What is the Ford performance tune?

[Brian_B]

I'll let people interpret the official warranty coverage on their own - I mean, really it comes down to how the Dealer interprets it I guess... what you or I think doesn't really matter that much, unless we want to bring legal eagles into the picture.

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[0ne]

I'll let people interpret the official warranty coverage on their own - I mean, really it comes down to how the Dealer interprets it I guess... what you or I think doesn't really matter that much, unless we want to bring legal eagles into the picture.

What about extended warranties?

 

[Brian_B]

If i were to put on my sea lawyer hat, looking at the Warranty document dated 2021. Since there are no specific Bronco parts mentioned, my sea lawyer instinct tells me the following applies, from last page:

All Ford Performance Parts are aftermarket parts. Ford Performance parts are not Genuine Ford Parts. Therefore, they may not be used in any application that requires the use of Genuine Ford Parts. The use of Ford Performance parts and components may impact the performance characteristics of other systems of the vehicle. When operating properly, Ford Performance crate engines, performance parts and components have the potential to adversely impact other systems of the vehicle. Except as set forth herein, such damage is the sole responsibility of the consumer and is not covered by this Limited Warranty.

So, with that in mind, I would sea lawyer and say any failure in the engine/drivetrain, Ford would have to believe the failure is directly the cause of the ProCal tune in order to deny warranty coverage - the same as any other aftermarket part. That would be for the normal or extended warranty. The ProCal for the Bronco itself has no specific warranty at all, but it should be treated as any other aftermarket part - say a cold air intake or aftermarket spark plugs.

Now, realistically, it's very easy for Ford to make a claim like that and put the onus back on the owner to push back and prove that it was unrelated (which is very hard to do, especially when a dealer may be holding your vehicle) - but that's the case for any warranty claim really. It all comes down to your Dealer and if they are going to advocate for you or fight against you. There really only is a burden of "proof" if it comes down to a legal setting - you would have to convince a judge.

So - I would sea lawyer and say ProCal does not invalidate or change your Warranty coverage, including extended coverage. But if you have a failure that could possibly be pinned on having it installed, be prepared for a fight. But that's the same as any aftermarket part really.

If I put on my common sense hat - Bronco ProCal should follow the same rules as the F150/Raptor/Ranger Procal listed on the document, and they just haven't updated it yet -- and that follows the Paragraph 1/2/3/4 thing - where it doesn't invalidate your warranty, but if ProCal does cause an engine issue that Ford kicks back as non-warranty, then it would be covered under the 3/36 Ford Performance Warranty.

So it really all hinges on if your dealer believes whatever you are bringing in is the fault of the ProCal tune or not. And given that a lot of vehicles run this tune - unless they do an update that makes things very wonky - whatever you are bringing in almost certainly won't be the fault of the tune, it will almost certainly be a mechanical or electrical hardware issue - not an issue related to the tuning.

For those thinking I'm saying Magnuson-Moss applies here - I honestly don't know. M-M is a very large and encompassing law, I don't know if this directly falls under that or not. My layman interpretation of it thinks it only applies to routine maintenance and repairs which keep the vehicle within it's original factory specification/capabilities -- you go to exceed those specs/capabilities and it no longer applies. But there's still a test of reasonableness - what you did to exceed those specs has to be tied back to the failure to deny warranty, but I don't know if that's a M-M issue or not.

 

[Schwaggle]

Requires premium, also includes downshift rev matching for manuals. Must have for manual, IMO.

Does NOT require premium (93 Octane) to RUN, only for advertised power increase. That said, I sure wouldn't run 87... ever. Not on a boosted engine. Runs fine on 91 in a pinch, but definitely noticeable power difference if you go from a full tank down to less than 50 DTE then fill with 91. In my case, 2.3L so every little bit is more noticeable than a V engine

Edit: dog got in my way when correcting the word "than."

 

[tractorcrusher]

Does NOT require premium (93 Octane) to RUN, only for advertised power increase. That said, I sure wouldn't run 87... ever. Not on a boosted engine. Runs fine on 91 in a pinch, but definitely noticeable power difference if you go from a full tank down to less than 50 DTE then fill with 91. In my case, 2.3L so every little bit is more noticeable than a V engine

Edit: dog got in my way when correcting the word "than."

I mean, according to Ford premium fuel IS required… sure, the motor will still technically operate at 87.

 

[Schwaggle]

I mean, according to Ford premium fuel IS required… sure, the motor will still technically operate at 87.

For the people who want to add it but are afraid they don't have 93 available near them, 91 is fine, but your "numbers" won't be as advertised. Don't have 93 nearby? 91 is fine. That's what I was trying to get across

 

[Poppavein]

FYI, the 2024 Procal does *not* fix ASS. Hope that was unintentional and will be rectified in the next update.
All buttons/knobs should act as if they are analog; they should maintain the same settings when I turn the rig back on.

 

[Schwaggle]

Just for giggles, mainly useless information for everyone since I brought up octane:
North of the salt belt (if you don't know what that is, you don't need to know this), in the winter time 87 octane is actually better for heating up the engine, as well as the cab of course, and higher octanes are better in the summer to reduce head temp, and is easier on the cooling system.

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

Physically - it’s an ODB2 dongle/touchscreen and a voucher code for a Ford Performance account.

Using that code will download the “tune” for your engine - which locks the device and voucher to both your VIN and your Ford Performance account.

Installing the tune nets you (roughly) 30hp/50ftlbs on your engine, but you must run premium fuel. It also increases accelerator response (similar to pedal commander), it updates shift points or rev matching (depending on your transmission), and allows ASS to remember its last position rather than reset on every time you start the vehicle.

The touchscreen / dongle do not need to remain installed for the tune. It also has the ability to program some other Ford Performance parts (steering rack, FDU), to view DTSC codes and clear them, calibrate the speedometer for different sized tires, update differential gearing ratios, run various ECM procedures, view ECM engine parameters, and do data runs to be saved and viewed on a computer later.

The dongle also lets you uninstall the tune at any time (say you needed to run regular gas for a bit). It takes a couple of minutes to install / revert.

Brian, you make some of the most informative posts on the entire forum. Never knew those details or seem them shared all together in one post.

Helpful info.

 

[Schwaggle]

Brian, you make some of the most informative posts on the entire forum. Never knew those details or seem them shared all together in one post.

Helpful info.

For anyone using Forscan via Bluetooth adapter: I have run across errors when Forscan is trying to read the VIN if you don't use the Procal and set it back to stock... I have not been able to duplicate this with cabled connections, however

 

[Brian_B]

Brian, you make some of the most informative posts on the entire forum. Never knew those details or seem them shared all together in one post.

Helpful info.

Thanks - I’m still very much learning stuff on this thing. Keeps it fun

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