There is never any clear answer on this. The example I have, is the following:
Gen 5 Dodge Vipers have had about a 10% rod bearing failure rate. The Gen 5 cars also have a tune available that increases power by about 5%, but more importantly changes throttle response, removes downstream O2 sensor monitoring for emissions purposes, and removes things like skip shift.
When motors failed and had the tune, Dodge immediately voided the warranties for all the cars with the tune. The catch is, that the very man that headed the Viper Engine development team for 20 years tuned the car, and the tune was sold by the company that literally builds and supplies Dodge with the motors. Dodge still fought back.
A few owners decided to lawyer up, and before the cases even reached court, Dodge relented and covered the motors... the only stipulation being an NDA for each covered owner, to prevent other owners from learning about these motors being covered (yeah, F*CK Dodge). These aren't 2k differentials, or something small. We're talking $25,000 long blocks, plus a few thousand in labor. In this case, Dodge had no way to prove that the bearings were failing due to a slightly more aggressive tune, and already had attempted to address the bearing issues prior to the threatened lawsuits.
To this very day, Dodge is attempting to deny warranties for any aftermarket part installed on a car with a failed bearing, hoping that the owners don't find out about the successful disputes from other owners. Dodge has even acknowledged the bearing issues by releasing a recall that included an oil contamination test (of course literally every car passed it). An owner in Vegas recently had his claim denied, and a few months of fighting, a few letters from a lawyer, and some help from other owners later... his motor was replaced under warranty.
My long winded TL;DR point? If you have an aggressive tune making 100hp over stock and throw a rod, you're screwed if you can't hide the tune. If you throw a rod and only have a K&N drop in filter, it's worth fighting a warranty denial (Dodge tried voiding Hellcat blower warranty claims for K&N filters and had to give in). If you have an intake or intercooler and throw a rod? Fight it, because no honest engineer or mechanic can link the mod with the problem. If you have an intake, and your MAF or MAP sensor fails, Ford might get away with denying your claim.
Disclaimer: Yeah I bought the tune for my Viper even after hearing about the fight others had to go through, so that's my bias concerning mods.
Gen 5 Dodge Vipers have had about a 10% rod bearing failure rate. The Gen 5 cars also have a tune available that increases power by about 5%, but more importantly changes throttle response, removes downstream O2 sensor monitoring for emissions purposes, and removes things like skip shift.
When motors failed and had the tune, Dodge immediately voided the warranties for all the cars with the tune. The catch is, that the very man that headed the Viper Engine development team for 20 years tuned the car, and the tune was sold by the company that literally builds and supplies Dodge with the motors. Dodge still fought back.
A few owners decided to lawyer up, and before the cases even reached court, Dodge relented and covered the motors... the only stipulation being an NDA for each covered owner, to prevent other owners from learning about these motors being covered (yeah, F*CK Dodge). These aren't 2k differentials, or something small. We're talking $25,000 long blocks, plus a few thousand in labor. In this case, Dodge had no way to prove that the bearings were failing due to a slightly more aggressive tune, and already had attempted to address the bearing issues prior to the threatened lawsuits.
To this very day, Dodge is attempting to deny warranties for any aftermarket part installed on a car with a failed bearing, hoping that the owners don't find out about the successful disputes from other owners. Dodge has even acknowledged the bearing issues by releasing a recall that included an oil contamination test (of course literally every car passed it). An owner in Vegas recently had his claim denied, and a few months of fighting, a few letters from a lawyer, and some help from other owners later... his motor was replaced under warranty.
My long winded TL;DR point? If you have an aggressive tune making 100hp over stock and throw a rod, you're screwed if you can't hide the tune. If you throw a rod and only have a K&N drop in filter, it's worth fighting a warranty denial (Dodge tried voiding Hellcat blower warranty claims for K&N filters and had to give in). If you have an intake or intercooler and throw a rod? Fight it, because no honest engineer or mechanic can link the mod with the problem. If you have an intake, and your MAF or MAP sensor fails, Ford might get away with denying your claim.
Disclaimer: Yeah I bought the tune for my Viper even after hearing about the fight others had to go through, so that's my bias concerning mods.
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