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Mods (hp+)that won’t void warranty?

JimC

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Any modification that can be a cause of the failure will void that part of the warranty. If you change the tuning and your radio quits, then you can get the radio covered. If you swap the radio with an aftermarket one and the engine blows up, your engine is covered - but your radio is not.

It's really simple. Ford warranties the car that Ford built. Once you modify the car it is no longer the car that Ford built. If your modification can be A cause of the failure, then Ford can deny warranty coverage.

Before someone comes in and says, "but Magnusson Moss Warranty act says Ford has to prove the modification was the cause". True, but what that really means is that Ford sends out one of their engineers to look over the car. The engineer finds the marks to show the modification and determines "but for" that modification the part would not have failed. That is the end of the "proof" by Ford. It is then up to you to start the lawsuit, find your own experts to test and determine that the failure was not caused by your modification, and survive the motion to dismiss your suit. And of course you need to pay legal counsel for this as well. Ford doesn't have to go to court to "prove" their determination unless you start the law suit; and once there they have a lot more resources and have done a lot more study of the car than you and your experts.
 

AngelDeath

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Any modification that can be a cause of the failure will void that part of the warranty. If you change the tuning and your radio quits, then you can get the radio covered. If you swap the radio with an aftermarket one and the engine blows up, your engine is covered - but your radio is not.

It's really simple. Ford warranties the car that Ford built. Once you modify the car it is no longer the car that Ford built. If your modification can be A cause of the failure, then Ford can deny warranty coverage.

Before someone comes in and says, "but Magnusson Moss Warranty act says Ford has to prove the modification was the cause". True, but what that really means is that Ford sends out one of their engineers to look over the car. The engineer finds the marks to show the modification and determines "but for" that modification the part would not have failed. That is the end of the "proof" by Ford. It is then up to you to start the lawsuit, find your own experts to test and determine that the failure was not caused by your modification, and survive the motion to dismiss your suit. And of course you need to pay legal counsel for this as well. Ford doesn't have to go to court to "prove" their determination unless you start the law suit; and once there they have a lot more resources and have done a lot more study of the car than you and your experts.
This is one of the reasons I am hesitant to make the minor mods of the pulley, tune and intake to bump it to 800, even though we all agree the 40hp isnt that much of a increase and the intake isnt an issue, but the tune and pulley can be, during the 3/36, and probably with the ESP as well. And what Jim said is right if the mod didnt cause it or not related to it then it would be fine, but thats the conundrum if Ford is going to blame the mod or not.
 

NGOT8R

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A drop in air filter or a no tune required CAI kit (which comes with a new MAF sensor), would be the only thing reversible, should you ever needed to take the car in for warranty work.
 

JeremyPro5.0

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Someone in central CT has a silver one with an exhaust, not sure if CAT back or full, but man that thing is loud under load!
Pulled my stocker by a little, not a big, at least not when we played, performance bump but man it sure wakes up the sound. It may also get too much attention from police and no way it would pass a track check with noise restrictions.
 

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kilobravo

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As much as I LOVE the sound of a LOUD ICE and, while I think the OEM sound could be improved with an aftermarket exhaust, I personally believe she's loud enough, now. Even with the garage door open, starting the car rattles the damn house!
 

Tomster

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And California friendly
That last caveat is the kicker.....

I would suffest a CAI, but I'm afraid that may not be CA compliant. I'm not 100% sure, but there isn't much you can do to gain significant HP and still be CA compliant.
 

Peter733

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Someone in central CT has a silver one with an exhaust, not sure if CAT back or full, but man that thing is loud under load!
Pulled my stocker by a little, not a big, at least not when we played, performance bump but man it sure wakes up the sound. It may also get too much attention from police and no way it would pass a track check with noise restrictions.
It's catless
 

1crazymach

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I have a JLT cold air intake in California bolt on both off 10 minutes if you ever got to go into the dealer. I'm trying to find out if I can use a VMP throttle body 105 mm and actually get some good gains I'm reading 15 horsepower but for a thousand bucks that ain't worth it.
 

