Mysterious button - 2016 Ford Fiesta

artyboy

This one has me stumped... recently bought a 2nd hand Fiesta Ecoboost for Little Miss Arty2 - there is this little round button just above the USB port. Has a red light in the centre that is lit up when you initially start the car, and pressing the button seems to do nothing more than make the light go out.

I can't find it referenced in the user manual and Google hasn't helped. The reason it's bugging me now is that I'm getting occasional/random little soft beeps coming from the direction of the button, when the light is on. When I press it to turn the light off, those beeps stop. There are no warning lights on the dash, and I have already disabled the warning chimes.

So I'm thinking it could be a custom install and it's trying to tell me something but I haven't a clue what!

Any ideas please??

Brie

does anything happen if you use the usb port?  

Grumpy_chap

Well, we don't have that in our 2016 Fiesta:


Ours is the Titanium trim so has most optional extras so I would suggest your car has an after market addition of some kind.  It also does not look like the same sort of material / style / design that any of the buttons on our car have actually standard Ford.

Is it possible there are after-market parking sensors or similar?  

Possibly a tracking device and pressing it turns it on or off.  I am thinking of a company tracker if it was ever a fleet car.  The button may allow the tracker to be disabled for the duration of that journey, part of the company allowing employees to avoid being tracked when on private time.

Have you checked whether it launches a rocket when pressed?

Was there a previous owner of the car called Peter?  If so, maybe that is the "Mysterious Girl" button

al3xp

It's definitely not factory fit, nor any genuine Ford accessory.

The only option is probably going to be to start pulling the trim to trace where it goes.

artyboy

Brie said:

does anything happen if you use the usb port?  

Yes, things get charged   

Grumpy_chap said:

Well, we don't have that in our 2016 Fiesta:


Ours is the Titanium trim so has most optional extras so I would suggest your car has an after market addition of some kind.  It also does not look like the same sort of material / style / design that any of the buttons on our car have actually standard Ford.

Is it possible there are after-market parking sensors or similar?  

Possibly a tracking device and pressing it turns it on or off.  I am thinking of a company tracker if it was ever a fleet car.  The button may allow the tracker to be disabled for the duration of that journey, part of the company allowing employees to avoid being tracked when on private time.

Have you checked whether it launches a rocket when pressed?

Was there a previous owner of the car called Peter?  If so, maybe that is the "Mysterious Girl" button

This is a Titanium too, and already has parking sensors - I can hear those beeps coming from a different spot. Interesting (if slightly concerning) idea about a tracker - the car was registered to the dealership before me, but not sure before that. 

A rocket launcher would be cool, maybe it's already been launched though and the beeps are to warn me that the silo is empty...

al3xp said:

It's definitely not factory fit, nor any genuine Ford accessory.

The only option is probably going to be to start pulling the trim to trace where it goes.

Yep, this was what I was concerned about. Oh well, I guess that's a job for another day...

fatbelly

Ejector seat?

artyboy

fatbelly said:

Ejector seat?

I'll give it another go next time Mrs Arty is in the passenger seat 

Bigwheels1111

Looks like an after market alarm indicator, flashing when alarm has been activated.

plumb1_2

Maybe go back to the dealership and ask, rather than sending mrsArty through the roof.

Bonniepurple

If you try a long press and hold does the car take off into the sky?

artyboy

Bigwheels1111 said:

Looks like an after market alarm indicator, flashing when alarm has been activated.

It doesn't flash. It's just lit when initially started and can be turned off by pressing.

plumb1_2 said:

Maybe go back to the dealership and ask, rather than sending mrsArty through the roof.

I seem to remember commenting on it at the time and got a "dunno" type shrug. I suspect I'd be wasting my time.

Bonniepurple said:

If you try a long press and hold does the car take off into the sky?

I was all for the rocket launcher and ejector seat ideas but now you're just getting silly...