I know there are a tons of posts and even more opinions on this topic. In the nature of informing the masses, I thought I would relay what I discussed with the mechanic at my dealer this week. The guy I spoke with is the Mustang mechanic (has a couple of his own) at the dealer. He was fully supportive of me doing to the car what I wanted in order to have fun with it and drive it like its meant to be driven. He's done many mods himself.

When I asked about the CAI and retune he said those guys (the service advisor and service mgr) don't like you doing it, but he doesnt get worked up about it. The interesting comments he made that were a bit different from what I've read on here were:

1) The service mechanic CAN tell if you've messed with the computer. We didnt go into specifics, but he said he had a special $3,000 palm pilot that can tell if it was retuned and set back to stock. He said he could tell the difference between that and disconnecting the battery.

2) If he finds out that the car computer has been messed with he is supposed to notify Ford no matter what, which will have obvious fed flags tied to your VIN from that point on.


In the end, he said what has been commented on here in detail. If you start going aftermarket, be prepared to deal with the possible warranty related claims being voided if it has anything close to relationship with your mod. A retune is going pretty far in terms of modding the car. He also said a lot has to do with your attitude when coming in... are you huffy and puffy, or are your calm and reasonable with whatever might be the problem.


So... I really wish I knew who and what to believe.

Can the dealer mechanics really tell if a car has be reflashed to stock and driven for 50 miles vs disconnecting the battery?

What is the list of parts/sytems on the car that 'could' be voided if the car has been tuned?

If a dealer notifies Ford, are you basically black balled from a lot of dealers for warranty claims?

 

All the years I've worked at a dealer with modded cars myself I have never really asked about it Typically a car comes in with an issue(rarely motor issues with a Mustang), problem is diagnosed, repair is scheduled, and dealer gets paid. Why the f would they care about a tune if your suspension is knocking or your cd player skipping?? The idea is to MAKE money at a dealer. I am casually back in the shop hanging out all the time when its slow, and more then half the Mustangs that come in are modded. I never see anyone going out of their way to 'void' a warranty. (in truth I have seen techs finish off a part like one from a tranny to make sure it's fully replaced rather then get a stop-gap warranty fix they know won't work).

 

What your dealer technician, didn't tell you is.. First of all ! dealerships only have the authority, in refusing to service a vehicle under a warranty claim, once and only IF, it's been proven that an aftermarket part, or computer re-flash, was directly responsible for causing failure to the related parts, under warranty..And second, my dealer tech told me..they cannot tell nor prove the computer was re-flashed, providing that after re-flashing back to stock ? you must first, disconnect the battery, then after reconnecting it ! put at least 50 miles on the vehicle, before taking it in for servicing..This erases any prior ECM info, from the computer and all that's left over ? is an incomplete ECM test cycle, from disconnecting the battery..Therefore, if in the event you're questioned by the dealership, as to why you're ECM is reading an incomplete test code ? You just simply tell them, you had to replace your dead battery ! and they won't be able to prove a single thing

 

I highly doubt your average-joe service mechanic at the dealer has a $3000 tool used only to read ECM's. Ford is bankrupt, remember? MAYBE the field engineers have that capability, but I doubt there gonna come use it unless your warranty work involves something extreme - blown engine, etc.

 

+1

 

I call on that service manager at the place in question. Heck, the service manager here knows I reflashed my car AND I have longtubes on it, and they don't care (of course its always good that I work here too, lol). Now saying that, I haven't had to bring it back for ANYTHING since I've owned it. Very reliable car.

 

Yeah they do. Rotunda NGS and VMM. Though I HIGHLY doubt they can see you've loaded a tune then reverted to stock.

 

So what do they use them for?

 

It's all F.U.D. pure and simple!

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fud

So which one is it?

 

It's obviously Female Urination Device!

 

Pretty much everything associated with the PCM (and CAN bus on the newer VMM). It's basically an OBDII scanner on steroids. You can see and adjust pretty much everything. I got the opportunity to play with an NGS+ a few years back on my wife's '97 Cobra. I was amazed what you could see and do with that thing.

 

Those things are a lot of fun, and very expensive. They're basicly what the dealer uses to read and diagnose trouble codes.

 

And occassionally engineers get to take one home for the weekend to play with it.

 

I took the obvious and easy route. I made sure to completely and totally void my warranty very early in the game, so that I would have absolutely zero temptation to let a dealership touch my car for any reason... ever.

 

Just had my gears changed at the ford dealers and when they went to change the ratio from 3.55 to the 4.10's with the tune loaded, they couldn't do it. He had to use my Xcal to take it back to stock before his system could change the ratio. once I picked the car up I loaded the 93 octane tune back on it and verified the 4.10's were in the program. I think he referred to his system as the IDS or IDX.

 

A dealer does not have a choice, for the most part, on diagnostic tools. They're called special tools or essential tools, and the dealer agreement provides that Ford can ship them to the dealer, whether they want them or not, and then bill the dealer for them. It's one more way for the manufacturers to make money.

If you go into the dealer with a problem, and the problem is caused by a mod you've done to the car, don't expect the warranty to cover the problem. If it's covered, consider yourself lucky, or having found a good dealer. The dealer may or may not flag your car, in most cases not. They get paid for warranty work, so why shoot themselves in the foot?

The whole process actually starts with the sale. Buy your car from them, at a fair profit. Don't take your car in for just warranty work and b**** about it when you do. Let them do an oil change or some other customer-pay work once in a while. Then you're building up a relationship. When you come in the door, they'll know you. And chances are very good that they'll take good care of you, since they want your business again. What goes around comes around.