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Old 12-04-2008, 01:09 AM
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Default GM Techs need some help

Guys I am wondering if GM is doing the same thing as Ford. Can they tell how many times the program has been written.(or do they look at this) I am wondering because I would like to have my truck tuned but don't want any hassle if it has to go in the shop for warranty work.
Old 12-04-2008, 09:43 AM
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Only on Bosch ecms used in the LMM diesel so far.

Nothing more nothing less..

You can always order a spare ecm if you are worried. I have them in stock brand new for $320 including a performance tune.
Old 12-04-2008, 09:56 AM
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Originally Posted by playtoy
Guys I am wondering if GM is doing the same thing as Ford. Can they tell how many times the program has been written.(or do they look at this) I am wondering because I would like to have my truck tuned but don't want any hassle if it has to go in the shop for warranty work.
I have zero issues with the local dealerships and performance tuning. We routinely tune pretty much brand new cars.
Old 12-04-2008, 10:49 AM
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What fords are you talking about? I have yet to see any documented cases of any US ford vehicle with a reflash counter. (And I've flashed a few fords )

GM has released a few procedures for how to get the CVN number out of the pcm, but other than that and the LMM, no big concern.

Ryan
Old 12-04-2008, 05:40 PM
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at my dealership we have had to void a couple diesel trucks warramties for tuning but if you have a gas engine we cant see anything as far as aftermarket tuning. we had one a couple weeks ago where they removed theyer catalytic converters and particulate traps and retuned it. we had to void theyre warranty. but like i said if its a gas engine we cant see the tune.
my two cents
JOSH.
Old 12-04-2008, 05:50 PM
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Diesels are a different animal due to companies like Bully Dog that sell outrageous tunes. But gas fueled vehicles have no such counter.
Old 12-04-2008, 07:11 PM
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I appreciate all of the input guys. I have just heard stories of people having their warranties void because of a tune and just wanted to make sure before I went and had my truck tuned.
Old 12-04-2008, 07:14 PM
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Ford will void you if a chip has been installed into the pcm, They cannot tell if a hand held flash device has ever been used.
Old 12-08-2008, 08:48 AM
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I went to my dealership and they couldn't understand how my rear o2's were unhooked and how the engine was not throwing a code.

I don't think they know much when it comes to that unless they're into cars like us. Just depends on where you go and who works there IMO

But they did void my warranty....but that was because of my nitrous and cam/heads lol
Old 12-08-2008, 08:51 AM
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I agree Dubrado, I have had only 10% good dealer service in my days of owning gm cars... The rest of the time has been horible. Multiple dealers. I can see why GM is hurting right now. The dealers are the eyes and ears of them and THEY "the dealers" are the ones pushing customers away...
Old 12-08-2008, 11:06 AM
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Originally Posted by wait4me
I agree Dubrado, I have had only 10% good dealer service in my days of owning gm cars... The rest of the time has been horible. Multiple dealers. I can see why GM is hurting right now. The dealers are the eyes and ears of them and THEY "the dealers" are the ones pushing customers away...
You're agreeing with someone who had their warranty voided for a nitrous system and H/C swap. Are you saying that's horrible customer service? Are you saying GM should NOT void a warranty when someone bolts on a N2O system?
Old 12-08-2008, 11:41 AM
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No Ed, i dont believe that is right for someone to try and get warrenty on something that has been modified and it was the reason for it breaking. What "MY" personal experiances have been are for them trying to not cover things on a STOCK vehicle that was used EXACTLY how they advertise it for on thier site.

Hell, even as i sit here, my wifes STOCK SRX is in the dealer getting worked on any they are trying to not cover it because it has 2 different tire sizes on it from front to rear.. UMMM IT CAME WITH THAT TIRE SIZE FROM STOCK ON THE FRONT AND ON THE REAR!... I didnt change any of them. HMM And i had a scan tool sitting on the floor of one of my cars last year and the rear end took a crap, "on a STOCK V" and they voided the warrenty on that car because the "Scan tool" FLASHED the REAREND and made it SHIFT HARDER... UMM how the fu k can you make a rear end shift harder with a scan tool! LOL it is a manual transmission! There ARE NO WIRES OR COMPUTER in the REAR END!

