Tune vs Warranty after reflash

Lordstout · Jul 20, 2011

I'm just starting my upgrades on my 2012 GT 5.0, and I wanna know if you can still flash your computer back to stock before taking it in for service/repairs and not have your powertrain warranty voided. It's not going to stop me from doing it, but I'd like to know if I even need to bother flashing back to stock when I bring it in.

d98gt · Jul 20, 2011

It depends on what you are bringing it in on. I have brought my car to the dealer with mods on it when the rear end was making noise; however if you are having a problem with the engine or anything you'll want to flash it stock so they don't load a tune over your program.

These coyote computers seem to record ALL history so if you have a problem they'll be able to tell that you switched back to stock tune

Lordstout · Jul 20, 2011

That's what I thought. I guess I was just wondering if anyone had dealt with it before. I've heard it said that Ford will void your entire powertrain warranty if they see that you tampered with the ECU. Thanks bro.

Noobz347 · Jul 20, 2011

Question: If you flash, then reflash back to stock, don't they know?

d98gt · Jul 20, 2011

Noobz347 said:
Question: If you flash, then reflash back to stock, don't they know?

They are able to tell if they look into it hard enough. If you are there to get simple maint work or something unrelated then you won't have a problem.

blown1989saleen · Jul 20, 2011

once you flash that custom tune on it leaves a finger print so to speak. and with Ford releasing a TSB specifically naming a tuned ecu as a reason to void warranty coverage, they will check and find it

Lordstout · Jul 20, 2011

Ten four. That's what I wanted to know. Thanks guys.

03Stangr · Jul 21, 2011

Lordstout said:
That's what I thought. I guess I was just wondering if anyone had dealt with it before. I've heard it said that Ford will void your entire powertrain warranty if they see that you tampered with the ECU. Thanks bro.

I'm not sure about the SCT tuners , but the DiabloSport docs state that it will not void any warranty. So if it were me, I'd suggest looking at your manual for your tuner and see what it says about that.

SoldMySS4a5.0 · Jul 21, 2011

Let them know if you have a tune if you don't switch it to stock. Alot of times there will be tune updates and the dealer will do this automatically if you brought it in for an oil change for example. I brought mine in for an a/c blower motor issue and told them right away to not plug it into the computer because I had a Steeda tune. I also put tape over the port with a note "per owner do not plug into computer port, aftermarket tune". If they plug it in for updates , you will have a locked up car. If you don't have CAI, then switching it to stock before a dealer trip would be the route i would take any time that i took it in to them. However, I have the CAI, and i would have to switch it every time. I figured that I would just be honest from the get go and the dealer has been totally cool with it since I was honest. If I fry the motor, it's on me and I accept that.

ccaron · Jul 26, 2011

I'd echo what SoldmySS said. You can protect your ride and your relationship with your dealer by being open about everything.

If youre going to mod, they will know it if you need work done.

billfisher · Jul 28, 2011

Lordstout said:
I'm just starting my upgrades on my 2012 GT 5.0, and I wanna know if you can still flash your computer back to stock before taking it in for service/repairs and not have your powertrain warranty voided. It's not going to stop me from doing it, but I'd like to know if I even need to bother flashing back to stock when I bring it in.

they can tell and will void the warranty if necessary. try to decieve them and they will treat you that way.

FastRedPonyCar · Aug 8, 2011

also worth noting as well is that it seems as though american muscle is the only vendor that will have your back if you have a cylinder 8 failure while running their tune (which thus far has been the only major mechanical issue the coyote has faced and every single failure is due to an aftermarket tune)

but as the others have said, yes ford CAN see if you flashed back to stock. Unless there is some type of major mechanical malfunction that can be legitimately blamed on the tune though, this SHOULD be irrelevant to the dealer.

katmando911 · Aug 8, 2011

FastRedPonyCar said:
also worth noting as well is that it seems as though american muscle is the only vendor that will have your back if you have a cylinder 8 failure while running their tune

What makes you say that? Have they made a post somewhere that I missed?

FastRedPonyCar · Aug 8, 2011

yep

Introducing the Bama Performance 2011+ Mustang GT Custom Tune Warranty - Ford Mustang Forums

cliff notes: If you do not have a tune yet or have not had your ECU tuned yet, if you buy a bama tune from american muscle then have a #8 failure AND ford denies repairing the engine under warranty due to the tune, american muscle will foot up to $8000 worth of repair costs (which is the amount ford is quoting guys with damaged #8 cylinders to replace the engine).

If you ALREADY have a tune, you're out of luck. If you have the bama tune, damage #8 and American muscle suspects that you had another company's tune and then they may require you to send your ECU in to verify that you did not have another company's tune on it prior to damaging the piston.

so basically, if you're stock, this is by far the best option to get because really the only thing that has happened as a result of tunes is #8 being damaged and I think one, maybe 2 guys out of HUNDREDS of bama tunes sold by american muscle have damaged the engine.

