My dad has a question that i thought i might wanna post. I was interested in the gains of flashing the PCM, and it seems impressive. Now heres my ?. Lets say u take it in for warranty work, Before you take it in you flash it back to the factory settings, Can the dealer/mechanic tell that you have done this or no there is no way of telling? Just want some confirmation on this.

 

Wilson502,

According to Mike Troyer, once you re-flash back to stock, there isn't any telltale sign of the performance tune left.

See this thread from the Computer Chips forum:
Can I remove the Tune?

Good luck,

 

are you sure bout that? you would think ford would be smart enuff to think that it can tell that ur PCM has been flashed and reflashed, etc..

 

I can't say that I'm "sure about that", because I don't have any first hand knowledge/direct experience with the issue. I do have a pretty good level of confidence in Mike Troyer's experience in those matters.
If it's going to cause a great level of anxiety, then don't get a performance tune...or just plan on waiting until your vehicle is out of warranty anyway.
There's nothing wrong with keeping your truck stock.

John

 

Yes, We can simply hook our "NGS" into the port under your dash and get a code that indicates a chip or performance program has been down loaded!

 

Thanks SERVICEPRO,

Just for clarification...you can do this even after the "original" stock tune has been returned to the PCM?

Thanks,
John

 

yes i think they will know. if these ECU's are anything like the older Ford's the tips are covered with the plastic and when its removed its all over from there.

 

1) The 2004's aren't like prior models where you have a "chip" to remove. Even if you don't buy a tuner/flasher, but instead choose to have the PCM flashed, it can be disconnected from under the hood without damaging anything.
2) When you use a microtuner, you don't physically touch the chip/pcm. The flashes are done using the diagnostic port.

John

 

It sounds like the program is loaded into a EEPROM. These retain the program even when the battery is removed and can be reloaded over and over. Every different program has a different CRC and Checksum which identifies the program. If you went back to stock program I would assume the diagnostic computer program would see/read the original CRC/checksum of the original program. I doubt they use a security feature to monitor uploads. The older style of replacing chips used EPROM/PROM chips, which had the program burnt onto these chips, which required an eprom burner. Where as now you can just upload the program from your computer into a EEPROM. Makes program changes very easy.

 

so whats the verdict? will they be able to tell after u flash back to stock or no?

 

I sure wish a ford tech or 2 would comment on this subject

I am planning the reflashed in the future as well

 

I have a friend who is a Customer service manager at a Ford dealership, and I asked him that exact question.

He said that he/nor HIS dealership techs can tell, but if you need a new engine/major warranty claim and they send the engineering tech or whatever they call those guys who inspect the trucks for major claims to his dealership, that they have a way of getting into backdoors of your ECU and can even tell what date/dates you loaded the performance programs.

I went to school with this guy since 6th grade and have known him and his family for about 26 years, so he wouldn't knowingly BS me unless he has been bs'ed himself.

 

why dont they make it so the tuners can get around that, so that the performance tuners dont leave a trail, or they erase the trail...

 

Even if they CAN tell, is this a big deal? Since it's only an EEPROM, I can't see how reflashing it would void the engine warranty. Let's say, for instance, that you took the RPM limiter off. Well, every car I've ever owned before this one never had a limiter, and I still had an engine warranty. They just had to trust that I wouldn't over-tach the engine.

 

well every car ive driven has a rev limiter, my 97 4.6L tbird has one, the 98 f150 had one, im sure his 04 has one to.