I know I am reviving an old thread here, but it would be helpful for me and perhaps others who have more recently bought their cars. I have read this thread carefully and I still do not know if definitive answer to my question, if there is one. Specifically, if I buy the accessport directly from Cobb and use the OTS Stage 1, I understand that I can uninstall it and my ECU will have it's original OEM tune reinstalled. If I do this and take my car to the dealer, can the dealer detect that I had run a different tune?
Here is an email I sent to Cobb support:
Sep 1, 2:40 PM CDT
Good afternoon. I recently bought a new 2017 Ford Fiesta and I am looking at tuning options. I will start with a Stage 1 and have pretty much settled on your kit rather than a mountune, because I like the flexibility of your AP as it comes from Cobb, the availability of maps, and because your reputation for customer support is so strong. I do have a question though. After reading your site and watching various YouTube videos, I believe I can uninstall the AP any time I want and have my OEM tune restored to my ECU. Hopefully that is correct. I have also read on forums that even if I do this, my Ford dealer can detect that my ECU had been reflashed, although it cannot know what map was used because my original has been reinstalled. Is it true that my dealer can detect this? I have also read differing accounts that there might be a function on the V3 that can be used to wipe the information from the ECU that it was reflashed, or that alternatively I can cycle the key (or button in this case) “20 to 30” times to override this information in the ECU. The whole “20 to 30” thing makes me think this might be Internet b.s., but if anyone knows the answer to my question I am thinking it will likely be Cobb. Can the dealer detect that I have reflashed the ECU even if I reinstall my OEM map? Thanks.
And here is the response I got back:
Sep 1, 4:36 PM CDT
Thanks for contacting COBB Support!
When the Accessport is properly uninstalled using the Uninstall option from the main menu, the ECU is reverted exactly back to stock. In our experience, the dealership is not able to tell if the ECU has been flashed. However, with that said, the AP is not designed to go around any kind of warranty coverage and there may be diagnostics at a much higher level we are unaware of. At the end of the day, it really comes down to how your local dealer handles modifications to the car: some don't mind a few mods and others don't like any.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions!
So it seems to me that Cobb believes the dealer cannot tell there has been a reflash, though that was stated as being "in our experience," and still not definitive. At this point I think the best thing to do is stop worrying about it. Or alternatively, just go straight to Stage 3