Quote from: derfdog15 on January 09, 2017, 04:12:52 PM
The main concern, warranty wise, with a tune, is it is harder to remove all traces that the car was tuned, you can not simply put back the stock air box, and when you do reflash to stock, there is still data in the PCM that shows that it was flashes/modified. However, to get to that, Ford has to have the PCM sent to engineers in dearborn who examine it, for a small issue this is not worth the hassle, if you put a whole in the block, then this is something they would do. Hope this helps.
Where is this info coming from?
I've spent way too much time researching this issue so any info would be much appreciated.
It is my understanding that the only thing that
may be stored is a p1000 code which is...
Possible causes -
The vehicle is new from the factory.
Battery or Powertrain Control Module (PCM) had recently been disconnected.
An OBD monitor failure occurred before completion of an OBD drive cycle.
PCM Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC) have recently been cleared with a scan tool.
Read more:
http://www.autocodes.com/P1000_ford.htmlThe Mrs has dealt with 1000's of Ford vehicles over many years and not once has a PCM been requested by Ford. (She looked at me like I was a complete moron when I asked btw.
) In the past they just asked for IDS session logs which they can access themselves now. No mod friendly techs I've spoken with are aware of anything special regarding any kind of "forensic" data that can be generated. If they truly had this capability I suspect it would be built into IDS and they would know every car that has been tuned. We'd all have received powertrain warranty cancellation notices by now, lol. If you look at the the TSB for tracking down tuned vehicles it relies on the p1000 code. Notice all the things above a p1000 consists of. Being that my car has many computers, I always pull the battery cable at the first sign of trouble....
What typically gets people in trouble is bolt-ons, tuner stickers all over their car, leaving programmers mounted on the windshield, etc. Some people have tune friendly dealers, some don't, but by even broaching the subject you are outing yourself. That's why I roll stealth, right down to the paper filter now. The way it is now, I'd have no issue running at the drag strip, slapping in my 3 bar, reflashing, and heading to the dealership for service. Way less hassle imho.
Even if they could see something magical no one else can....is it
proof? You can bet if I ever have an issue there will be no court or lawyers. We will go visit 3rd party arbitration where their high priced lawyers are neutralized and they can present their "proof" right after I pass out my copies of Magnusson Moss warranty act. Will they be able to
prove I flashed my vehicle? Will they be able to
prove my flashed caused it to fail? What exactly were the
specific tune settings that caused the failure? Will they be able to
prove it wasn't, in fact, the last flash
they did that caused the issue? Ask all the F150 and focus owners how well their flashes fixed their cars. At best you will get a mixed response. Its not like perfectly stock 3.5 ECOs haven't been know to go kaboom in spectacular fashion. None of my settings are outside of the parameters allowed by the PCM that I own.
I know some will defend Ford's position and I do look at it from both perspectives. I'm a die hard Ford loyalist and shareholder. They aren't perfect though and sometimes they do poopie things to their customers. Just remember they provided everybody else warranty backed tunes. Where is the powerpak for the transverse 3.5's? Oh I know, right next to those chirping crickets. So the
Fiesta gets a tune but the 40-50K flagship doesn't? This is what happens when what a company deems good enough is at odds with what their customer actually wants and is
more than willing to pay for. I would bet that for the most part, us EBPFr's take much more care with our vehicles than the normal sheople driving unmodified cars. We use better fluids, lower our maintenance intervals, and use the finest parts and fluids money can buy. We slap expensive electronic gadgets on our dash so we can spot small issues before they turn into big ones...and then those small issues are
usually ignored when we bring them to the attention of their dealers.
My suggestion? Stealth mode while under warranty. Don't poke the bear. No need to raise any suspicion. God and Ford blessed us with a platform capable of
tremendous performance with nothing more than a tune (And maybe some high quality fuel) from a
competent vendor.
Now as far as tuners go it's an easy choice IMHO
LME for set it and forget it with no work on your end coupled with best out of the box performance and future upgrades as they develop the platform further and/or your mods change. By all accounts excellent service as well. If you live close enough to visit them I'd pony up the cash for a dyno tune for maximum performance. When MrsFoMoCoSHO gets an Ecoboost, that will be the route we take as she has no patience for anything other than enjoying the car. How she puts up with me is a mystery, lol.
If you like to tinker, dump exotic fuel blends into you gas tank, want to learn how to read data logs, want to know every change that is made to your tune, want to wring every ounce of performance out of your car without a dyno with all factory safety items intact or enhanced, AND get the best personalized service you could ever dream of then look no further than fellow member AJPTurbo.
That is
my official stance. If anyone wants further clarifications on my tuner positions, take it to PM please.
