04 F350 King Ranch. Dead engine. Ford won't warranty because I had a chip although the motor was not taken apart othe than pulling the heads. You can defend Ford all you want. They were not willing to tear the motor apart to find out what was wrong. My bill will be a little over $13,000.

 

Oooooh, this ought to make for a spirited discussion! My vote: how can Ford possibly be expected to honor an engine warranty when you change the whole operating characteristics of their engine with an aftermarket chip?

 

Don't disagree in theory but, how can Ford deny a claim without knowing what actually failed. They only took the heads off and looked no further. Even the service manager was embarassed by this. Ford however had already made up their mind.

 

got any pics?

id love to see the carnage....

sorry for your loss too, that blows.

as a ford stock holder, i am concerned how they spend MY money, and not covering this is what i would do in the same situation, business is business.

how bout this, you pay the teardown, if it turns out to be a manufacturing defect, get for to pay the charges, and the new motor!


if my wife sees this thread, there is no way in HAIL i will be able to get a predator!

 

Don't let the dealer tell you that they had no role in denying coverage. It is thier choice to deny coverage because you have aftermarket equipment. Ford doesn't even get involved in warranty decisions unless they are called by the dealer. If the dealer even called Ford it is the dealer who told them about the aftermarket equipment. Its an old dealer trick to blame Ford because that keeps the heat off them.

 

Ford is cracking down on aftermarket mods and on major claims doing their homework before they accept liability. The bottom line is you altered your engine. I feel sorry for you, but I certianly understand Ford's position. They can't be expected to warranty modified engines. Here's an excerpt from the 2004 warranty:

Damage Caused by Alteration or Modification
The New Vehicle Limited Warranty does not cover any damage caused by:
• alterations or modifications of the vehicle, including the body, chassis, or
components, after the vehicle leaves the control of Ford Motor Company
• tampering with the vehicle, tampering with the emissions systems or with
the other parts that affect these systems (for example, but not limited to
exhaust and intake systems)
• the installation or use of a non-Ford Motor Company part (other than a
certified emissions part) or any part (Ford or non-Ford) designed for
off-road use only installed after the vehicle leaves the control of Ford
Motor Company, if the non-Ford part fails or causes a Ford part to fail.
Examples include, but are not limited to lift kits, oversized tires, roll bars,
cellular phones, alarm systems, automatic starting systems and
performance-enhancing powertrain components

It's very easy to point to anything increasing the power output and blame it for any engine failfure. What's diffacult is proving that it did not cause any damage.

 

6.0 parts for sale.

 

I know you are just joking about for sale stuff...not authorized in FTE...............that notwithstanding, what dealership is this.

 

That is not entirely true...chances are, the dealer did report it. But more and more often (at least at the dealer i work for) ford has been sending service reps to personally investigate "suspicious claims or vehicles." I have no clue what alerts them, but ford themselves CAN and sometimes WILL come out and find out for themselves. It is not always the dealer making the claims. FYI -(and what follows is not certain, just our suspicion) The new service scanners, after scanning the vehicle, interface with a diagnosis mainframe that holds further data. These mainframes are now linked to the web, and ford has control of them. Even though ford tells us it is only to update the software, it is very, very likely that ford can now read codes, ect. remotely via these machines. My guess would say that these are closely monitored, escpecially with the diesels. Just something to warn everyone - make sure whatever power enhancement you use ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT LEAVE CODES. Just a little advice, IMO.

 

“ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT LEAVE CODES”
You are going to be asked how does one know for sure.

 

What "chip" did you have in it? Did that chip actually make changes in the ECU or was it like the Predator or the Banks that alters the stock ECU signals. How did they know you had chipped it? Was it still installed when you took the truck in?

 

What other mods did you have besides the above questioned?

 

The Dealer is Magic City Ford in Roanoke, VA. They sell Superchips. I had a 2003 with the Western Diesel module in it and took it in regularly for service. Service rep. even said then warranty problems were highly unlikely. When I got my 04, I installed after breakin and only used on tow. I never tried to hide it. During my meeting with the service manager today, he went on about how much diesel work they do in this area and how Ford was coming down hard on them because of the amount of warranty work. He obviously wasn't thinking, that was a clear motive for making my life harder. I called Ford customer service today and they said it was up to the dealer, the dealer said it was up to Ford. As for anything in writing, both say get it from the other. Its never ending bull. When I asked the Nat'l. Cust. Rep. about the area manager, he said I would have to go through the dealer. The dealer is not however required to give me their name. To make matters worse, my second vehicle is a BMW MRoadster. After leaving the dealership, comments were made about me such "he has the money to pay it" . The employee was telling a good friend of his mother about work and mentioned my car. She happens to work for me. How ironic.

 

Only other mod was stainless exhaust.

 

What did they find when they pulled the heads???