HAL 9000
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There are equal amounts of fear and bravado when it comes to modifying new cars. Many owners worried they’ll void their warranty don’t modify their car at all. Others make modifications they can reverse if they need to take a car in for warranty work.
But few know what a car company even looks for when assessing a modified car with a problem.
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 helps consumers when it comes to installing aftermarket parts, but only to a certain extent since the manufacturer can still deny coverage if they can prove that the aftermarket part caused the damage.
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson–Moss_Warranty_Act
Going in for a warranty repair if your car is modified can be a stressful affair since the decision of whether the damage caused the modification is often at the whim of the technician diagnosing the car.
Luckily, we spotted a document in the Ford service portal that shows us at least how one manufacturer decides what caused the damage and whether they will approve a warranty repair.
The document posted on the Ford service portal and available through some public websites is called “A Guide to Identifying Failures Related to Performance Modifications” as it focuses on identifying potential modification to the gas engines in their performance cars.
Link: https://ford.oemdtc.com/GSB/G0000128.pdf
The guide is interesting, particularly because it shows that Ford is wise to your tricks, tuners. Don’t think Ford hasn’t seen your little plans before. Trying to swap a stock pulley back onto your GT500 will not go unnoticed.
The guide starts off with a simple flow-chart directing the technician to use a borescope to look inside the motor to see if damage is present and to check for related codes.
The flow-chart offers a few points from that direction that lead to either a warranty repair or a denial.
Read the full & detailed article on Jalopnik at this link:
https://jalopnik.com/how-a-car-company-decides-if-its-going-to-warranty-your-1821736111
But few know what a car company even looks for when assessing a modified car with a problem.
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 helps consumers when it comes to installing aftermarket parts, but only to a certain extent since the manufacturer can still deny coverage if they can prove that the aftermarket part caused the damage.
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson–Moss_Warranty_Act
Going in for a warranty repair if your car is modified can be a stressful affair since the decision of whether the damage caused the modification is often at the whim of the technician diagnosing the car.
Luckily, we spotted a document in the Ford service portal that shows us at least how one manufacturer decides what caused the damage and whether they will approve a warranty repair.
The document posted on the Ford service portal and available through some public websites is called “A Guide to Identifying Failures Related to Performance Modifications” as it focuses on identifying potential modification to the gas engines in their performance cars.
Link: https://ford.oemdtc.com/GSB/G0000128.pdf
The guide is interesting, particularly because it shows that Ford is wise to your tricks, tuners. Don’t think Ford hasn’t seen your little plans before. Trying to swap a stock pulley back onto your GT500 will not go unnoticed.
The guide starts off with a simple flow-chart directing the technician to use a borescope to look inside the motor to see if damage is present and to check for related codes.
The flow-chart offers a few points from that direction that lead to either a warranty repair or a denial.
Read the full & detailed article on Jalopnik at this link:
https://jalopnik.com/how-a-car-company-decides-if-its-going-to-warranty-your-1821736111