Fensport NA ECU Flash question

[Camilz 15]

Hiya people!

So I was perusing on one of the many websites that do modifications & tunes to our lovely vehicles and something caught my eye with the ECU N/A reflash,

"What if there's a recall or a warranty claim pending?
If required the ecu can be reflashed back to standard, once recall work is complete, the tuned map can be re installed."

Now I may have missed a post on the forum/ I have little knowledge in these things atm ( I am a newbie ) but was wondering has anyone done this and has everything been fine with the warranty claim etc? reason I ask is I am looking towards the not so distant future in potentially getting some upgrades done with respect to the exhaust and intake that from what i read do merit a tune, and i don't particularly want to risk the engine warranty being voided due to the tune.

Also has anyone got any experience with the Cosworth Stage 1.0 upgrade? If so how is it?

 

Cheers in advance!

[Steeps 294]

Hihi

I wouldn't worry too much about an ECU flash, especially from established tuners on these forums as a lot of testing and logging has gone into them to get the best out of the engine. There was a case a while ago I think with a turbo owner and vvti issues who had difficulty getting it seen to straight away but eventually parts were swapped out under warranty.

Have the Cosworth 1.1 kit here (installed before they split the packages). Yes it cost more than other parts, probably not as many bhp as other parts, also it's just a bolt on kit rather than it being personally tuned, but the time invested in testing/dyno/engineering if there's an issue with their tune on my car I know I have the support of Fensport who installed it and Cosworth who mapped it to investigate any issues who I trust with the car more than any of my local dealers. The graph on Cosworth's site probably shows it better than I can explain it, with the remap (+filter +thermostat) you'll get more top end power but a catback will help get more out of it, and adds a bit of noise. I enjoy the car more with the extra poke it has 

Usually try to attend most meets, there's one at Amber next weekend in Dunstable where there will be a couple of Cosworth cars and they sell the kit too.

[Camilz 15]

Thanks for the info! Wouldn't mind having a Cosworth badge on my '86 hehe. If I'm free I might see if I can come along to that, though for the moment I'm happy with the car, was just looking and researching and scheming >:D lol. Also what are ppls thoughts on plastidipped badges? I'm thinking of doing it as a really cheap visual mod

[Kodename47 446]

As you're in Surrey, speak to the guys at Abbey. Nice and local + bonus points for being a dyno tune if you want

As for dealer warranty claims:

A. They can''t tell unless they do some ECU forensic testing. They won't do that unless something goes really wrong. The only time it will show is if the dealer try and flash the ECU themselves as ECUtek will prevent that from happening.

B. They don't look around the car trying to catch you out, they shouldn't note down mods at services etc.

The ECU is relatively good at looking after the engine, it does that as standard. Most warranty issues in the engine are due to design/manufacture issues and are completely independent of what would be affected by a tune, you would have no issue proving that the tune isn't related (if they even realised it was done in the 1st place).