I have a 2004 STX F-150. My transmission failed this weekend, the transmission could not grab the reverse gear and was having trouble with acceleration. I took it into a FORD dealership and they told me it failed because of my aftermarket EDGE Evolution perfromance chip and couldn't warrenty it... Is this true? Does anyone know if my chip could have done this??? Any sugessions?


Thx

 

Had you modified shift points & firmness ? It's up to them to PROVE the Edge caused the failure.

 

i didn't modify the shift points and firmness....is that a problem??? its also lifted 6" on 35" tires. The dealership said that because there was an aftermarket product that increased horsepower that was the reason they wouldn't hold the warrenty.

 

yeah, you really should have removed the edge before taking it in. In a way they are right. If we go out and mess with the shift firmness or horsepower why should they be responsible if something breaks that could have been a result of the upgrade.

 

They are just going to blame it on the programer no matter what, its an easy way out. Why did you leave the programer on it? If the programer wasnt on it they would have blamed it on the 35'' over sized tires and if they werent on the truck they would have blamed it on the lift. See were this is going. They arent going to look at the tranny and try to figure out what the real problem was like they should.

 

Try taking it to a different dealership and just take the tuner off. They'll have more trouble blaming it on the tires and lift than they do with the tuner. I accidentally erased my stock program when I started my truck when it was still tuning (Yes, I know. Big whoops) and the dealership almost refused to reprogram it because they saw my tuner. It's a 1997! No warranty, it's just the easiest thing to blame any failure on.

 

there is one thing that alot of people dont no but ford when the hook a computer to ur truck they can findout enything. they will no if u added a tuner or how fast u have gone, rpms and ford can see it all as soon as they hook there comp up to urs. the best thing is dont tell them u have a tuner and they sometimes wont bother to look up the vehicle history ware it tells you all the tuner and hp and rpm info. my dad works for ford

 

Actually, if the computer guys know what they are doing, they can tell how fast you've gone and everything like that on any make or model vehicle that has a computer on it.

 

Hey guys,

04_f150_owner, I have a couple of questions regarding your truck.

Your truck has no reverse, what forward gears does it have or does it slip all the time.

Did you re gear the truck for the 35" tires?

Do you tow anything with your truck?

Did you install the edge to gain back the loss of acceleration felt after the tires were installed?

As far as removing the programmer and trying another dealer, it might work but depends on the dealer that has the truck now. If the service manager feels like it, he can record on your oasis report that your truck was chipped and that will cause you future warranty claim problems(engine,trans,drivetrain).

The good news is most dealers/service managers don't do this.

cya

 

Xplorer

I didn't re-gear my truck for the 35" tires.

And ya i did install the edge to make up for lost acceleration.

I havent towed anything for months and when i did it was a small atv trailer.

The first gear is shot, but the 2,3,4 all seem ok...they just run at weird RPMs.

Should i have re geared my truck for the lift and tires? Could that be my problem

 

If you modified the trans shift points or line pressure, yes, it's possible.

If you're spinning bigger than stock tires, putting more load than what was originally intended on the drivetrain, yes, it's possible.

Is it probable? No, I don't think so, but they've got all the ammunition they need to shoot you down.

And for the guys who are like "take the tuner off then bring it in" -

You realize you're committing fraud doing this, right? You understand that if you modify your truck and it breaks as a result of these mods, and then you return it to stock and bring it in to get fixed under warranty, you are stealing from dealership and the technician working on your truck, right?

Gotta pay to play. I fail to see how the dealer should eat repairs that may have been caused by aftermarket add ons. And yes, there are ways to tell if a tuner was recently removed from a vehicle. And when I find out that it's like that when I get someone's vehicle to work on, I'll personally make every effort in my power to see to it that the warranty is denied. I don't like being lied to - do any of you?

 

Quintin, I agree with you somewhat, but neither is it cricket for dealers to just automatically hide behind the "it's modified", no warranty. Don't know what the answer is, but just does not seem right when in all likelihood, the mod didn't cause it. Especially when dealers do some of the same mods themselves and warranty the new modified truck.

 

Well here is my 2cents.I don't think it's the tuner but it could be.It could be bigger tires but doubtful and it's hard to say.

quinten, i agree somewhat also but what he has done to his truck should not cause a tranny failure.I think the dealer should be liable and i would do whatever possible to make them pay even though illegal.The way i see it most dealers screw so many people over that they deserve it IMO (no offense to you)

If they don't document the tuner return it to stock and take it out.Also if you have stock tires put them back on.If you were to have the computer flashed at a dealer would that get rid of all info on the tuner??
I was just thinking,i hope you used your edge to program those oversized tires??????
If not that could have screwed the shift points all up and then i would say you should eat the price for not reading the manual???

 

I agree with you 110% but knew you were going to be crucified for saying that as I have been in the past.

Cars and trucks are designed and built to certain specifications and warrantied as such. When you tinker with one and change those parameters, you should logically expect them to balk when you try to run it in under a warranty claim.

Addressing the "prove it" mentality.. if you were in the dealership's shoes, would you want to spend the time and $ to diagnose a highly questionable warranty problem only to have the owner refuse repair and insist to be towed down to the local shadetree mechanic once you tell them that it won't be covered?

 

While I'm no fan of dealerships for repairs, I agree that they shouldn't have to eat repairs caused by the owner messing around with tuners and aftermarket add-ons. Now I'm not saying your chip caused the failure, but a dealer would obviously say it did. Then it would be the oversize tires, or the lift kit. Anything straying from stock is grounds to deny warranty on that part.

It seems highly unlikely that the chip was so messed up or mis-tuned it caused transmission failure, but it's possible. I'd contact Edge before trying to weasle a free repair out of a dealer. Don't those chips have some kind of warranty on them? Explain your story, but it's not likely they'll buy it without some solid diagnosis on what the problem is, and if it can be linked to the chip.

Either way, you're going to end up eating at least part of it. Should it be the chip's fault, see if Edge will do anything for you. If not, you're going to end up footing the repair bill, and slushbox repairs aren't known to be cheap.