2.3 Ford Performance Tune Question

[Tdub0527]

Thinking of buying this but have a couple questions I’m unsure of.

- If I were to sell the vehicle it is tied to the VIN and would need to go with it, correct?
- Where I live premium gas is 91 octane unless you happen to find the rare BP station. Is 91 acceptable? Or does it have to be 93?
- How much does Ford charge for install?

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[userdude]

- VIN and the account it's registered to on the FP site. I recommend registering it before you take it to be installed, just give the installer the account username and password.

- 91 is fine.

- That depends. They should charge like $100, but you hear some quotes like $500-800. Mine charged $347 "because it takes 2 hours" (lie, 30m max) but I didn't want the warranty hassle, so they have it on their records.

I also have the 2.3L and the tune does improve performance. I would recommend keeping the air filter clean, that seems to impact how well it performs. Especially notice it after I go off roading and I've been rolling around in some dust.

 

[Tdub0527]

So if it is registered to an account on FP site is it essentially useless if I sell the vehicle, right? That doesn't sound transferable. I plan on upgrading to a Badlands in the next few years and it would feel wasteful if the Tune couldn't be used and sold with the vehicle.

 

[userdude]

So if it is registered to an account on FP site is it essentially useless if I sell the vehicle, right? That doesn't sound transferable. I plan on upgrading to a Badlands in the next few years and it would feel wasteful if the Tune couldn't be used and sold with the vehicle.

Unless you remove it, the tune stays with the vehicle. You can also create an account just for the registration so you can pass it along to whoever you sell it to. You just can't transfer it to another VIN (or user account).

 

[userdude]

Doesn't need to be installed by the dealer to retain warranty though, just needs to be installed by an ASE certified technician (or RSE certified for those Canucks among us ).

The only crimp in this plan is getting an ASE Red whose available and willing. I called at least five places here in north DFW and nobody was willing or "available". One guy got audibly angry and said he only did "stock oem Ford work" and yelled at me when I said it was a Ford Performance tune.

If you can find an ASE (or RSE), sure. On the other hand, some dealerships also balk at doing so for the same (liability) reason. I guess some have been or are afraid of being burned.

 

[Lcubed]

The only crimp in this plan is getting an ASE Red whose available and willing. I called at least five places here in north DFW and nobody was willing or "available". One guy got audibly angry and said he only did "stock oem Ford work" and yelled at me when I said it was a Ford Performance tune.

good luck finding RSE that far south of the northern border!

i got friendly with our local garage a couple of blocks from my house and he called around to his buddies. one of those had a crew of technicians (all ASE certified) that tweaked all of their own personal vehicles.

problem solved.

 

[MNBigfoot]

Yeah you get a voucher code when you buy the tune that can be used on any vehicle, but once it is applied to a vehicle that voucher is "locked" to that VIN. You can't remove it and use it somewhere else.

So with the guys who are swapping to Hoss 3.0 racks and are using another Bronco's vin to make it work......... Could the same process apply?

 

[Brian_B]

So with the guys who are swapping to Hoss 3.0 racks and are using another Bronco's vin to make it work......... Could the same process apply?

Nope.

The tuner will pull the VIN from your truck ECM when it connects. If it doesn't match the one that's registered to the tuner it will just say nope.

A new, unused tuner will not have any VIN associated with it at all. It will lock in to the VIN of the first Bronco it's used on, and it will be locked to that truck forever after.

 

[Saburke17]

I just emailed the link to my ford service advisor and he said they won't install it even though its a ford product.

 

[Lcubed]

yup, the dealer network has different goals than ford performance.

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