I spoke with a mechanic who used to work at a dealer (granted- young kid) and he told me that the dealer or Ford had taken the positiion of voiding the engine warranty if you had punch exhaust for the thermocouple for EGT gauge. (if something was bad wrong and it came to push or shove)

Is this a load of crap or what? I mean that would be no different than changing the exhaust.

 

The way I understand it, yes they could void warranty for any repairs that were needed for failure of system components that failed, due to whatever modification YOU did. They would have to prove that whatever modification you did to your truck was the cause for any failure or breakage.

 

It is my understanding that if there is an unauthorized modifacation that COULD HAVE POSSIBLY caused the problem, FoMoCo is within the law and can claim the Warranty is voided. That means that a court would have make the determination. At the cost of going to court you could probably go out and buy a new truck and still be way ahead, dollar wise.

FoMoCo does have deep pockets and pleanty of attorney's with lots of billable hours left over.

 

Then ford needs to put an EGT gauge in the dash!!!

 

Simply having an EGT gauge will not void the warranty.

It may, however, make the dealer more aware that other potential warranty voiding modifications might have been done. (Tuner for example)

 

Thanks BigF. That is a hard agrument for them to win if they have no proof. If I do chose to program this truck, I will diffinatedly re-program and disconnect battery and short postive to negative should do it...and hopefully drive it for 10 minutes or so...

 

2002x

My advise from my dealer is to have them install it. Then there should be no questions. I've recently been through all of this. Good luck.
79 BRONC.

 

Glad I read this before installing a EGT and volt meter!! I will check with my dealer first and have them to the work.

Herb

05 F-250
44 GPW

 

Another way to look at it is having a set of gauges means that you're serious about the longevity of your trucks engine. Keeping your EGTs low will only help you achieve this. What your dealer is telling you is very rare. What I mean is, most dealers have no problem with gauges. The only thing that they can void is your exh. manifold. Obviously if it cracks, and you've drilled and tapped it, they wont replece it on Fords dime. But this has never happened to any of our customers and we've sold hundreds of gauge kits. Tha manifold is very soft, contrary to what most people think when they look at it.

For a dealer to void a warranty they have to prove that the part in question has caused a failure. Note i said "caused", not "could cause". If you go in for an oil change and they see a thermocouple, they can't say "Ohh, we're going to void your entire warranty for that". That's a no-go. You can always point them to the Magnusson-Moss Act if they don't understand why.

 

Well put Dieselmanor. I keep thinking about getting a tuner and changing my mind as I pick up the phone or log into the web site. Don't want any issues with warr work. I am going to add gauges jsut so I can see how my truck is really working. Things like that and sending the oil off to blackstone every 15k miles are just preventative in my mind.

 

Is there something setup in Ford's "system" to show the improvements you've made? I installed my gauges with less than 1500 miles on my NEW truck. Purely preventive maintenance. What's to say that my turbo fails with 35,000 and they say it was because of the gauge install?? I installed a trans cooler AND a power steering cooler on the Honda Odyssey (can I say that here? ) for towing the motorcycle trialer. It only had 16,000... After installing them both, I went to the dealer to have the tranny flushed and the power steering fluid changed out. When asked why so soon before the recommended time, I told them of my install. It was documented on the work order. (BTW - Honda has had their share of transmission problems). I want to BELIEVE this MAY cover me in case they were to come back and say the install was done improperly.

Long story short - Should I (WE!!!) set up an appointment to say "I hear something funny around the exhaust manifold" and specifically have them check and document what they find in and around the area I installed the probe? This way I can go back in 30,000 miles and say you checked it way back then, why would there be a problem now? (Besides the cracked manifold or something I can see where it may have been the install) If the truck hasn't messed up by now because of my guages, it's not going to...

Again, Dieselmanor wrote it correctly... I (we?) are doing this to hopefully ENHANCE the longivity (sp?) to our trucks. I have written this before - It's like a mortgage company denying your homeowners insurance becuase you've installed a couple more smoke detectors in your home.....

GO ANGELS!!

 

What are angles? Are they like those monkeys I see on the news?

Good luck Anges!

Ventura CA

 

there is a myford web page that lets you input your trucks VIN and track all the work your (or the dealer) has done to your truck. I know my dealer inputs items into the system because I can see their inputs. So far everything I have done to the truck I have put on there. It is all documents by date and millage. That is the best I can think of for long-term tracking.

 

I just had my deler install a 3 guage pod and a 4" exhaust system on my 05 for exactly those reasons. Now they can't give me grief is the bad stuff happens...

 

How much did that cost you? (Trying to weigh the extra cost verses getting it done elsewhere)