Chemdawg99

I pretty much answered the OP's question with my post.

If he is worried about his warranty, then he probably shouldn't go for an aftermarket tune. There has been widespread speculation as to whether or not a tune can be detected by a dealer or by GM if it is returned to stock. There is only one case I know of where a warranty was voided for having an aftermarket tune (a Z06, BTW http://http://www.z06vette.com/forum...y-help-116920/) In this case, the guy didn't "return his ECU to stock" and it was detected.

We can go around the world with Mag Moss and how wrong this is, etc., etc. But the bottom line is you are taking a chance of getting your warranty voided if you tune the ECU.

Some more food for thought.....Why does GM offer a 5 yr/100K mile powertrain warranty? For the most part, powertrain parts don't fail in that time frame on their own. GM knows that, otherwise they wouldn't offer such a lenghty warranty.

redzone

You can stand in the sevice dept. screaming Moss Magnusson till you're blue in the face,the only thing you're likely to get is tired & maybe arrested.....the fact is GM can & will void your powertrain warranty if the car is tuned.

Sure,you can take them to court,but rest assured that GM has a battery of lawyers well versed to combat any/all claims you may have.

garytucker

GM also has deeper pockets than the typical person that might have to utilize M-M. Now if these wonderful companies that enjoy telling their buyers to "just scream M-M" would kick in some cash...maybe the person might have a chance...but oh yeah...they don't provide legal support for the products they sell that they "claim" are covered by the law. What does that tell you about the size and number of teeth M-M really has? (I'm seeing the 25 year old dog with one loose tooth!)

Chemdawg99

On another note to the OP.........

This is yet another reason not to chance your warranty for a tune (unless you don't care about the warranty): from the link I posted earlier.

pondo

Sometimes you've got to PAY to PLAY!

If GM did warrant all these cars with modifications, we may pay 5-10% more for a vette!

sircrashalot

Seems to me that the question becomes 'does the C6 corvette store 'calibration events'?

res0n0xg

I hope you're joking, from the small percentage of people that actually do modify their ECM, then you have to fraction out the small percentage from that group that have drivetrain issues related to bad tuning, then a smaller factor of people that are still under warranty and actually take it back to the dealer for work, there is no way GM would have to increase the price of the Corvette 5-10%


I have owned plenty of sports cars before my vette now and this is the first forum where I have seen so many people scared of getting tuned, it's insane.


Just take your car to a reliable tuner, etc. and your motor will last just as long as you take care of it like it should, and your factory warranty will take care of the little things that come up otherwise.

sircrashalot

I know you aren't gonna care about this since the info is coming from the tuner...but in my case I am told that the tune I am considering is 50 state emissions legal.

I know of people who's neighbors complained about them working on their cars at home and got EPA fines as a result though, so it is a potential real threat.

sircrashalot

To stir the pot again...I was at SLP Performance yesterday. They had upwards of 30 brand new, from GM, never to the dealer yet Camaro's sitting in production, having insane upgrades installed, many of which include exhaust, intake and superchargers not to mention internal engine mods, head work, etc.
They verified that every single one of those vehicles will have the ecm, pcm reprogrammed with an SLP tyno tested tune in the same manner as I am considering.

Those vehicles will then go from SLP to Chevy dealers across the country, with power adders like crazy and severe alterations to the factory tune in the ecm,pcm...

