SCT x4 easily detectable by ford? Makes me think twice about tuning so early

[phrenetiK]

It makes me hesitant to pickup a tune and intake after checking into the Focus ST world. My friend had a common problem where cylinder 1 piston lost ALL compression @ 40k miles after running a mild street tune for only a year. cylinder 1 was making 5 psi of compression after we tested it this weekend.

he is VERY scared of ford denying the warranty claim due to having a tune. apparently it is quite easy for them to detect a tune and they have an entire blown engine thread on the forum, with a majority people getting their claims denied due to being tuned, despite taking the sct x4 off putting the car back to stock before taking it in.

in my 135i and mazdaspeed3 it was very easy to just flash the cobb back to stock, or remove the piggyback tune, and there was 0% chance of your tune getting detected afterwards.

what do you guys think? are there safer tuning options to look at for our car?

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[Nazgul]

You could always wait till Ford releases their own tune. It likely won't be as aggressive but it will be covered by warranty.

 

[phrenetiK]

cool I didn't know they did that

 

[Jewishthunder]

It makes me hesitant to pickup a tune and intake after checking into the Focus ST world. My friend had a common problem where cylinder 1 piston lost ALL compression @ 40k miles after running a mild street tune for only a year. cylinder 1 was making 5 psi of compression after we tested it this weekend.

he is VERY scared of ford denying the warranty claim due to having a tune. apparently it is quite easy for them to detect a tune and they have an entire blown engine thread on the forum, with a majority people getting their claims denied due to being tuned, despite taking the sct x4 off putting the car back to stock before taking it in.

in my 135i and mazdaspeed3 it was very easy to just flash the cobb back to stock, or remove the piggyback tune, and there was 0% chance of your tune getting detected afterwards.

what do you guys think? are there safer tuning options to look at for our car?

So, your friend tuned his car past stock, and then expects things to be covered under warranty that he could have directly effected? If you're scared of warranty not covering something, don't modify your car. Regardless of what tuners say to sell more tunes, all modifications to new cars in their ECU can be tracked. Any time you flash a car, it will track the flash event. It's not manufacturer specific.

Do some research and reading, and if you're scared of your warranty not covering your motor after you put on an intake and a tune, then don't mod your car. Plain and simple. It's the risk you take.

 

[BathS550]

I dont know anything about Mazdaspeed ECU logic ... however on your 135i, it is most certainly traceable as an event, even if flashed back to stock.

Audi/Porsche go so far as to do a full memory dump on the 2011.5+ ecus every time the cars are serviced, and their diagnostic equipment live compares the ecu id's original code, amended for event updates. 2009.5-2013.5 VAG ecus are actually encrypted, and connot even be flashed through the diagnostic port without first de-encrypting the ecu, which involves removing and cutting open the ecu (including removal of tamper proof bolts)

Long and short, is that through event data, its extremely easy to see if any computer has been flashed, regardless of flashing "back to stock". That being said, Im surprised to hear about a dealership denying warranty on a commonly occurring issue ... but as the above poster mentioned, you shouldnt be modifying your vehicle if you expect to maintain a warranty.

Why should Ford be responsible for you modifying their intended parameters?

 

[Jewishthunder]

Why should Ford be responsible for you modifying their intended parameters?

Preach!!

 

[Strokerswild]

Pay to play....

 

[phrenetiK]

I dont know anything about Mazdaspeed ECU logic ... however on your 135i, it is most certainly traceable as an event, even if flashed back to stock.

Audi/Porsche go so far as to do a full memory dump on the 2011.5+ ecus every time the cars are serviced, and their diagnostic equipment live compares the ecu id's original code, amended for event updates. 2009.5-2013.5 VAG ecus are actually encrypted, and connot even be flashed through the diagnostic port without first de-encrypting the ecu, which involves removing and cutting open the ecu (including removal of tamper proof bolts)

Long and short, is that through event data, its extremely easy to see if any computer has been flashed, regardless of flashing "back to stock". That being said, Im surprised to hear about a dealership denying warranty on a commonly occurring issue ... but as the above poster mentioned, you shouldnt be modifying your vehicle if you expect to maintain a warranty.

