Thoughts on custom tunes

[Zinc03svt]

Having a good connection that has/will take care of you is important. Had 2k worth of warranty work done (cam phasers) on my 18 @ 6600 miles. It was tuned @ 77 miles after picking car up. I purposely bought the gen3 coyote to put a E85 tune on it from the get-go.

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[EFI]

I have found the absolute opposite to be true. A good dealer will do everything they can to take care of a good customer. Obviously, it there is an unusual catastrophic failure, Ford may ask the dealer to do some investigation and that could result in a repair not being covered. When discussing mods with the service manager at my dealership, he said "I don't pay my techs to find reasons not to do warranty work or to piss off customers."

The dealership will do that because they get paid for the work, so of course they won't deny any warranty work since that would be missing out on reimbursement dollars. But Ford not so much, they are looking for any reason to deny warranty work and save some money, so they will scrutinize ANY warranty reimbursements that come in, which is beyond the dealership. While I agree that having a good relationship with a dealer will go a long way in getting stuff done, ultimately it's not their call and Ford knows to be on the lookout for certain stuff.

 

[Stephen@lethal]

I have found the absolute opposite to be true. A good dealer will do everything they can to take care of a good customer. Obviously, it there is an unusual catastrophic failure, Ford may ask the dealer to do some investigation and that could result in a repair not being covered. When discussing mods with the service manager at my dealership, he said "I don't pay my techs to find reasons not to do warranty work or to piss off customers."

You must have a great dealership then because the past 3 dealers I've went to for warranty work even having the most basic mods on it, ford wanted to try and link them and deny the work.

 

[Stephen@lethal]

The dealership will do that because they get paid for the work, so of course they won't deny any warranty work since that would be missing out on reimbursement dollars. But Ford not so much, they are looking for any reason to deny warranty work and save some money, so they will scrutinize ANY warranty reimbursements that come in, which is beyond the dealership. While I agree that having a good relationship with a dealer will go a long way in getting stuff done, ultimately it's not their call and Ford knows to be on the lookout for certain stuff.

Yep, well said!

 

[brucelinc]

As I said, if it unusual or catastrophic, of course Ford will scrutinize it. Also, as has been pointed out, tunes from reputable tuners very rarely result in unusual or catastrophic failure. There is much more likelihood of a non-powertrain related issue, anyway. HVAC, power windows, NAV, instument cluster, camera, various sensors, body issues, etc. are all covered outside the powertrain warranty for 3 years or 36,000 miles. Also, known issues are rarely scrutinized.

The only powertrain issue I have had in the past 10 years was a vibrating driveshaft....which was replaced under warranty. Car had a resonator delete, BMR cradle lockout kit and a tune. All the service writer said was, "damn, your Mustang sounds good with that H pipe!"

 

[CrashOverride]

guys do you know if any of reputable tuner leaves tune unlocked? leaving the possibility for customer do the changes?

You probably can get an unlocked tune from someone on the HP Tuners forums or SCT forums. Not sure how much they would charge, but if you wanted to be able to tweak it yourself, it would be the way to go. Of course, they won't be well known like PBD or Lund.

I just checked the HP Tuners tune repository for you and there is only a stock 2018 tune...Sometimes people add custom tunes so you can get an idea of what they did.

But, since you are concerned about warranty work, I would not go that route - just have your tuner go back and forth with you until you have it just the way you want it.

 

[sabtaj1]

I plan to do a tune here soon as well, I have a 19 with 4600 miles. I was told by a good friend at the dealer that if I do have an issue arrise to try and put atleast 200 miles and 20 key turns after pulling the tune and back to stock and they would never see it. Apparently they can only go back so far. But being NA I doubt I will have any real issues. My other friend on the other hand has 900 miles on his 19 and just about finished it. Went insane with a build on it. if you have an instagram, we have been building it at screen name midwaymustang thats their screen name.

 

[Bear_Stang]

I have found the absolute opposite to be true. A good dealer will do everything they can to take care of a good customer. Obviously, it there is an unusual catastrophic failure, Ford may ask the dealer to do some investigation and that could result in a repair not being covered. When discussing mods with the service manager at my dealership, he said "I don't pay my techs to find reasons not to do warranty work or to piss off customers."

