v8pilot

i just got my car back from the dealership they replaced the alternator. I have a 91 tune using the sct which the dealership was cool about. i told them not to touch the ecu. but when i got it back they said the tune was messing with the radiator Timer making it run all the time causing atlernator to go bad. but they said they didnt touch it ecu. immediatly after driving car i felt the car is stock tune, neither would it rev to my higher set fuel cut off. after 10 mins driving the check engine light went off( im thinking its the intake with stock tune throwing the code).

-----HERES THE IMPORTANT QUESTION-----... if i take my sct tuner and reprogram my 91 tune back into the car is it gonna mess up ecu.? if so what should i do to get it back to where i want it with tune like it was before i took it into dealership?

2007VistaBlueGT

Providing they didn't reflash the ecu then you should just be able to reload your tune it.

sailing220

If they reflashed the Strategy and you reload your tune, your car will be a 2 ton paperweight until you can get a new tune from your tuner with the updated strategy.

v8pilot

FML---- how can i find out what strategy they used and if it is changed so i can notify my tuner?

Smokin04

WHAT??? I have never heard of that. Plug in your SCT...go to "Show Last Tune Written"...if it's the tne you put in you're fine. Even if you try to re-flash the tune, and the PCM has been altered the SCT will just give you an error message...but you WONT hurt you PCM.

But if you're really concerned...re-install the factory tune, and then re-install the 91 oct. tune. That will negate any changes made.

v8pilot

So i put my stock intake airbox back on. the car drives just fine. like its stock. Now what?

Smokin04

You're losing me bud. Why did you put your stock airbox back on? Also, what the dealer told you is total BS. While you can "tell" the PCM to leave the fans on all the time, that has nothing to do with the alternator going bad. Your hi-speed fans kick on when you run the AC, so if what they were saying is true, you killed the alt. because you were running your AC all the time. Stupid either way. You need to figure out if they re-flashed your PCM. Plug in your hand-held...and try to re-install the tune you were previously using...if you can, then they didn't do anything to it.

attridgerm

Maybe this will help. Taken directly from Brenspeed's Tech Advice...

Now we want to go into detail on dealer updates. Dealer updates are something your Ford dealer might try to do without asking your permission. An update is when the dealer flashes your computer with a new strategy. This is often performed because the dealer wants to make sure you are running the most current Ford programs. Often Ford changes the programming for various reasons but most often it is because of a change in government standards. Earlier we explained that our custom tune is designed around your specific strategy or processor code. Because of this you do not want a new strategy flashed on your computer. If you get a dealer flash and your strategy changes not only does that mean your car will be leaving the dealership with a factory program but also our custom tunes may no longer work on the PCM. Also the factory tune saved in the SCT programmer is no longer of use because it is also the old strategy. If you try to re-load our custom tune on the car and you have the wrong strategy the car will not start. So then you try to re-load the stock tune stored in the programmer and it is for the old strategy which means the car will not start. So now what do you do?

The easiest method of getting around the dealer flash is telling them not do it. Life is not always that easy so we have come with up with a solution to solve this problem. By following these simple steps you can avoid a no start situation.

1. Your SCT programmer can be used to read the strategy of the computer. This is a great feature because you can at any time see what strategy or program the computer may be running. An example of a strategy is FBNF1G3 which also is a TJF1 processor code. Before taking your vehicle in for service you can return the vehicle to the stock program and use the SCT Programmer to read the strategy. Write this information down and save it for when the dealer is finished with the vehicle. Remember if you are running a performance part on the vehicle that requires the custom tune this part must be removed if you plan to drive the vehicle with the stock program.

2. Once the dealership is finished with the vehicle you can use the SCT Programmer again to pull the strategy. If it is not same strategy as before you entered the dealership DO NOT load your custom tune back on the vehicle. Contact Brenspeed and we will modify your current tunes for no charge so they will work with the new strategy. We will e-mail you the tunes and you can load them on the SCT Programmer and then load the tunes on the vehicle. If you are not comfortable with e-mail you can send us the programmer and we can load the tunes on it for you. We may request a copy of the dealership invoice which will state the PCM has been flashed.

If you do not follow the above steps you can put yourself into a no start situation. If you allow the dealer to flash your computer and then you try to load our tunes that are a different strategy your vehicle will not start. This can EASILY be avoided by following the above steps.

If worst case scenario happens and you do not follow the above steps and you are put into a no start situation we can still help. It gets more complicated but we can through various methods get you into a new program that will make the vehicle start and run like it did before. The good news is there is always a solution and we can help.

We will end this article hoping you will keep this in mind. Do not be afraid of the dealer and of a flash update. If you do your part everything will go smoothly. The easiest way around it is avoid the dealer flash update. Our opinion is the vehicle is yours so they should not perform maintenance that you do not request. Remember in the end we can always help you out of about any situation as we have every Ford program available but it is easier on everybody if the situation is avoided.

v8pilot

I put my stock airbox back in becasue my tune is STOCK now the JLT intake was causing the car to over rev and was running very badly since the Racing tune is not installed on the car...

i just called Evolution perfomance he said the ONLY way to fix it is if i send the SCT tuner back to SCT and have them unlock it for $150. I called ford the tech wasnt their and none of the reps knew what i was talking about. Im flying to vegas tommorow so i wont be able to deal with the issue till next week. i am gonna cause a storm if the dealership doesnt pay for their mistake.

One Bad Stang

i wouldnt expect them to pay to have your tuner unlocked even though what they did (if they did reflash you ecm) was wrong, because you told them not to. give it a try, but through my expierence with that sort of thing, you may not get too far.