paulbrl

The absolute worst that I can see could happen is something bad happens during the flashing process and "bricks" the ECM i.e. the car won't run and the ECM can't be put back to stock. Depending on what state the ECM was in during the reflash it would be interesting (or not!) to see what the dealer would do regarding warranty.

This is very, very unlikely to happen and in all my research I've not heard of any incidents. Anyone heard of this?

All in all you're taking very little risk for a more responsive engine, perhaps better mileage and as yours is an auto, a better and more responsive transmission. Be intelligent and you can have your fun and outwit the dealer if you needed to take it in for warranty claim.

Enjoy!

paulmorgan

tbh approach this like anything in life - if you can afford the tune and also have reserve for other expenses that might occur (e.g. you always keep some money aside for repairs and such) and the car is in good working order you should be ok.

that being said let me play back my story: Had an Audi TT with 68k miles and was well looked after - I remapped the ECU using a tuner from the definitive audi after market source and the engine died 4 months later in the worst way possible. $9,000 later I had the car back. I didn't have that much cash lying around but i had always budgeted for these types of "worst case" situations - albeit took me 3 yrs to pay back

I also remapped a Ford Focus ST170 without any issue.

It's just the dice you're given. If you can't afford something, don't kill yourself financially to own it. It's not worth it. However you can't play the totally safe game and not chance your arm. Personally I'm getting the CAI+Tune from Brenspeed - I think the # of ppl on this forum who have a tuner of sorts says how reliable they are.

7up

See:

• Ever bricked your ECU? •

The data was summarized in • Post #24 • of the thread.

Driver72

What about the "teach the kids to respect the wishes of their parents, that are probably paying for the car."

That getting old or is that out of style now too?

Driver72

Hate to say it, but you're dreaming and clearly have never dealt with modding a car and warranty work.
The dealer can do whatever the heck they want.
They do NOT have to prove the mod "caused" the issue.
If they void your warranty, it is YOU who have to prove it did not.
And good luck with that.
If a trained, experienced, certified technician has found tampering, or evidence of a modification on the car, that directly affects the way the car was engineered to run, he can notify the manufacturer and VOID YOUR WARRANTY.
Again, good luck with approaching them with the Magnusson-Moss act.
What are you going to do, hire a lawyer and spend thousands of dollars to prove they wrongfully voided your warranty, when you in fact did mod the car? Again, good luck with that if they have proof.

On a side note those of you who are unaware should know:
technicians are paid more for NON-warranty claims than they are warranty claims. That is pretty standard at most dealers.
So it is beneficial to them to know and "find" your warranty voiding modifications.

Now I don't mean to be Debbie Downer here, but I've modded dozens of cars and have dealt with many, many dealers and technicians.
Some are "cooler" than others and don't care, and quite frankly don't take the time to "look" for mods, since 98% of owners and cars that come into dealers are not modded.
However, you show up with some performance mods on the car, and they may start to look around a bit.

Again, if the OP's dad is paying for the car, and it's HIS car, then what the heck is wrong with people respecting his wishes on HIS car?
It's one thing to ask once or twice, it's a complete different story to push the issue. Just be happy to have what you have. He could of bought you a 1995 Nissan Sentra to drive around.

If the OP is paying for the car in full, and his dad's name in not on the title or as a co-signer, they do whatever the hell you want to do.
But the fact he needs to "convince" his dad it's safe, doesn't take a genius to figure out, he has to do so because it's probably his dad's car (or partly his dad's car).

Being selfish and wanting everything YOU want, isn't always the best way to go about things. But I realize, that's all the rage these days, and for the "me, me, me" crowd, that never gets old I guess.
**Edit, see post below as OP's dad apparently gave him the "go ahead" now.***
Cheers

Driver72

Well there you go.
All issues solved.

Now go tune and have fun.
BTW, a tune on a NA car is not like a FI car where it's going to boost power 25% or more, so you have little to worry about as far as that goes.
And worst case scenario, the 4.6 engine and it's parts aren't super expensive, so again, if it's your money, rest easy, have fun.

Driver72

Good advice.
My tunes on my 335i's added 70-80 hp and were easy plug and play piggybacks that don't "flash" the ECU so the ECU never knows it was there (sure inspecting the ECU box for wear and tear of it's removal can still be "seen" but that still doesn't register a tune/flash in the ECU).
I personally don't know if I'd "tune" a NA engine that gets what 10-20 hp from a tune, for that risk.
I'm not too familiar with the Mustang tunes, even though "flash" tunes are to some better way to go, if there is a tune for the Mustang that's a piggyback and plug and play and does not remap the ECU via a flash, it way be the better, safer way to go if you are overly concerned about warranty work and them "finding" the tune.

cheers

cidsamuth

Nowadays, though, many dealers offer there own performance modifications, e.g. exhausts, intakes, etc.

The parts department in a dealer I recently visited looked like a performance shop -- I was like a kid in a toy store.

It all comes down to how "progressive" the dealer is.

Rollin Thunder

This isnt the proper place to talk about that. All he asked was for some help on the tuner. He didnt ask for a moral lesson. god people are old farts these days.

gipht1

Dude they can tell a whole lot of crap that messing with the pcm did or can do! Someone will have to prove that the tune caused the problem however. If you get tune from a reputable tuner you shouldn't have a problem! the only problem i see with the tuner is that it compares to weed! it is the gateway drug to more mods and once you pop that tune in and see how much better the response is, you WILL want to mod more. Your lucky to have a GT at an early age, I'm hoping to upgrade in the future. if anything enjoy it as is, it's a bad *** ride as is...