Lets see, the list goes on and on... One more thing, i took in a 76k caddy in that had 1500 miles on it, i take it to a dealer to have them fix my driver side sun visor mirror because the lights didnt work and it had no power to the garage opener, Simple, they just needed to plug something in.. Well i get it back and the guy who fixed it had GREASE on thier hands and it was ALL OVER my WHITE cloth roof headliner and all over the headliner. Too this day it is still in there a little bit, i can see it. They never offered to just replace it. only clean it. This is after i took it home and seen it everywhere!

Another thing? OK, lets see. Another dealer, I take a stsv to the dealer to get a sensor replaced under warrenty for the tire pressure monitor, they say they wont cover the warrenty because i put a blower on it! HMM it is supercharged from the factory! Even if i did put a supercharger on something how does that effect a TPM sensor.

Lets, see, another one.....

I buy a car brand new. I drive it for 200 miles and it starts rattling... HMM i take it to them and they say it is because i didnt break it in right??? WHAT? the engines are broke in at the engine assembly plant. So thier are no break in periods for the engine. The rear end and trans yes, but not the motor. Anyways, So i take it home and find out that EVERY, yes EVERY rod bolt was LOOSE. Hmm then a month later a few cars are shown with the same issue, then they fix it... 86k for a car that was a pos..

Ohh all these where caddy cars.. I should have learned my lesson, but for some reason i just bought 2 2009 ctsv cars..... I like the cars, just not the service..
Old 12-08-2008, 11:51 AM
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ohh another thing. Different car. It has 2000 miles on it, and it pulls hard to the right. I take it in and they want to charge me to align it, saying that it dont cover alignments. so i say ok, just get it fixed. they charge me 220 bucks to basically just chip off the paint on the outide lip of my PERFECT rims. I get the car back, see the chips, well more like GOUGES all the way down thru the aluminum and go take the car for a drive, it is WORSE than before. So i go right back, tell them they need to fix it cause it is worse, and also about my rims. They tell me, that is normal for an allignment to ruin rims, and they will cover them if they start to flake off in the future, UMM yeah right. Then they tell me it is pulling because im in the car and i weight 200lbs... UMM again, yeah right.. What car/ PERFORMANCE CAR, pulls to the right when you drive it and the alignment being right.. So i say f it, and go to a REAL place to get it fixed, They did it in 10 minutes, show me how far off the other allignment was and that it was an easy fix and then WOW the car drove perfect. No pulling, no issues, and to this day still drives straight as an arrow. With my phat azz in it.... jk... Anyways, im not trying to be mean or anything, it is just my own personal experiances with them. Im sure there are some dealers out there that are good and know what they are doing. But that amount is very slim i would say.....

A customer doesn't know that they are all independantly owned. That looks bad for caddy and gm, ford...
Old 12-08-2008, 01:30 PM
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Sounds like you need to go to a different dealer. Not all dealers are like that but yes, there are a few that are outright thieves. A couple of notes from a caddy tech to keep in mind. A: SRX's are huge hunks of ****. Mostly based on the CTS chassis which is possibly the biggest hunk of **** that GM makes. Oh, and the STSV and the CTSV, both off of the same chassis. The CTSV rear end is garbage and blows up all the time. Same with the rear in the regular CTS. Only good part of the CTSV is the motor and trans. The STS and STSV are just longer versions of the CTS. Hate to tell you guys, the new camaro, yup you guessed it, based on the CTS chassis as well. Get ready for tons of cam phasers and rear diff changes in the new camaro if it doesnt have the V8. Why they didn't use the GTO rear diff in all these cars is beyond me.
Back to the techs not knowing what is what with modified stuff. Most of the techs are parts changers and less than 10% are hot rodders. Of that 10% I would say that less than 1% of them understand how the systems actually work so that they can modify them and get it to work properly. I am a GM tech with 12 years here but have been a hot rodder since day one. I work for GM cause I like to work on cars and can get parts at cost. And I break alot of parts! Just my thoughts be it as they may. G
Old 12-08-2008, 01:42 PM
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LOL scarey thing, this Is from different dealers. I agree about the quality issues. That is why i am mad that they dont just cover it when they know it is thier issue.

Looks like your project is going to be alot of fun! I always wanted to put a ls1 in a datsun!
Old 12-08-2008, 02:37 PM
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Yeah, I'd say you've had some bad ones there Jesse.
Our local GM dealer is alot better than that and is actually pretty mod friendly.
Alot of warranty claim problems can be solved by going over service writers and service managers heads.




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