Live in PA and we have to do annual safety inspection and emissions test, scheduled next week at Dodge ( or now Ram ) dealer. I'll have them do plugs, trans fluid change and gear oil while in there. Running 93 performance tune and I do not want to flash back to stock, was wondering if you guys with this setup had any issues with any state emissions tests ? My F150 is custom tuned, use an SCT xcal3 as the flash device, and never had any issues with the emission tests for 5 years now from local Ford dealer.

 

Takes about 5 min to flash back to stock why wouldn't you not do that, plus you never know if they'll flash your truck at the dealership for updates. Just kind of curious that's all, wouldn't it be easier and stress free.

 

If your goal is to keep write cycles as low as possible I am with you. The lower you keep the flash cycles, the better off you are.

 

I have had the 91tune in my 2008 for 3yrs. Never had a problem with NYS Emissions. NYS emissions is just a hook-up that reads your memory storage to see if the counters are reset and clear of any failures. There is no tailpipe check. As long as the check engine light isn't on, your fine.

Not true. EEEPROM memory can be written on servral thousand times no issue's. It's used for everyday computers that get written on hundreds of thousands of times.

IF YOU change back to stock, you will essentially wipe all your data clean. INCLUDING your emissions counters. So, you would need to drive atleast 100miles before your inspection in order to pass!!!
Just be sure to tell the dealer you do NOT want any device hooked up to your truck for any reason whatsoever. Tell them to write this by hand on the work order.

 

Superchips is CARB certified, good enough to pass emissions in CA, then it should pass in PA with flying colors...

 

Thanks , I noticed the CARB cert so it should be fine but I ended up flashing back to stock anyway after thinkin about it more. Should put about 160 miles on it between driving to work and the weekend before Monday appt. Truck just runs so damn good and has great throttle response with the tune, especially this custom trans schedule that even my brothers ecoboost seems sluggish ( except for WOT sprints ... )

 

I was gonna say super chips should be 50 state legal

 

Thanks, but you missed my point entirely. I was referring to keeping the flash cycles at a minimum so as to not draw any attention at the dealer, they can count them, thats all.

 

Nah. They cant prove a thing. Whether you clear DTC codes with a scanner or re-write your tune, they cant tell the difference. Superchips doesn't leave any watermark traces, so it's basically just a timestamp they see. They can tell how many times the truck has gone through warm-up cycles and how many miles since you last cleared the pcm. Nothing more. Tune and de-tune as many times as you'd like and they'd never be able to tell you had a non-factory tune in your truck unless you went to them with a non-factory tune and they hooked up their scanner tool to it and viewed live data that didn't match what what suppose to be(very hard to tell even then unless they see your speed limier is removed type stuff).
Also, unless they kept close records of your flashing data and can prove you hadn't gone to any other dealers to have them prod/poke & reflash, then they may be able to put 2-2 together, but even then, they can't tell whats going on other than the fact the read/write cycles goes up. There's nothing in the warranty they can deny you your ability to write over your tune several hundred times.
As a matter of fact, even if they did prove you had a tune they couldnt deny any future coverage!!!

In recent documents produced by the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association ), a trade association representing specialty automotive parts manufacturers, the following quotes have been extracted:

"The vehicle manufacturer is not allowed to void the vehicle warranty just because aftermarket equipment is installed on the vehicle. This protection for consumers is the result of a parts self certification program developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA).

"Under the program, if a parts maker completes the EPA process of self-certifying its parts, the vehicle manufacturer cannot void the warranty even if the certified part has failed and is directly responsible for the warranty claim. In cases where such a failed aftermarket part is responsible for a warranty claim, the manufacturer must arrange a settlement with the part manufacturer, but the new vehicle warrant is not void under the law.

"If the failure to honor a claim involves the new-vehicle warranty, and it appears that the manufacturer is improperly denying a claim, the incident should be reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC is responsible for monitoring compliance with the warranty law; the agency's telephone number is 202/326-3128."

Magnusson-Moss Act.

 

LOL, you missed the point *again*, keep up here. I agree the dealer will not go out of their way to prove there was a tune. Not sure what you’re fussing about but hey if you enjoy the exercise more power to you. They can tell how many flash cycles your PCM has been through, that’s all. Others may not care and that’s, fine cycle away. My preference is to keep the flash counts as low as I can, thereby calling as little attention to my vehicle as possible. I was simply giving that opinion to the OP. There are endless opinions on whether a tuner voids your warranty or not and it’s amazing how many “experts” this subject can create. Most are full of it; I leave that for those who care to speculate. As far as the dealer being able to detect a tune, I write firmware for a living and I can tell you that whatever means a dealer uses to detect a tuner is subject to alteration _if_ the tuner company cares to do it. Whether the tuner companies actually make attempts to hide their activity seems to be another mystery.