MPT Tune Officially out

[ctandc72]

I've been told that they can tell there has been modifications to the ECU so returning to stock doesn't make the fact that you had a tune disappear.

No concern leaving 93 in it.

No they cannot tell if you'd have a tune. They can only read how many key cycles (times the car has been started) - and this would be a low number since you flashed it back to stock.

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[ctandc72]

Sure the manufacturer has to prove the modification caused it, but in the meantime you have to accept that you may be stuck with the bill for the parts/work if it is denied as a warranty claim.

And I know plenty of people try running 93 in our cars without a tune so I'm sure it isn't that big of a deal, but when you're flashing back to stock for a dealership visit is there any concern with what fuel you leave in the tank?

Won't take many visits to just about ANY make / model car forum (even here) to see posts about people with BONE STOCK cars having issue and dealerships giving them a hard time about an engine failure or other things. A lot like insurance it depends on the dealer.

If you maintain your car properly - (oil changes / maintenance schedule etc) a dealership is going to have a hard time denying you a warranty claim based on an accusation they simply cannot back up / prove (that you had a tune on your ECM).

A tune in a new Mustang is IDENTICAL to advancing the timing advance / curve and adjusting the carburetor on old cars that had factory warranties.

Your car, your money.

But let's not spread untrue statements.....the dealer CANNOT see that you had a tune installed. They can see the ECU has been 'flashed' so many key cycles ago - but they can't say WHAT it was flashed with - another dealer could have reset it, updated it etc.

Most warranty claims that would even involve the dealership digging this deep would more than likely involve a major MECHANICAL failure in the engine. Do they happen? Yes. Are they rare? Yes.

That's what the FEDERAL law I mentioned was created for - so that an auto manufacturer couldn't deny your warranty coverage on your windshield wipers not working - on the fact you had installed aftermarket wiper blades....as a very simply example.

And running 93 octane isn't even a factor - whatsoever. At all. Higher octane will never hurt a vehicle designed to run on a lower octane.

 

[Bbrillon998]

Finally joining the tuned MPT 3.7 group of users. Black friday deal to good to pass up.

 

[Nagare]

I'm not spreading any untrue statements, I'm asking questions.

And it all depends on how things work. Even in your windshield wiper example they could find that the replacement blades are heavier and cause more friction against the windshield which puts undue stress on the tiny motor that powers them and burned it out. I'm just asking questions for peace of mind before I make a decision.

And for mechanical failures, I don't know how everything ties in together is the point of me questioning. On a previous car I received from my mom (Lincoln Aviator) the timing belt went out and it was going to be something like $8000 all said and done to replace the engine so I moved on to a new car. In the case of something like that, would that be possible to tie to a tune? It didn't happen until 110-120k miles, but it did happen to me!

 

[Fuse]

If you want piece of mind don't get a tune until your warranty is gone. It is true that the dealer has to prove it, looked it up, but at that point they can refuse you service and then you'd go to court or work something out with them. If you tune you take a risk at voiding your warranty. It still depends on the dealer if they will work on your car or not. You have rights but at the same time dealers also have rights.

This video has some good insight if you consider getting tuned.

 

[Nagare]

It's basically the regular ol "varies by person you get" which is how it always is. For a lot of things, it depends on your relationship with the service adviser and unfortunately the good one I had at my dealership left for personal reasons. He was a Mustang enthusiast that I'm sure would have worked with me, the other guys? Not so much. A lot comes down to how they're willing to phrase it for the system report to Ford.

Looking at other threads/forums it seems like engine failure is a very rare occurrence for our cars - the only things I could find were related to low oil levels and throttle body failure, the latter of which was fixed by a FSB and doesn't affect 2017s.

 

[ctandc72]

I'm not spreading any untrue statements, I'm asking questions.

And it all depends on how things work. Even in your windshield wiper example they could find that the replacement blades are heavier and cause more friction against the windshield which puts undue stress on the tiny motor that powers them and burned it out. I'm just asking questions for peace of mind before I make a decision.

The example I used (windshield wipers) was to show you that the dealer has to abide by Federal law and cannot void your warranty just because of aftermarket parts.

And for mechanical failures, I don't know how everything ties in together is the point of me questioning. On a previous car I received from my mom (Lincoln Aviator) the timing belt went out and it was going to be something like $8000 all said and done to replace the engine so I moved on to a new car. In the case of something like that, would that be possible to tie to a tune? It didn't happen until 110-120k miles, but it did happen to me!

The example you used isn't really a good one. A timing belt (if that's what failed) is a MAINTENANCE item. In other words, no warranty is going to cover you if there is damage to your car because you, the owner, didn't keep up with maintenance. A timing belt failing (that was past the scheduled maintenance) is no different than someone never changing their oil and having their engine fail. Odds are - it's not going to be covered under warranty.

In all honesty, if you are that worried about getting your car tuned while covered by factory warranty - it's likely not worth it in your case.

Dealerships get reimbursed by the manufacturer when they repair items under warranty. They have to prove they at least tried to diagnose the issue before they started replacing parts.

While I don't know exactly what changes are made by the MPT Tunes on our V6 Mustangs - I do know that the majority of tunes change drive by wire settings and spark / timing advance.

Put it this way - when a manufacturer builds / designs a car they have to cater to the Lowest Common Denominator. Some people barely change their oil, much less check it on a regular basis. They don't pay attention to what grade / octane of gas they use - just whatever is available and likely the cheapest.

