GM Warranty and Power Programmers

[MrCritical]

Bulletin 08-06-04-033 states,

"If a suspicious hard part failure is observed in the engine, transmission, transfer case or driveline, perform the calibration verification desribed to determine if a non GM issued engine calibration is installed...Repairs to engine, transmission, transfer case and/or other driveline components where a non-GM engine calibration has been verified are not covered under the terms of the New Vehicle Warranty."

The bulletin continues to instruct the dealer to check the engine control module history. According to GM while the customer who reprogrammed the control module can return the settings to factory spec, they can't erase the history of where it was altered.

 

[blackcherry06]

Fair enough. Why should GM pay the bill for an owner ramping up HP to above-specification levels?

Mazda has seriously cracked down on warranty claims involving 2.3 DISI engine failures where non-Mazda power adding accessories are involved. I can't say I blame them.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Good for GM.

I agree that if you think your are smarter than GM (or any other make) to "improve" the engine then you are smart enough to fix the "problem" you caused.

Even *if* the part was going to fail anyway. GM does not know so they should not cover it.

I wish all the MFG would state if you modify it, you own it.

Bill

 

[XS650]

Oh no, now you've done it. You have waken the Magnuson Moss quoters who haven't read MM.

Add me to the "That's a reasonable thing for GM to do camp."

 

[MGregoir]

Sounds about right.

I bet this was probably because of diesel issues because everyone and their dog chips them.

 

[MrCritical]

The bulletin on the diesels is even more involved. It shows the dealer what to look for (with pics) on a Duramax failure.

Those Duramax programmers are some serious stuff. I've seen a 3/4 ton 4WD smoke a Mustang GT from a stop light in front of the dealership.

 

[Redlightning]

People tend to get greedy with those adjustable power programmers that offer different levels of performance. Most of those programmers come with a warning that internal engine modifications are needed for the higher power levels. I've used programmers for moderate power gains on several vehicles with no problems but you have to have the "pay to play" mentality. You break it you fix it.

 

[Buffman]

Handheld programmers for most N/A cars can't give you that much power over stock to really hurt anything. The ones for the Diesels on the other hand, add some serious power.

I didn't know the newer PCMs could say it has had tunes changed. On my LT1 pcm, I can just reload the stock program, and there is no way to tell it was ever changed

(not that I need to take it in for any warranty service)

 

[bdcardinal]

do the GM truck setups allow service technicians to prevent programmers from being used? i know you can modify the DLC on a ford to prevent any programmer from communicating with the PCM.

 

[MrCritical]

As far as I know, you can't prevent the programmer from being used. Yet.

 

[Redlightning]

The turbo/supercharged vehicles are the ones where you can really break something if not careful, especially the Ford Lightnings. I know a few people that blew engines by leaning the A/F ratio too much causing detonation. This made nice big holes in the side of the block when a rod breaks. Back when these trucks were new and under warranty Ford looked extra hard at any rod failure to see if it was programmer/chip related. As far as keeping programmers from being used all the manufacturers have tried, but companies like Diablosport and Superchips eventually break the code. If the PCM can be reflashed they will find a way to do it.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: Redlightning
The turbo/supercharged vehicles are the ones where you can really break something if not careful, especially the Ford Lightnings. I know a few people that blew engines by leaning the A/F ratio too much causing detonation. This made nice big holes in the side of the block when a rod breaks. Back when these trucks were new and under warranty Ford looked extra hard at any rod failure to see if it was programmer/chip related. As far as keeping programmers from being used all the manufacturers have tried, but companies like Diablosport and Superchips eventually break the code. If the PCM can be reflashed they will find a way to do it.


the ford method is not a software issue, nor is it a hardware issue. you physically disable the dlc from being able to be used with any aftermarket programmer or scan tool. techs will do it after they do huge repairs to prevent the owner from causing the same repair over and screwing ford out of warranty money.

 

[eljefino]

I would rather the PCM silently witness reflashes, provable later.

When suspicion arises, make the owner sign an affadavit swearing the vehicle was never chipped.

Prove him wrong, that VIN is written off the warranty books forever and threaten the owner with criminal fraud.