Why should Ford be responsible for you modifying their intended parameters?

I'm not concerned about ford covering ME in particular if a faulty tune or something were to cause an engine fault and it was my error or results of my mods and trying to get it covered. more concerned with, say a widespread problem but not quite big enough to become a TSB but enough to be 5-10 people on the forum all effected by problem x.

all 10 cars have exact same problem x. car #3 is modded/tuned. all 10 cars except 3 get new motors/pistons/whatever it may be....that's the kind of thing I would want to avoid.

also on the 135i im not sure if it was because it was a 2008, but they definitely couldn't tell a cobb flash from the battery completely dying and the car losing power overnight. which isn't enough grounds to deny a claim

 

[Nazgul]

I dont know anything about Mazdaspeed ECU logic ... however on your 135i, it is most certainly traceable as an event, even if flashed back to stock.

Audi/Porsche go so far as to do a full memory dump on the 2011.5+ ecus every time the cars are serviced, and their diagnostic equipment live compares the ecu id's original code, amended for event updates. 2009.5-2013.5 VAG ecus are actually encrypted, and connot even be flashed through the diagnostic port without first de-encrypting the ecu, which involves removing and cutting open the ecu (including removal of tamper proof bolts)

Long and short, is that through event data, its extremely easy to see if any computer has been flashed, regardless of flashing "back to stock". That being said, Im surprised to hear about a dealership denying warranty on a commonly occurring issue ... but as the above poster mentioned, you shouldnt be modifying your vehicle if you expect to maintain a warranty.

Why should Ford be responsible for you modifying their intended parameters?

Depending on ecu tune this may or may not be true. If his 135 used a jb tune those are piggyback tunes. If you uninstall the harness before going in they may be none the wiser. I am not a tuning guru so I am not 100% positive. However, that being said, our cars use a flash so it will be detectable. Apples and oranges in this case.

 

[phrenetiK]

Depending on ecu tune this may or may not be true. If his 135 used a jb tune those are piggyback tunes. If you uninstall the harness before going in they may be none the wiser. I am not a tuning guru so I am not 100% positive. However, that being said, our cars use a flash so it will be detectable. Apples and oranges in this case.

yup that was the case with the jb4, but it was said the cobb couldn't be distinguished from the car battery dying fully

 

[BathS550]

Depending on ecu tune this may or may not be true. If his 135 used a jb tune those are piggyback tunes. If you uninstall the harness before going in they may be none the wiser. I am not a tuning guru so I am not 100% positive. However, that being said, our cars use a flash so it will be detectable. Apples and oranges in this case.

Yes, sorry I overlooked a piggyback option, you are quite correct.

 

[Nazgul]

Yes, sorry I overlooked a piggyback option, you are quite correct.

And I just saw he had Cobb so it's a flash tune anyways. Piggybacks we're a mute point in this discussion.

 

[foghat]

And I just saw he had Cobb so it's a flash tune anyways. Piggybacks we're a mute point in this discussion.

Moot point.

 

[UPRSteve]

They do not see that their was a tune in the car. They look at the numbers and data. Example, all your readings are close to 0 like a new car but it shows 4000000000 key cycles... they will know someone was in their.So they check it out and see that something was thus saying "you are tuned" because it didnt match their updates or software.

Theirs also the Magnuson & Moss Act which states that they have to prove that part caused the issue. Example... You go in for a something with the rear end and they its caused by the catback you put on it....

If your worried about your warranty... Don't touch it. These are not imports or their computer systems are anything like others. The only thing that is the same is that they can read the data.

 

[RustedAngel]

You could always wait till Ford releases their own tune. It likely won't be as aggressive but it will be covered by warranty.

That won't matter - Ford Rep on this very forum stated that it doesn't matter if it was released through Ford, it's considered an aftermarket part and as such, if it causes a failure, the failure is the responsibility of the owner to cover damaged caused by their addition of Aftermarket parts.

The only upside is that Ford tunes are going to be very slight and as such, much less likely to cause a failure.

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