Banks Upgrade Question... Voids Ford Drive Train Warranty?

IF FORD can prove that 'Banks Programmer' caused a failure then it would not be covered item under warranty.

IF they can prove it..........course they will not authorize warranty repairs and you will have to prove programmer didn't cause it.


In other words...assume you will have FORD warranty issues with any programmer that is installed regardless if it casuses issues or not.

A mfg can basically void a warrenty if ANYTHING is done to their product. Do your research, you will never recover the cost, and any increases can create problems down stream.

Ditto. Manufacturers take advantage of any excuse to bail out on their warranty commitment.

From Federal Trade Commission on the Magnuson Moss Act.

FTC - Magnuson Moss Act

Will using 'aftermarket' or recycled parts void my warranty?

No. An 'aftermarket' part is a part made by a company other than the vehicle manufacturer or the original equipment manufacturer. A 'recycled' part is a part that was made for and installed in a new vehicle by the manufacturer or the original equipment manufacturer, and later removed from the vehicle and made available for resale or reuse. Simply using an aftermarket or recycled part does not void your warranty. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act makes it illegal for companies to void your warranty or deny coverage under the warranty simply because you used an aftermarket or recycled part. The manufacturer or dealer can, however, require consumers to use select parts if those parts are provided to consumers free of charge under the warranty.

Still, if it turns out that the aftermarket or recycled part was itself defective or wasn't installed correctly, and it causes damage to another part that is covered under the warranty, the manufacturer or dealer has the right to deny coverage for that part and charge you for any repairs. The FTC says the manufacturer or dealer must show that the aftermarket or recycled part caused the need for repairs before denying warranty coverage.

Take the time to investigate the entire document, not just the above quote.

Banks works very close with vehicle manufacturers to avoid warranty conflicts. There have been thousand of Banks kits sold and never heard the installations creating a warranty conflict.

Legally, they can deny warranty coverage due to an aftermarket part or modification only if the aftermarket part or modification actually led to the breakdown. This is a provision of the Magnuson-Moss act. That doesn't mean that sometimes companies will try to use whatever they can as an excuse to avoid doing warranty work.

Something like a Banks chip could reasonably be construed as being a cause of many sorts of powertrain breakdowns, since it does inherently place parts under greater stress than the original factory settings. On the other hand, it should have no bearing on a breakdown in, say, the steering components.

DrewE wrote:
Legally, they can deny warranty coverage due to an aftermarket part or modification only if the aftermarket part or modification actually led to the breakdown. This is a provision of the Magnuson-Moss act. That doesn't mean that sometimes companies will try to use whatever they can as an excuse to avoid doing warranty work.

Something like a Banks chip could reasonably be construed as being a cause of many sorts of powertrain breakdowns, since it does inherently place parts under greater stress than the original factory settings. On the other hand, it should have no bearing on a breakdown in, say, the steering components.

Right on Drew,

Armed with both sides of the equation decisions are a bit easier. Premier manufacturers of aftermarket parts work pretty hard to avoid any conflict with OEM warranties.

In the end it's the buyers decision. I've had two banks kits including the transmission chip installed and was never denied any Ford service or warranty work. One was when the transmission wouldn't go into overdrive. Not one word about the Banks, ... in fact they praised it.

I have had my Banks PowerPack on for the last 300,000 miles, and it has not caused any problems, besides occasional fouling of the MAF sensor from the K&N filter after each cleaning (I've since swapped to a much larger AFE filter, allowing much longer intervals between cleanings). I don't expect you to have any problems either, and the MAF sensor issue is fixed with a $9 can of MAF cleaner.

Install on my 99 and never had an issue with banks, Never had a warranty claim so really can not answer you question. You will get more power but very little if any mileage gain.

I doubt that you are going to gain much so why do it. Then no warranty problems. Had a 2006 with V10 the thing was a rocket what would the banks kit possibly do but lighten your wallet.

rkentzel wrote:
I doubt that you are going to gain much so why do it. Then no warranty problems. Had a 2006 with V10 the thing was a rocket what would the banks kit possibly do but lighten your wallet.

The Powerpack most definitely adds a substantial amount of power. The actual numbers are on the Banks website.