OEM tunes are very conservative from the manufacturer. A simple example on the 3.7 Mustang is fuel octane. If FORD required 93 Octane for the 3.7 Mustang, the car could be tuned for that fuel at the factory and odds are would come with quite a bit more power. But FORD figures that most people who buy a 3.7 Mustang (instead of a GT) are not buying the car with performance in mind.

The other changes are the 'slop' built into the drive by wire settings from the factory. Not too many years ago, cars had a direct / cable connection from the accelerator pedal to the throttle body. If you pushed the pedal to the floor, the throttle body gave you wide open throttle.

Drive by wire technology took this direct connection away. There is a sensor on the accelerator pedal that tells the ECU how much throttle you are giving the car. The ECU then checks other conditions / formulas and ends up telling the throttle body to give you a certain amount of ACTUAL throttle opening at the throttle body.

Again, think Lowest Common denominator.

The other changes are advancing timing when it comes to the tune. That's why you have a 91/93 octane tune for example. A tuner can assume that you are going to use 91/93 Octane and they can advance the timing on the car for more power - because the higher the octane the more timing can be added without worrying about detonation / spark knock.

In the end, it's your car, your money and your piece of mind.

 

[ctandc72]

It's basically the regular ol "varies by person you get" which is how it always is. For a lot of things, it depends on your relationship with the service adviser and unfortunately the good one I had at my dealership left for personal reasons. He was a Mustang enthusiast that I'm sure would have worked with me, the other guys? Not so much. A lot comes down to how they're willing to phrase it for the system report to Ford.

Looking at other threads/forums it seems like engine failure is a very rare occurrence for our cars - the only things I could find were related to low oil levels and throttle body failure, the latter of which was fixed by a FSB and doesn't affect 2017s.

Of course we're talking about a tune...but I see the suspension modifications you've made in your signature. You understand that the odds of Ford covering a suspension component failure in your car are pretty steep right? Simply because you're replaced OEM parts with aftermarket parts.

Perfect example - FORD is not going to cover blown out stock struts / shocks when the owner installed lowering springs. I've seen this with other manufacturers and I've seen the variance at dealers. I personally know a guy who had installed aftermarket springs, struts, shocks and sway bars. He was having a vibration issue at speed - NOT caused by his modifications. It was a driveshaft issue. We swapped a driveshaft from another car (same model / same driveshaft) and the vibration went away.

He told the service manager this.

Two days later the dealership called and said they'd fixed his issue. It wasn't the driveshaft, it was 'suspension related'. They had replaced his aftermarket parts with OEM factory parts...and the best part? The vibration was still there.

 

[USMC V6]

I don't know if this will help but before updating the SCT X4 to the computer the car needs to be returned back to stock, then you can update your SCT X4.

 

[Nagare]

The suspension I understand and have no problem with because those are things I would be comfortable replacing (and still have the stock parts) and also have warranties by their manufacturer if something were to fail for "no reason". With a tune it's not that way.

I'll see if I can talk with service advisers at my local dealerships, see their stance on it, and go from there - appreciate all your info.

 

[TURTL3]

The suspension I understand and have no problem with because those are things I would be comfortable replacing (and still have the stock parts) and also have warranties by their manufacturer if something were to fail for "no reason". With a tune it's not that way.

I'll see if I can talk with service advisers at my local dealerships, see their stance on it, and go from there - appreciate all your info.

#1 rule of modding: You pay to play.

If you're worried about your warranty, don't do it. If you're willing to roll the dice and pay out of pocket if anything pops up, go for it. I tell you what, if these tunes were trash and destroying people's cars, this thread would be full of people complaining. At the moment, nearly every single person with this tune loves it and some have put some serious miles on with it.

Anyway, I just came here to post because I'm waiting for my tunes and it's killing me! Can't wait. The SCT can tune has been fun though.

 

[Nagare]

It took you over a year of commenting on the thread before you pulled the trigger so you know what I'm going through probably! And yes, seeing people like Zack with over 100k on their cars having no issues does ease it a bit.

 

[ChiTownStang26]

Only thing that broke on me after my MPT tune was my clutch went (cracked my friction plate), can't blame MPT for that only my aggressive shifting on that POS stock clutch made in turkey.

Not a single regret with the MPT tune, just watch for knock as you can get a bad tank of gas from time to time. I have my SCTX4 in a cell phone holder on my dash, set gauges on it to show knock sensor, and am able to watch knock at anytime and able to get off the pedal quick if it starts going positive. Little piece of mind if your worried about damaging your engine. Just thought I'd throw that out there

 

[V6junkie]

Noob question what number (good bad etc) should I be watching for on my sct x4 in regards to knock

 

[ctandc72]

Only thing that broke on me after my MPT tune was my clutch went (cracked my friction plate), can't blame MPT for that only my aggressive shifting on that POS stock clutch made in turkey.

Not a single regret with the MPT tune, just watch for knock as you can get a bad tank of gas from time to time. I have my SCTX4 in a cell phone holder on my dash, set gauges on it to show knock sensor, and am able to watch knock at anytime and able to get off the pedal quick if it starts going positive. Little piece of mind if your worried about damaging your engine. Just thought I'd throw that out there

The knock sensor still works. Any "Real" knock and the ECU would pull timing just like Factory programming.

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