You sir have a good dealership that has not been burned. You should send more customers their way.

-Edit-
I forgot my response to the original question - I would not tune unless you want to slap some mods on it that require tuning or plan on going e85.

 

[crcpdx]

I agree with the "put a few thousand miles on the car first" the rest of the nay Sayers sound like people who have never had a tune. Aside from being faster, a completely stock A10 runs much better with a tune. Cold starts, surging, tq shifts, the dreaded drive to reverse hesitation all better or completely gone. I'd also add I never heard of a stock A10 with just a tune breaking driveline parts or a motor letting go. Forget unlocked and go with one of the big guys, they have these cards dialed in.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

I plan to do a tune here soon as well, I have a 19 with 4600 miles. I was told by a good friend at the dealer that if I do have an issue arrise to try and put atleast 200 miles and 20 key turns after pulling the tune and back to stock and they would never see it. Apparently they can only go back so far. But being NA I doubt I will have any real issues. My other friend on the other hand has 900 miles on his 19 and just about finished it. Went insane with a build on it. if you have an instagram, we have been building it at screen name midwaymustang thats their screen name.

Couple things to consider -

If you have a catastrophic engine failure, you won’t be able to put any mileage on it.

My understanding is they look at the total number of key cycles and can compare that to your mileage, age of the vehicle. 20 key cycles won’t fool that approach.

It’s best to go in with a clear conscious knowing the “what if”, although very unlikely possibility of having a warranty denial post-tune.

 

[schmeky]

Reading over all the responses, I have a question that will not have a definitive answer. I get the improved shifting, torque management, etc., but on a 93 tune, what can be expected in HP/TQ? 10, 15, maybe 20 extra? I have no E85 where I am.

I am looking for the Ford Power Pac for the 18+ GT's to be released in early 2020 according to another thread on this form. Maybe, this with a custom tune, I don't know.

 

[crcpdx]

Reading over all the responses, I have a question that will not have a definitive answer. I get the improved shifting, torque management, etc., but on a 93 tune, what can be expected in HP/TQ? 10, 15, maybe 20 extra? I have no E85 where I am.

I am looking for the Ford Power Pac for the 18+ GT's to be released in early 2020 according to another thread on this form. Maybe, this with a custom tune, I don't know.

IMO peak HP #'s tell very little. If you are asking about performance, I saw a consistant 3 tenths improvement in the 1/4.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Reading over all the responses, I have a question that will not have a definitive answer. I get the improved shifting, torque management, etc., but on a 93 tune, what can be expected in HP/TQ? 10, 15, maybe 20 extra? I have no E85 where I am.

I am looking for the Ford Power Pac for the 18+ GT's to be released in early 2020 according to another thread on this form. Maybe, this with a custom tune, I don't know.

Peak HP, 20rwhp wouldn’t be unreasonable for a 93 tune.

Gains under the curve are the best improvements.

For example. If your car puts down 380rwhp stock, you add a tune and make 400rwhp. That’s a good gain for one mod and while you may be making 20 more peak HP, you’re going to see larger gains throughout the RPM range with a good tune. You could see a 30-40rwhp improvement in mid range power, for example. You’re going to see and use this power way more frequently and this is the big seat of the pants gain.

 

[CORNYOTE]

2019 Whipple E85 850whp off the dealer lot. Warranty is for sissies! LMAO!

 

[Bear_Stang]

2019 Whipple E85 850whp off the dealer lot. Warranty is for sissies! LMAO!

Warranties are for adults with mid-line income and other financial responsibilities. If you are taking home 6 figures warranties make little sense because you can just back-end buy what broke. If you are making 50-75k, warranties provide a modest piece of mind. If you are making 25-50k, warranties allow you to keep the rest of your life in order when the shit hits the fan. These numbers do not include adult responsibilities for child rearing or age modifiers.

Your need / want for a warranty varies with your cash buffer. They are not automatically for sissies.

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