Fast Volvos and chips

["Graydon D. Stuckey" <graydon@apollo.kettering.edu>]

On Sun, 19 Apr 1998, Brett Dikeman wrote:

> Our Volvo Wagon does this, but only if you're going fairly fast(at least
> 45mph) and have not breathed on the gas pedal for at least 10-20 seconds;

45 mph is "fairly fast" for a Volvo?   :-)  GD&R!!

> Certainly; if they find it you can kiss your warantee buuu-bye...how much
> of a pain would THAT be?  I would also drive the car around a lot before
> you go to the dealer, to make sure the problem has dissapeared.  Is there a
> way to reset those codes?  If the dealer sees them, and suspects a chip,
> you could still loose your warantee...

Well, I'm not an expert on OBD-II or on legislation regarding chips and 
warranties, but it seems fairly well known that the dealer/manufacturer 
can not deny warranty claims unless they can _prove_ that your changes 
caused the problem.   Unfortunately, most aftermarket companies put a 
very small fraction of the engineering into their chips compared to the 
manufacturer's engineers so the aftermarket "stuff" (be it chip, filter, 
exhaust, etc) is often at fault.

I know for a fact that GM is taking preventive measures to limit 
aftermarket tinkering inside the ECUs, with software that sniffs out code 
changes and such.

Besides, who wants the dealer working on your car anyway?

Later,
Graydon D. Stuckey

"Drive fast, take chances"  -  Brian Vinson
"...and blow the bystanders off the road"  -  John Corbs.
:-)