Last word on whether Ford can tell if software has ever been changed?

[red05bullitgt]

TGJ is right once cleared there is no way to tell.The code left after the clear is P1000,that just means that all the monitors have to go through a drive cycle to clear the P1000.That can take from 10-100 miles or more depending on how you drive.

I would'nt worry about it much.The dealerships alone dont have the power to void the warrenty.This only happens when a ford inspector is called out for a strange failure and is discovered the owner has modified something.Most dealers dont really care if the mods are kept to a minimum.

Thanks for all you're support, to both you and TGJ, I'm extremely very grateful

 

[Mike97gt]

ok this is how it was told to me by a "friend" who works for ford in engineering . I myself am a dealer tech so i am not 100 percent sure about this. but i can say when i went to some stupid svt class a few years back the ford rep said the same thing. thats why i verified this with my "friend"

the dealer can not tell at all. BUT if the motor or something blows up they can access diag stuff we dealer techs can not see. I have seen the Field engineer access different screens i can not access before.

 

[Viking05]

Well, I want to bring the car in to have the dealer take a look at my stereo (it won't play CDs.) Should I even bother taking off the CAI and/or putting the stock tune back on? I would hope they wouldn't touch the ECU...

 

[1fastz]

TGJ is right once cleared there is no way to tell.The code left after the clear is P1000,that just means that all the monitors have to go through a drive cycle to clear the P1000.That can take from 10-100 miles or more depending on how you drive.

I would'nt worry about it much.The dealerships alone dont have the power to void the warrenty.This only happens when a ford inspector is called out for a strange failure and is discovered the owner has modified something.Most dealers dont really care if the mods are kept to a minimum.

WRONG the dealership can and some times will refuse waranty work if it feels your car has been modified ..

mike murillo himself had a 4 month fight with ford over the engine in his brand new 05 f-350 wich went out at 15 k miles !

after parking it with it runing fine he came out and it would not start it had no compresion in any of the cylinders.

It had a cold air intake on it when taken in to the dealer and the dealer had seen a boost gauge and trany temp gauge pod on the A pillar inside and refused to waranty the truck because he suspected the truck had had more mods to it then just that.

in truth it had a edge controller and a nitrous kit on it wich were removed but there was absolutly NO WAY to tell they had ever been on the truck and the problem with the truck were in no way related to them..

however just on the suspicion it had had other mods the dealer refused waranty and murillo had to fight over it for 4 months.

he had to fight for 4-months up through the hierarchy in ford until he finaly got lucky and came across a ford reginal rep for texas who knew of him and his race record and was a fan and they replaced the motor under warranty

if the dealers service manager feels the car is not covered under waranty you have two choices take it to a diff dealer or go higher up with ford but a dealer can and does at time refuse to warranty vehicles.

 

[Mike97gt]

WRONG the dealership can and some times will refuse waranty work if it feels your car has been modified ..

mike murillo himself had a 4 month fight with ford over the engine in his brand new 05 f-350 wich went out at 15 k miles !

after parking it with it runing fine he came out and it would not start it had no compresion in any of the cylinders.

It had a cold air intake on it when taken in to the dealer and the dealer had seen a boost gauge and trany temp gauge pod on the A pillar inside and refused to waranty the truck because he suspected the truck had had more mods to it then just that.

in truth it had a edge controller and a nitrous kit on it wich were removed but there was absolutly NO WAY to tell they had ever been on the truck and the problem with the truck were in no way related to them..

however just on the suspicion it had had other mods the dealer refused waranty and murillo had to fight over it for 4 months.

he had to fight for 4-months up through the hierarchy in ford until he finaly got lucky and came across a ford reginal rep for texas who knew of him and his race record and was a fan and they replaced the motor under warranty

if the dealers service manager feels the car is not covered under waranty you have two choices take it to a diff dealer or go higher up with ford but a dealer can and does at time refuse to warranty vehicles.

correct.. we can refuse to do the work. it is our right, because if we do the motor and ford feels it was abuse guess who is paying for it?? the dealer. dealers don't want to pay for your abused motor

 

[NorthwestGT]

I'm a little reluctant to take the side of the dealers, but you know they certainly should not pay for a motor (or any other major part) that has been abused. On the other hand, they have an obligation to fix things that legitimately failed. The big problem is how do you tell the difference? The answer in a lot of cases is ....you can't. Even if they did have a magic black box that recorded what color socks you had on at the strip last weekend.

Probably the best way to go is to be straight with your dealer in the belief that there is at least a 50-50 chance that he will be straight with you. If your stereo is broken and you have a CAI. The dealer should of course fix the stereo. If you're asking him to replace a torn K&N filter in the CAI, no dice. But, how about if you've got no mods and you put a connecting rod through the block....no man's land for you and the dealer. Maybe you abused it, maybe not. I wouldn't want to be in the dealer's shoes for that one because as svttech76 says, the dealer may have to hock those shoes if he puts in a new engine.

 

[05Torch]

I cant figure out the CAI problems. I couldnt imagine why they would give a crap about one. The dealers here are selling K&N CAI over the counter and installing them. So I guess if you bought it from them and they installed it then it wouldnt be an issue but if I bought one from Summitt then there would be an issue?

 

[CorralOne]

WRONG the dealership can and some times will refuse waranty work if it feels your car has been modified ..

mike murillo himself had a 4 month fight with ford over the engine in his brand new 05 f-350 wich went out at 15 k miles !

after parking it with it runing fine he came out and it would not start it had no compresion in any of the cylinders.

It had a cold air intake on it when taken in to the dealer and the dealer had seen a boost gauge and trany temp gauge pod on the A pillar inside and refused to waranty the truck because he suspected the truck had had more mods to it then just that.

in truth it had a edge controller and a nitrous kit on it wich were removed but there was absolutly NO WAY to tell they had ever been on the truck and the problem with the truck were in no way related to them..

however just on the suspicion it had had other mods the dealer refused waranty and murillo had to fight over it for 4 months.

he had to fight for 4-months up through the hierarchy in ford until he finaly got lucky and came across a ford reginal rep for texas who knew of him and his race record and was a fan and they replaced the motor under warranty

if the dealers service manager feels the car is not covered under waranty you have two choices take it to a diff dealer or go higher up with ford but a dealer can and does at time refuse to warranty vehicles.

There is a big differance between a dealer refusing to waranty your or anyones car or truck and a Voided warranty.I've only seen a few.When I run a check on a customers repair history and waranty,a couple of times I'v seen "VOID VOID VIOD"

I will repeat myself and swear dealers do not have the power to VIOD a waranty.

 

[bigcat]

some warranty pages say void because the car has a salvaged title. if a car gets salvaged, even with zero miles, the warranty is void.

 

[Pro Mod]

I cant figure out the CAI problems. I couldnt imagine why they would give a crap about one. The dealers here are selling K&N CAI over the counter and installing them. So I guess if you bought it from them and they installed it then it wouldnt be an issue but if I bought one from SAummitt then there would be an issue?

The K&N does not require a tune, so it's no big deal for sure.

The fear that most consumers have is with the tune that accompanies most good CAI's.