Very well said even if I didn't say so myself. Another well thought out law courtesy of the Peoples Republic of California.....

 

I know this may cause some controversy but here it is anyway. To me the bottom line is if you put in a tuner or other engine mod you should be ready, willing and able to shoulder some of the cost/responsability for any early failure of a related part. Does this mean that if a tuner is in you should have to pay for a wheel bearing failure? I don't think so. But I think it does mean that if you put in a tuner and blow a turbo or a tranny you should be willing to shoulder at least some of the cost. Just like if you put in a lift kit and oversized tires and throw a driveshaft or burn a carrier bearing or trash a steering box you should accept some of the liability. It's true, (right now) they can't say for sure your mod did it, but can you for sure say it didn't, or at least contribute to the failure? That being said, if I had a failure I would not run to the dealer and say "don't worry about it I will pay for it all" but I would negotiate a fair portion of the repair cost. The reason I say that is I have been in this position and done exactly that.

 

Some have responded....

and some listened....

and some ignored

 

POWERSTROKE KING: Most aftermarket parts are CARB certified to be used on engines today. Besides the cost of operating the entire collection system would have to be shouldered by the FEDS I doubt very seriously that any such plan exists. If I were ticketed I would bring down every manfacturing plant that is exceeding the air standards before I paid that ticket.

 

Thank you vic for popping in, i was getting worried, and since you have done the tests i will have to belive you, witch is a relief because i just bought a 1704 and love it.

 

Ok guys...

I'll spill the beef in the morning, I'm tired and headed to bed

I'd do it now but its gonna be a loooong post...

OK PSD 60L fx4...It's your turn. Time to deliver. What's the connected words of wisdom?
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To add my .02 - as many have said. It boils down to if you play you should be willing to pay. If the tuner causes the problem you should expect to cough up for repairs.

As for the "sticky guys" chiming in, what's the point. Nothing they say commits the company to anything, i.e. they will not offer a guarantee that the tuners will not void warranty. They say the same thing over and over, but when pushed nothing is provided in writing and will not be. No offense to them, their job is to sell the product.

that said, I run a tuner on my 6.0 and hope that it does not cause any problems. If it does, I may try and get it covered under warranty, because hey who am I kidding, if Ford will pay for it why not?

 

I've got a modified 2003 Cobra.

I understand that I may be covered under warranty, but Ford may void my warranty based on my modifications (2.8 pulley, headers, h-pipe, catback, intake, live axle, custom program).

If they do void my warranty, I have to suck it up and deal with it.
I chose to make it a 470+ rwhp car, and I can't blame Ford if they don't want to warranty an engine failure.

The subject of this thread does not negate that point.
This thread is about whether or not Ford knows you had a programmer.

As long as you set it back to stock, they will not know if was there.
They can speculate and guess, but to date they can not prove it was in there.

If you bring a truck to the dealer with a tuner installed in it, don't be surprised if they void your warranty on teh Oasis system. You may be able to fight and win, but why the hassle?

Just set it back to stock before going to the dealer.

 

Vic, thank you for your post. So far as I was told you are correct, they can't absoulutly tell (no smoking gun) that you had a tuner. The point the Field Rep was making to me was at this point, if you brought your truck in for let's say a blown turbo and you had reset it to stock they would most likely warranty it. If you brought it back again for the same thing they would start digging and maybe warranty it. If you tried a 3rd time they would look at the stacks and stacks of failure reports that they have and any PCM data and match your failure to it and deny your warranty saying you most likely modified your vehicle by the preponderance of existing evidence. A legal fight? Most likely an expensive one for sure. Again, he stated that they are in the process of making changes to track mods to the PCM.

But all of this does not change the fact that it never hurts to ask for them to fix it, the worst they can say is no, right?

 

Okay...I am going to put in my two cents and I feel that I am somewhat qualified too as I am a Regional Zone Ford Rep for a living. I have been doing this for 6 years in both sales and the service side.

Bottom line is that if you are going to modify your truck you are taking risk of things going wrong with it as the truck was not designed with those changes in mind. This DOES NOT VOID a warranty...what it means is that if this modifiication caues a subsequent failure to the vehicle as a result of the modification than it is not covered under warrnanty NOR should it be.

I myself have a PSD Excursion and have put a programmer in it, but I know the consquences if something happens as a result of this modiification.

I have to say that those of you who are modifying the trucks with programmers and boosting up 120hp and then continuing to tow heavy loads are asking for trouble. I get into it with guys all of the time about the programmers, exhaust systems, lift kits etc.

Just because you have a lift kit doesn't mean you can go mudding in 4 foot deep water, have the engine ingest water and mud and then expect Ford to pay for it.

Bottom line.....be smart about it.....know what you are getting into and take responsibility when YOU or YOUR MODIFICATION break the truck. I ALWAYS back the Ford product if the failure is a result of Ford Motor Company.

 

BigSean, what do you mean by "Scaners Detecable"? Do you mean ODB scanners can detect reprogramming activity? Or what?

 

Thank You Big Sean well put and very true. Glad to have a zone rep here on this site. Again thanks for your input.

 

Without hijacking this thread... I wonder what your impression is of all these folks having problems with droning and exhaust smell- and getting nowhere with their dealer on it.

 

Good Question!!!!!

 

skippy I doubt that BigSean could or would respond to your question as it could be construed as an official Ford position given his place in the FMC food chain. I know I wouldn't answer a blanket question regarding any ongoing Ford issues. Heck, dang, and darn...I appreciate him saying what he did.

Wish he would though.

BTW: My experience here with exhaust smell has almost always been due to cracked "Y" pipes. When dealer recognized I believe they have been resolved. But, like to much oil issues, many service dept's can't read Ford's broadcasts.

IMO, many Ford Dealer Service Dept.'s have cost Ford a ton of warranty $$$ by chasing ghost cures that could have been easily and cheaply fixed by draining a quart or two of oil.

Same could be said of inefficient investigations of RMS leaks, exhaust smell, wire chaffing, EGR valve, etc...inept service dept.'s probaly cost Ford a lot of buy backs just because of time in shop. Some here have stated that their trucks were finally running great but DSB's were filled prior to final fix and they would still pursue for new truck (which I am not against BTW).

I also apologize for perpetuating the highjacking of the thread but felt compelled to add my very winded $ 0.02 worth. Sorry.