Tunes and Warranty Work

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Gregger

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I know this has been beaten to death about how it'll "void your warranty" and the Magnussen act tells us they must prove that the modification caused the problem...

But...

Who has had an engine/tranny/diff failure with a tune and gotten it warranty repaired?

I would assume it would be really easy for Ford to claim the increased HP/TQ had the potential to cause any failure in either of the above?
 

OPT PRIME

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They downloaded my ecu for the failure. Stock, Mazda pays. I was told had the Ecu been modified I would've paid $5k retail.


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SpeedJunkie

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I've posted this before several times, but I had a 2015 F150 with the 3.5EB and it threw a rod with a tune on it.

I was upfront with the dealer and they still put it through warranty repair. I was told that if Ford decided to audit they would have found the tune and denied the warranty, but they didn't. So, I think that comes down the the dealer.

I'm not sure if you could fight it. How could you prove it one way or another? I don't know, and I'm willing to bet Ford has more money and lawyers to fight it than most people.

I was told a new engine would have been about $12k.

All that being said, I am not blaming the tune at all, just saying I don't know what caused it. It also did not turn me off to Ford. Shit happens. I still bought a 2018 Raptor and love it.

Bottom line is I think you tune at your own risk. Probably a good idea to talk to your dealer first and ask them what they would do. I think an audit is pretty unlikely.
 

dhh93

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Yes definitely talk to them, i have a very good relationship with my dealer as we buy several trucks from there and i talked with the owner. He told me if i flashed and something went wrong just to flash it back to stock before i brought it in and hed take care of it not to worry about it. So yeah im going to say its on the dealer.
 
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Gregger

Gregger

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Yes definitely talk to them, i have a very good relationship with my dealer as we buy several trucks from there and i talked with the owner. He told me if i flashed and something went wrong just to flash it back to stock before i brought it in and hed take care of it not to worry about it. So yeah im going to say its on the dealer.

Guess I need to find a tune friendly dealer in CO.
 

kpg81

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If something happens, give whoever handles the truck $500 in cash after explaining the truth. They'll take care of you, I promise.
 

Sitdown

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Maintaining a good relationship with your writer is the best play. The tech is a bonus too, but writer can really make and break it for you.

In the end, if a regional person is present that day at the dealer, and even with the above in good standing, if they're attempting to warranty a motor, or more major part, the regional person, may look into it deeper. Always the chance things align against you, but more unlikely with my experience over all these years and tuned/modded cars

Obviously if you are going into a dealer for service relating to powertrain/drivetrain, or any other random complaint beyond fluids, you should be going back to stock prior to visit. I don't remove for basic visits, but it can't hurt. Yes even with tune removed, if they wanted to find evidence of tune, they can, but again way more unlikely they go this route if you have done your due diligence.
 
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