Tuning a 5.3

[slickman]

Many have told me that if you use a tuner on it leaves a footprint behind and it will void your warranty. Any truth to this?

[Lgetz]

Should you have issues with your truck's engine, transmission, differential or any related parts the dealership will go over it with a fine tooth comb before doing any warranty work. There are signs such as higher engine revs than stock, increased top speed limit, higher shift rpms, and different engine operating parameters that remain embedded in the ECM. Once they determine you had an aftermarket tune your powertrain warranty will be toast and your truck will be flagged.

Pay to play.

[fjtort2]

A "good" custom tune is worth it... My truck runs so much smoother.. Idles, shifts and drives much better than stock/new..

[Jennabear]

Not all tuners leave a footprint.

[Lgetz]

True not all tuners leave a footprint but that won't change the fact dealership will be able to see engine was not operating within "set parameters" should a problem arise.

[Jennabear]

The dealership would have to send the files out to determine if there was a tune on it, if you had not returned the tune to stock prior to the visit.

[Lgetz]

http://sandyblogs.com/techlink/?p=4248

 

Slickman read the link it should be clear where you stand regarding a tune and your warranty.

[Austin66]

Not all tuners leave a footprint.

 

Please explain

[nate85]

yes every tuner/flash makes the flash counter go up every time you do it. when gm flashes it for updated stuff they have a record of it. when we flash the truck for custom stuff the counter goes up. there is no way to reverse this or hide the flash counts. yes you can return to stock tune but the flash counter will not. the only reason i havent messed with my 15 because of the 5 year / 100000 mile power train warranty

[Austin66]

So can high end tuners like EFI Live and HP Tuners hack this flash count? They both claim their tunes aren't traceable once returned to stock but I've never really heard them explain how.

[Austin66]

double

[KARNUT]

All the years I've been on enthusiast forums, I've haven't heard of one gas vehicle being declined do to a tune. Now would be a good time to speak up. I've had one tuned vehicle needing warranty work, no problems.

[JToups386]

GM has become extremely stringent on warranty work. And yes, regardless of what type of tuner you use it will increase the flash count every time you do it. GM dealers have records of every time they do any sort of flash on the ECM, therefore if their record count is less than the one on the vehicle, they know you've had it flashed/tuned outside of the GM dealer, and therefore they have grounds to void any repair that could be related to such a tuning program. And believe me, they will find creative ways to link the tune to the failure.
I have a friend with a shop that specializes in late model GM performance tuning. He has shown me the performance improvements he could get out of my 5.3 but he has warned that there's no way he can override the flash counter.
I would think if I were a tuning software provider such as HP Tuners, etc, I would make it a top priority to figure out how to crack into that data field and be able to reset it, but it seems that none of the companies making these tuner products have been able to figure that out yet, or they choose not to for whatever reason.
Bottom line is; if you add a tune or change ANY programming, you are absolutely setting yourself up for warranty denials. Just be aware and choose accordingly.
Personally, the first day my extended 6 year 100K warranty expires, I'll be at my buddy's shop having him make the thing run like it could've/should've from the factory, instead of the anemic programming and horrible shift-points that come from GM.

[Austin66]

People on here have said they look at the ecm (among other things) with a fine tooth comb if theres a catastrophic engine/trans failure. Definately one of the worst ways to get denied a warranty claim. It seems you have to swap ecms and even then, who knows if that leaves a footprint too

 

edit: Lgetz wrote the same thing. apologies.

[Jennabear]

We have thousands of customers, only one person was ever denied warranty from GM (customer did not return the vehicle to stock tuning prior to visit). Ultimately GM lost the case and gave the customer a new engine (faulty cam phaser that was already on a warranty recall).