***and will be sold by dealers as new with full warranty coverage.*****

Again...I agree with posters saying that a tune can put wear on parts...but there is no clear line in the sand, and no consistency in the policy.
What difference is there if SLP goes nuts on a Camaro and then installs their dyno tweaked tune, then sends the car to be sold vs. me buying a set of SLP parts and an SLP dyno tweaked tune specifically for that parts package after I buy the car? NONE except that I potentially get screwed out of the warranty I paid for in the price of my car.

garytucker

I believe the powertrain portion is picked up by SLP...but I'd have to check that. Unless SLP has a GM contract to do the modifications, then there is NO WAY their mods are covered under GM warranty. The rest of the warranty sure is completely intact.

garytucker

As long as they can produce a verifiable certification number...I'm sure you are in good shape. But I would be asking for the cert number as this could be a hiccup in your state's emission rules...We fortunately don't have that crap to worry about, so I don't know how it all works. I know some states have required Cert Stickers on modified items in the past...

redzone

I believe starting in 2011 all Callaway supercharged cars will carry the full 5yr/100k warranty also. The caveat will be that the car has to go to a Callaway certified dealer for repairs & I'm sure the SLP program is the same.

Which sucks if the closest ceritfied dealer is 200 miles from you.

3 Z06ZR1

People and the idea's! Here is the way it is..............
I had a 2008 C-6. All non stock tunes are complete Dyno tunes.
1. Headers CAI tune,,,
2. Header F/I retune
3. Header change exhaust intake F/I tuning change.
4. Car back to stock (all parts). Stock tune from GM.
Tuner says GM has no idea. All they see is stock tune.
My tuner is a top shelf tuner on the forum.

zcsicks

I can tell you for a fact that if a tuner is telling you that they can return your car to stock without any trace they are 1. BSing you or 2. not fully educated on the situation.

When ever you write a calibration on the PCM you leave behind a calibration code. The PCM does store this calibration code and it is not possible for any aftermarket unit to reproduce the GM calibration codes. The only way to have a calibration performed that would pass GM inspection would be to have an update done at a dealership using a Tech 2 that would leave behind a proper calibration code.

This is something that is prevalent on the newer cars 06 an on. I promise you this is fact and if you would like to know how I would know this you are welcome to PM me

99FewteRC5

Actually, in this case, the tech at the dealer can call GM for a custom program from GM that will support the gear change and all related calibrations. GM then documents the program to the VIN of the car.

0Callaway Chris

We do work with dealers out of our network for any repairs - we're there for the customer!

I will say this about our warranty, it is peerless in the industry. The standard 3/26 POWERTRAIN warranty is available to be extended to 5/100.

...read the fine print of any of the others for limitations and other clauses

C6LSx

Although I haven't read Lingenfelter's terms and limitations on their 3/36 warranty; I will agree with that statement about Callaway's warranty.

Anyone can offer a warranty on their work or performance enhancements, but the key is to READ the terms and limitations of the warranty.

For example one supercharger manufacturer offers a 5yr/100,000 mile warranty for $800.00 However their is a lifetime cap of $8,000 on warrantied repairs and a single occurence limitation or cap of $5000 on the engine and a $1500.00 cap on the transmission or rear differential.

So if in fact you have this supercharger installed and you blow the engine; the most that you will recover for that single occurence for the blown engine will be $5000.00

So do the math and you'll see how far $5000.00 goes when you have to fork out the cash for a new LS7 forged engine plus installation charges.

As my grandfather once said regarding warranties; "What the Big Print Giveth; the Small Print Taketh Away."

In-Tech

FWIW,
I don't know how far back it goes but GM has been able to tell if an ecu has been re-programmed for quite some time. There is quite a bit of info stored in non-volatile ram including recalibration count, operating systems, time at 0-1000 rpm, 1000-2000, 2000-3000, etc as well as max rpm, overtemps and much more. I just looked at an 01 vette ecu and it has 1000h bytes available for non-volatile ram, I would imagine the newer ecu's even have more space available. However, I don't think the DEALERS have had access to this until the 2010 mdi interface.

0HunterC5

This is why when you know you are going to be buying a new car to modify and have it tuned, that you buy form someone that knows someone that can help you get some parts warranty if your car break's.
In a case like this, the more people you know, the better off you will be!
It's a great thing to have friends in higher place's!

EdwardETraylorIII

Incorrect.

The hash can be easily spoofed in the '05-'07 PCM (with HPT). '08 and on does require a Tech II for the proper hash.