Hearing bells or beeps???

I was driving with my brother this evening and he asked me why every time I started out in first gear, there were two distinct but subtle beep-beep tones. I pulled over and started out again and he said they repeated the beep-beep. I did it again and same thing. I have a hearing loss and can't hear certain portions of the db spectrum, so I don't hear a thing. Can anyone tell me what two beeps when starting out in first might mean? I checked all the idiot lights and gauges....no lights are out, they all illuminate at startup for the failsafe check.... no gauges flash, I had the radio on mute and turned it off thinking maybe music was bleeding thru. Loren ran the DME on his computer a couple weeks ago and other than a fault in the micro switch for the front trunk latch, everything checked out ok. The two beeps must be trying to tell me something....but I'm at a loss as to what they're trying to say. Oh yeah....its a 99 996 6 speed C2 with 32K miles...has options 220 and 222. I did a GIAC flash and have some mods as you can see from the signature block. I would appreciate any feedback or ideas. Chuck

I would expect that MKII mod should have covered up whatever beeps there is!? Sorry Chuck, no beeps or bells here.

Cos: It probably did, the MKII covers up most of the little noises....which is why I don't hear a dogone thing. I need to get someone who has a good set of ears to drive the car and see if he can focus in on what it's doing.

CHuck - I have never heard of that one (the two beeps) before today! A new mystery! As Shirlock Holmes would say, "The game's a-foot!"

I would have your brother checked out if he's still under warranty.

By jove I think you've got something there

What was he smoking before he got inside the car? Must have been some good stuff.

Have him check to see if his underware is too tight. Some times this causes guys to hear phantom sounds.

I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate all the technical feedback I've gotten. I'm now confident that i'll be able to track down the "dings". Tim, I'm especially impressed with your technical know-how. This forum has proven itself time and again to be so valuable.....

Chuck - you know that we are always here for you, buddy!

Chuck...I don't recall hearing anything when I drove your car. Could it have something to do with the Air Horn's?

Maybe the speed limiter is set too low? Mike

No...not the horns...I've gotta get someone who has good hearing to drive it and let me know...till then it's all speculation...my brother could have been hearing things...or thinking he heard an alarm bell of some sort.

I bet you are hearing the warning chime from the presets. Move the computer stalk on the left bottom side I believe up and down until it displays a MPH with a greater than sign. I bet he was going greater than the MPH posted and the chime was going off.

Tippy - he originally stated "why every time I started out in first gear , there were two distinct but subtle beep-beep tones."

Seat belt fastened?

You can set it pretty low, dont know exact number. It just so happened to me today on the way to work, brother drove my car and hit the stalk.

You might have something Tippy. I washed the car tonite...and took it for a dry off drive. for the first time, I heard the soft "ding-ding" and pulled over. I started out again and watched the speedo..and at 18 mph heard the ding=ding. Did this several times and verified 18mph. Went home and got the wife to drive...buckled both seat belts to eliminate that. Removed the radio face to eliminate that....and at 18 mph...ding-ding. She said she also heard it as the speed dropped down between 18-20 mph, but with the mufflers I couldn't hear it. So my brother wasnt' nuts...if he was smoking something or chewing shrooms, that didn't cause any hallucinations. I think that possibly Tippy might have something and I'll have to go read the owner's manual about activating/setting the speed alarm.....but you'd think that it wouldn't have the abiliy to be set below 50 or the usual speed limits....but I dunno. Tomorrow I'll try Tippy's suggestion.

In my car (2003), the speed warning when set will flash on the dash as well as ding but then the ding is only one ding and not two. Could you have something loose that rattles at a specific harmonic which is coming out at that low speed? Maybe it's still there at other speeds but it can't be hear over the tires or motor?! Washers make a dinging sound. Now I haven't seen any washers on these cars yet, not that I have looked for them either but it was a thought. Can the wife or brother locate a specific region in which the sound is coming from?

Chuck, when you hear the ding, look below the tach at the digital readout, it should have the MPH displayed for a few seconds with the greater than sign. I set mine at 166 MPH so I never hear it again.

Mine is 2 dings

AND THE BRASS RING....goes to Tippy....it was the speed control after all. I followed your directions and managed to cancel the dings. By coincidence the speed control was set to 19 mph. My average fuel consumption was also at 19 mpg...so when I'd go thru the onboard computer features, I'd see the 19 and figured that it was the mpg, so I overlooked it as the speed control. Tippy....it did display a 19 with a greater than arrow...and I looked in the manual and that particular feature is listed under the caption of "Gong"....which I guess is what you can call the dings. So thank you for the correct answer and solution to what was driving me nuts. Also, according to the manual, you can set that gong for speeds all the way down to speeds "higher than 6 mph"...and it's done by pushing the onboard computer stalk forward for 4 seconds. My last gas fill up, I recall going thru the features and resetting them to zero as I usually do. I must have inadvertantly set the speed gong at that time. Thanx again. Case closed. Time to deal with some other dummy.

Glad that was it. The sound is very annoying especially when you dont know the source.

Good job Cory! I remember reading about the speed reminder, but quite honostly, I had totally forgotten about it. I guess the previous owner of my car has the speed reminder at a high speed because I have never heard mine go off. Chuck, we like dealing with you, 'cuz you are our favorite dummy! Chuck, of course, I am just kidding! Hell, I am a bigger dummy, 'cuz I didn't even remember we had a Gong. Maybe they changed the warning signal in the face-lift cars, 'cuz any time I go too fast, I hear "HEY, SLOW DOWN, DUMB ****!" The really strange part is that it sounds just like my wife's voice.

Tim: One of the guys said he set his speed reminder to 166 or something like that so it would never go off. I just have a habit of every time I fill up with gas.....that I go through a cancellation process using the stalk to zero out all the various categories like average mpg, mph etc. I never even knew there was a speed minder feature in there. Oh...and I don't mind being labelled a dummy....if the foo ****s, wear it.

Yeah, I also reset my driving "stats" everytime I fill up. I'll have to see where my speed Gong is set.

Do all 1999 996's have computer stalks??