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A exhaust system would also add a bit of power, but it may be a good idea to keep the entire factory system in place in case you have to take the car in for some warranty work. It’ll be a small inconvenience to reverse, but not difficult to do at all. Those are literally, the only two things I can think of, aside from having the dealer install a 4:09 gear set in the car. Lastly, you could focus on suspension/sticky tires and being able to apply all of the power that you’re making to the ground. The gears will feel like a bump in hp and you should retain warranty if the dealer installs them.
 

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V00D00

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I can tell you for a FACT the Borla kit is better than OEM, as far as sound, and NOT as loud.. loud, yes, as loud? no. not to me anyway.

0, ZERO regrets on doing it, and this is coming from someone that tried to make their own valved flowmaster kit ( yes, the below 4000 flowmaster sound was an eargasm- but the valves did nothing)
 

biminiLX

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A exhaust system would also add a bit of power, but it may be a good idea to keep the entire factory system in place in case you have to take the car in for some warranty work. It’ll be a small inconvenience to reverse, but not difficult to do at all. Those are literally, the only two things I can think of, aside from having the dealer install a 4:09 gear set in the car. Lastly, you could focus on suspension/sticky tires and being able to apply all of the power that you’re making to the ground. The gears will feel like a bump in hp and you should retain warranty if the dealer installs them.
Interesting idea on the 4.09 gear set, as the heavy car and the high power band both lend themselves to a gear swap.
However, the DCT has a very short 4.17 (?) first gear and that change in FDR will effect the DCT and powertrain tuning.
Definitely not like previous Mustangs.
-J
 

Enzo

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The warranty is questionable.. There is the magnuson moss warranty act where the dealer has to prove that your modification is what caused the failure. I've had my transmission replaced 3 times and I have multiple modifications done to it. Not one single time did they deny me warranty, they tried. If you are knowledgeable in mechanics and can have the conversation with mechanics they won't deny it. Originally they tried to blame the MGW shifter for all my gears getting block out and told me they can't cover the replacement because of my MGW. I asked the tech if he knows how the shifter mechanism works and how the MGW shifter in any case protects the shift forks from being over extended. He said knows how a shifter mechanism works, and I told him "good, then you don't need me to educate you again on it and you know very well that is not the cause of the problem." If you don't know anything about it, unfortunately they will play you like a fiddle.
 

Go Time

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I can tell you for a FACT the Borla kit is better than OEM, as far as sound, and NOT as loud.. loud, yes, as loud? no. not to me anyway.

0, ZERO regrets on doing it, and this is coming from someone that tried to make their own valved flowmaster kit ( yes, the below 4000 flowmaster sound was an eargasm- but the valves did nothing)
So the Borla exhaust is quieter than stock?
 

likeaboss

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The warranty is questionable.. There is the magnuson moss warranty act where the dealer has to prove that your modification is what caused the failure. I've had my transmission replaced 3 times and I have multiple modifications done to it. Not one single time did they deny me warranty, they tried. If you are knowledgeable in mechanics and can have the conversation with mechanics they won't deny it. Originally they tried to blame the MGW shifter for all my gears getting block out and told me they can't cover the replacement because of my MGW. I asked the tech if he knows how the shifter mechanism works and how the MGW shifter in any case protects the shift forks from being over extended. He said knows how a shifter mechanism works, and I told him "good, then you don't need me to educate you again on it and you know very well that is not the cause of the problem." If you don't know anything about it, unfortunately they will play you like a fiddle.
In reality Ford will always try to make the owner prove the modification didn't cause the failure even when they know better that it didn't. The dealer depending on their relationship with Ford might have more preapproval leeway on repairs or concerned about audit because of pushing questionable things through. There are a lot of factors involved if something will ultimately be covered under warranty and the level of effort required by the owner to make sure it is.
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