Fordson
Ready to race!
Recently, I took my car in to my dealer - while the car was sitting in their inventory, before I bought it, mice got into the hood insulation and I had the dealer order a new one and tell me when it came in.
When I got there to have the insulation installed, they told me that there was a TSB for my car, for the KESSY - I have an Autobahn. It's for an issue with the steering column lock - there is a module that controls this lock - it's a different lock (Electronic Steering Column Lock) because there is no ignition keyhole for KESSY cars, and there have been some issues of the thing freaking out and not allowing the car to be started because the module was not playing nice with the ECU.
Here is the TSB - http://www.coffeeandrides.com/Russ/RECALLVW.pdf
Now, here is the tough part - look at the last page of the .pdf - it's a waiver to sign that states that you do or do not have the car chipped - says the reflash of the steering column module will OVERWRITE the aftermarket ECU flash and they are not responsible. Now here is the deal - it will NOT overwrite your ECU flash, because it only affects the module that controls the ESCL, not the main ECU module, and it's nothing more than an effort to get you to blow yourself in that your car is chipped.
The dealer did not ask me to sign this waiver, so I was in the clear, but I was worried because while my car was there I did some poking around and found this TSB. I asked APR if this was a known issue, and they researched it and found that it would not affect the ECU. I checked my car when I got there to pick it up, and the ECU was still locked and all 4 of my tunes were still there and OK.
My advice from going through it - get the TSB done, but first, set your car back to stock with the cruise control, lock it with your 4-digit PIN, and if asked to sign the waiver, say your car is not chipped. Your ECU will not be affected by the reflash of the column module, and you will not have ratted yourself out to your dealer.
This is pretty underhanded on the part of VW. I did a search to see if this was covered in any other thread...and I don't see that it was. I realize that some VW dealers DO reflash cars, and this is not (probably not) an issue in that case, but most of us do not care to produce a signed document stating that we have chipped our cars, and give it to the people who control our warranty coverage.
When I got there to have the insulation installed, they told me that there was a TSB for my car, for the KESSY - I have an Autobahn. It's for an issue with the steering column lock - there is a module that controls this lock - it's a different lock (Electronic Steering Column Lock) because there is no ignition keyhole for KESSY cars, and there have been some issues of the thing freaking out and not allowing the car to be started because the module was not playing nice with the ECU.
Here is the TSB - http://www.coffeeandrides.com/Russ/RECALLVW.pdf
Now, here is the tough part - look at the last page of the .pdf - it's a waiver to sign that states that you do or do not have the car chipped - says the reflash of the steering column module will OVERWRITE the aftermarket ECU flash and they are not responsible. Now here is the deal - it will NOT overwrite your ECU flash, because it only affects the module that controls the ESCL, not the main ECU module, and it's nothing more than an effort to get you to blow yourself in that your car is chipped.
The dealer did not ask me to sign this waiver, so I was in the clear, but I was worried because while my car was there I did some poking around and found this TSB. I asked APR if this was a known issue, and they researched it and found that it would not affect the ECU. I checked my car when I got there to pick it up, and the ECU was still locked and all 4 of my tunes were still there and OK.
My advice from going through it - get the TSB done, but first, set your car back to stock with the cruise control, lock it with your 4-digit PIN, and if asked to sign the waiver, say your car is not chipped. Your ECU will not be affected by the reflash of the column module, and you will not have ratted yourself out to your dealer.
This is pretty underhanded on the part of VW. I did a search to see if this was covered in any other thread...and I don't see that it was. I realize that some VW dealers DO reflash cars, and this is not (probably not) an issue in that case, but most of us do not care to produce a signed document stating that we have chipped our cars, and give it to the people who control our warranty coverage.