RWDtech · Aug 13, 2013

need to bring this back from the dead, as I cannot find any threads related to my specific question. What if you purchased a new ecm from ford, had it tuned properly per your vin, and swapped that ecm in after having a failure and before taking it to the dealer? It would show no flash history...has anyone tried this?

Husky44 · Aug 13, 2013

wI would suspect they can identify the different ECM. To my knowledge, no one has tried this.

That said--why go to that much trouble trying to deceive Ford?

Here's the deal: They can't "VOID" a warranty just because you made a mod, even if it's a tune. They can refuse a warranty claim based on an assertion that your mods contributed to the failure. If your failure is a window motor, then their claim would be pretty ludicrous, and you'd have a good argument in court that they were violating the law. On the other hand, if you tuned it to it's limits, and blew up your motor, then their claim will have quite a bit of merit.

If you want to go faster than your car will stock, then you need to mod the car. If you mod it, why should they warrant the failure when you pushed the car past its design limits? Going to all the trouble you described to try to hide the fact that you modded the car seems pretty unethical to me. Some might go so far as to describe it as "fraud."

A false representation of a matter of fact—whether by words or by conduct, by false or misleading allegations, or by concealment of what should have been disclosed—that deceives and is intended to deceive another so that the individual will act upon it to her or his legal injury.

I wouldn't go there. My $.02.

FastRedPonyCar · Aug 13, 2013

I doubt it would be as simple as swapping in a new ECU. Even cars as old as my 99 volvo ended that. The ECU is essentially "married" to the ignition system, key and transmission And if my volvo's ecu were to for whatever reason, fry, I would have to have it towed to volvo for them to program a new ECU specifically for my car and at that point THAT ecu is the one and only ecu that will allow the car to run. If I were to get my original fried ECU repaired, it would still no longer work as the car no longer knows that ECU.

15 years worth of time and ECU technology somehow leads me to believe that if anything, it would be even more involved than my volvo at this point.

Long story short, I second what Husky said. Either enjoy the car as it is from the factory or take your chances and risk a POTENTIAL warranty being voided. I say potential because something completely unrelated to a tuned ecu can cause problems and ford would still be obligated to fix whatever that is.

FordCustSrvc · Aug 14, 2013

RWDtech said:
need to bring this back from the dead, as I cannot find any threads related to my specific question. What if you purchased a new ecm from ford, had it tuned properly per your vin, and swapped that ecm in after having a failure and before taking it to the dealer? It would show no flash history...has anyone tried this?

Hello RWDtech,

Aftermarket parts will not void “all” of your warranties. However, if they cause a concern, that specific repair will not be covered. You can refer to your Warranty Guide on page 13 for further info. This is why I recommend speaking with your servicing dealer (service manager) before installing any aftermarket parts to your vehicle, because some of them are very strict.

Ford Racing Parts come with their own warranty and if your dealer is a FRPP dealer, they will only honor those aftermarket mods. You can locate one of our FRPP authorized dealers here.

Deysha

TT5.0ca · Aug 15, 2013

FordCustSrvc said:
Hello RWDtech,

Aftermarket parts will not void “all” of your warranties. However, if they cause a concern, that specific repair will not be covered. You can refer to your Warranty Guide on page 13 for further info. This is why I recommend speaking with your servicing dealer (service manager) before installing any aftermarket parts to your vehicle, because some of them are very strict.

Ford Racing Parts come with their own warranty and if your dealer is a FRPP dealer, they will only honor those aftermarket mods. You can locate one of our FRPP authorized dealers here.

Deysha

FRPP's warranty on its tune (Procal) is second to none. It warrants the entire powertrain for the duration of the 3/30 B2B, replacing the factory PT coverage during that period, if the tune causes a failure. That's WAY bettter than just cyl 8.

The problem is getting a high cost warranty claim served. I guarantee you come in with a blown engine on a new car and you are in for some tough negotiating to get things put to rights. Try to avoid giving any more ammo to the other side's arguments; it'll only slow things down and make it less likely for a positive resolution. No company is in the business of willy-nilly passing out free engines so, it's going to be some work to convince their agents (dealer) and/or Ford corporate.

I have not heard of one instance of a car blowing an engine on the Procal tune, in 3 years and over multiple Mustang sites. Frankly, the engine-blows seem to have stopped across the board, as people figure out how to tune these engines.

RWDtech · Aug 15, 2013

I'm not necessarily concerned with the engine blowing. More like small stuff that happens from time to time, like early life failures. Lets say you get a plugged catalyst..."you tuned the engine, so its not covered". Or a bad sensor or injector. "your tune caused the injectors to fail". Honestly they could say your tune caused the injectors to increase fueling and wore them out quicker. You would really have no way of fighting that.

Tune vs Warranty after reflash

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