Or,  you could 'duct' the sound from the speaker grille around to the front of the dash with a sizeable-width pipe.  But then there is the problem of where to have the pipe exit so that it is facing you without cutting the dash.  A bit Heath-Robinson inspired, this one!

It sounds like an interesting project if time was no problem. Maybe.

I can think of other ways, but they are all a bit involved, and/or need the dash binacle opening up.

I don't think the volume is adjustable via something nice and easy like a menu option - it doesn't feature in the 'customisable options' part of the manual.

I'm sure other answers will have more straightforward suggestions!

[saab9002]

This is definitely a problem with the IQ and I would love to find an easy solution.

 Chris

[Gerg]

Well, in a slightly more acheivable vein, especially if you know someone who is good with a soldering iron, you could:

Remove the instrument binnacle.

Remove the binnacle back cover.

Unsolder the speaker - this is the trickiest bit.

Resolder the speaker on long 'flying leads' so that it can be repositioned anywhere you want - somewhere closer the driver, mount the relocated speaker on/in a box of some description, to amplify it.  The binnacle is probably performing this 'box' role already, but its not enough, as you report - perhaps because it doesn't have much volume compared to, say, an Auris. I wonder if the small dash binnacle is a large part of the problem.

This sounds involved, but here are pictures of the speaker from an Auris dash, as an example, to give an idea of what's what.

Firstly, the back of the binnacle, circular speaker grille is bottom right on this one.

Rear cover removed (philips screws). This is easy on this car.

The speaker, close up. Looks to have four solder attachment points, but I think two are just for a secure attachment to the pcb.

I'm sure resident electronics wizard@Mooly would have some sage thoughts on this.  Are you reading this Mooly?

I should add, I've not tried the above: I was looking in this Auris speedo to investigate a flickering LED problem.

In a car with such seriously optimised dimensions, there are going to be problems finding space for a 'box'. 

 

[Mooly]

@Gerg

Its possible the four connections are simple parallel sets of two, in other words there is continuity from side to side (or top to bottom). That's easy to check with a meter. Four anchor points makes sense as you say for mechanical stability. 

Hard to make out in a picture but it looks like it might just be a Piezo buzzer of some kind (which clicks if you just apply a voltage in an on/off fashion)

They are used in zillions of things from toys upward and come 'loose' or in a housing. They are not polarity sensitive either.

If it is a Piezo then there is nothing to stop you wiring another directly across the existing one. 

 

 

 

 

[Tony.Rogers]

Thanks all. I was hoping for a drop-in solution such as this.... 

https://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.com/flasher-units-shop.php