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I tune everything I own. But my question is can a manufacture tell if a performance tune has been loaded onto a car even if the stock tune was reloaded before warranty work? I was told they see how many times the car is tuned as a total loss of power to the PCM? Is this correct or can they detect you've loaded a Bama, SCT, etc. performance tune onto the cars PCM? Is there any telltale code left behind to a performance tune?
Yea I was told they can tell it's been wiped clean but not if it was tuned or not. Wiped clean could be caused from a dead battery. I'm hoping the Bama or SCT boys will enter this thread with a more definative answer.
After reading through a couple responses, I remember that I had a friend to was a tech for several years at a ford dealer, I'm gonna ask him and see what he has to say
This is a hotly debated topic, and you'll find lots of answers on the web from people that seem to know everything about everything, but as someone who has been involved in going through the factory/dealer tools to see what they can see, I am comfortable saying that nothing *we* do will show up to a dealer as the car having been flashed.
GM has a pretty good system in place to detect aftermarket flashes, but we get around that as well. Outside of GM I have yet to see a true system developed specifically to detect aftermarket flashes. If it exists, they have to send bulletins to the dealers to tell them how to find the info, and that info becomes public generally minutes after the bulletins are released.
Now, I know some of the popular tools for Fords will let the tuner load in a different calibration than what the car started with...should you go to the dealer with a PCM strategy that does not match the box code, well, good luck explaining that to them
Thanks man, that's good info, of course we aren't trying to pull one over but only to have a little more fun and not worry about a fight if something like the hvac system goes out and then they refuse the warranty
This is a hotly debated topic, and you'll find lots of answers on the web from people that seem to know everything about everything, but as someone who has been involved in going through the factory/dealer tools to see what they can see, I am comfortable saying that nothing *we* do will show up to a dealer as the car having been flashed.
GM has a pretty good system in place to detect aftermarket flashes, but we get around that as well. Outside of GM I have yet to see a true system developed specifically to detect aftermarket flashes. If it exists, they have to send bulletins to the dealers to tell them how to find the info, and that info becomes public generally minutes after the bulletins are released.
Now, I know some of the popular tools for Fords will let the tuner load in a different calibration than what the car started with...should you go to the dealer with a PCM strategy that does not match the box code, well, good luck explaining that to them
Thanks
Thanks for the in depth reply. I'll tune my 2015 GT regardless of if they could see the tune or not but it is reassuring to know that you can return to stock to simply avoid a possible issue from a crooked dealer.
I always put the "stock tune back on the vehicle" if any engine work is to be done. Recently the dealer "reflashed" the tune on my 2012 Ecoboost F150 to the latest 2015 Ecoboost tune. My Edge tuner allowed me to save that newer tune, before I put the Edge Tune back on it! I've used tuners since they came out with Dodges, Chevys & now with Ford 150 & Mustang GT. I don't beat my cars to death, so it has never been mentioned. I even had a transmission bearing go out in my '08 Mustang with a Roush Supercharger on it! No problem getting it replaced. They could see the car was not abused! A good service manager will apply common sense, but a jerk will be a jerk! If I had a problem I would go to a different dealership or call the Ford Rep. for the area.
Contrary to a lot of popular opinion, the burden of proof that modification has been damaged your vehicle, etc. is on the manufacturer & at the end of the day a judge will decide if they can void the warranty, not a service manager. Of course no one wants that problem! Having said that, if you mistreat your ride or take it to the drags every weekend, they may give you trouble.... & why shouldn't they! Ford didn't agree to let my use my Mustang as a "race car" & pick up all the bills for broken parts.
I discussed the issue with my service manager before buying my 2016 GT! No problem! If your dealer is going to void your warrantee for a tuner.... find a new dealer with a decent Service Manager! My Service Manager will even install a Roush Supercharger on my Mustang & still cover the Ford new car warrantee as long as a don't drive the car like a spoiled nine year old trying to destroy it! After all a GT 500 comes with the same basic supercharger setup!
Another issue is that I'm an old guy they take for reasonable & mature! (May well be their mistake!) On the other hand if you are 23, with pink hair, tats on your neck & a ring in your nose, & say "Awesome & "This Bad Boy" a lot", a little prejudice may affect how you get treated when you get towed in with a blown engine in warranty, especially if you left the numbers for the weekend drags on your car windows! Oh well, it's also probably harder for you to get hired in a bank too!
This "Bad Boy", is my "awesome" new Ride Dude.... like for my 74th birthday! Way Kool Stang, but my wife still won't let me get any tats! Now days when the girls smile at me.... it's because I remind them of their grandfather!
06-08-2015, 05:29 PM
Can manufacture recogize a cars been tuned?
