Typical dealership drama. Apparently if he needs a chip, the damn truck wasn't performing well enough with the Ford chip. Much like that "Re-Flash" Ford offered for the 6.0 that killed performance.
The guy should have been smart enough to remove the chip before going to the dealer, however canceling the entire warranty is sure to ensure this guy either quits paying, or sells it and buys from another manufature. Anyone who can afford car payments and also an expensive performance chip in this economy is not the kind of person you want to lose as a customer. I am sure a quick letter to Ford Corporate will result in the re-instatment of his warranty.
On the other hand, some aftermarket stuff is shit. Like that steel insert they are selling people to put in their intake manifolds.
Tell us more about the complaint. What did this "Chip" do to void the warranty? What was it's roll in creating the customers complaint? Just curious.
-- Edited by SELLC on Friday 10th of September 2010 11:36:08 PM
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
It was actually another Diesel tech who worked on this vehicle... I'm just good at making animations. Story goes, about 3 weeks ago, this 6.4 truck with relatively low miles came in with a plugged particulate filter that wouldn't clear up even with a commanded regeneration. There was no obvious cause for this in this instance. This is actually a pretty rare problem as we have only replaced 2 other DPFs. We chalked it up to poor fuel quality and it was replaced under warranty.
This week truck comes back in, and the clamp that holds the DPF to the downpipe blew apart due to excess pressure. This time the customer left his edge tuner installed so it was pretty obvious why he was having problems. It was set to the second highest setting. The tech decided he had better get the service manager involved in this, and when he peeked his head in to the SM's office, our regional Ford rep happened to be sitting in there with him going over some warranty claims. Obviously the Ford rep would be the perfect person to ask about warranty eligibility, so he came out to look at the truck, took a few pictures, made a phone call, and the rest is history.
One sure give-away is a PID in the PCM called "CLR_DIST" - the distance travelled since the PCM memory was last erased. Other chips may also have piggyback connectors at the MAP or EBP sensors that owners often overlook. If I suspect (or even if I am sure of ) the use of a tuner, I prefer to use a feature called OASIS Quik-Start. I plug the IDS into the DLC, start Internet Explorer and navigate to OASIS... touch the Quik-Start icon and the truck and Ford spend a few moments "discussing things" before they allow me into the conversation.
"Discussing things".... I know this includes the VIN, engine hours and accrued miles... What I don't know is likely very intriguing.
I can be tolerant of tuners being used... just as long as someone isn't jerking my chain. Lie to me once and your life just isn't going to be as peachy as you'd like. Be up front with me and you stand a real good chance that I'll try to work with you - within reason.
These are all problems that people with new cars or trucks under warranty must deal with.
The real men fix their own vehicles, do whatever the fuck they wan't, and charge these "other" group of assholes three-fold (Dealers, Manufatures and End-user aka Customer).
I salute you!
Tell me PowerStroker.... Did you guys eat his Twix candy bar too?
-- Edited by SELLC on Saturday 11th of September 2010 08:05:16 PM
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
I've never eaten a customers candy bar... But if they leave an open box of altoids or other type of minty candy, they may be missing a couple when they get their car back.
Back in my teen years they used to slip GHB and Acid into candy treats. Let's hope none of your customers are drug dealers, otherwise you could be in for a long day!
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
Yeah, the Rotunda steering wheel contamination tester #305-2877 I can get you one at my cost if you're interested. Just send me $600 and I'll have it shipped directly to you.
Yeah, the Rotunda steering wheel contamination tester #305-2877 I can get you one at my cost if you're interested. Just send me $600 and I'll have it shipped directly to you.
Perhaps I should sell you one of these meters
Because my meter pegs every time you respond! LOL
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl