Is there a difference between dealer flash and Tazer?

[mgroeger]

This does help significantly. Thanks!!!! I am more open to the idea now.

Another side note. I believe the dealer can always reflash you back to factory settings if something were to go bad.

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[Boogerburns]

There's two clauses in the warranty book that they could use for denying your warranty claim, Tampering with the emission systems, or with a part that could affect the emission systems; or Any changes made to your vehicle that don’t comply with FCA US;. Since the computer controls emission systems, and you're changing parts of it, they could argue that angle to deny your claim. The other being such a broad catch-all that they could pretty much use it for anything.

Coming from the Subaru world, and having my entire warranty voided by modifying the "tune" of the computer to get better performance out of the engine with similar tools to the Tazer, and getting stuck with massive repair bills that were unrelated to the computer, I can safely say, if you're modifying the computer parameters, or any part of the code of the computer, its going to void your warranty if they feel like not doing your warranty claim.


From the Full Warranty pdf link:

3.6 Other Exclusions Your warranties don’t cover the costs of repairing damage or conditions caused by any of the following:
• Fire or accident;
• Abuse or negligence;
• Misuse — for example, driving over curbs or overloading;
• Tampering with the emission systems, or with a part that could affect the emission systems;
• Use of used parts, even if they were originally supplied by FCA US (however, authorized FCA US / MOPAR remanufactured parts are covered);
• Windshield or rear window damage from external objects;
• Any changes made to your vehicle that don’t comply with FCA US;
or • Using any fluid that doesn’t meet the minimum recommendations in your Owner’s Manual.

 

[mgroeger]

There's two clauses in the warranty book that they could use for denying your warranty claim, Tampering with the emission systems, or with a part that could affect the emission systems; or Any changes made to your vehicle that don’t comply with FCA US;. Since the computer controls emission systems, and you're changing parts of it, they could argue that angle to deny your claim. The other being such a broad catch-all that they could pretty much use it for anything.

Coming from the Subaru world, and having my entire warranty voided by modifying the "tune" of the computer to get better performance out of the engine with similar tools to the Tazer, and getting stuck with massive repair bills that were unrelated to the computer, I can safely say, if you're modifying the computer parameters, or any part of the code of the computer, its going to void your warranty if they feel like not doing your warranty claim.


From the Full Warranty pdf link:

Sounds like you got burned and that sucks.
I think it depends on the dealer and how you approach it. My friend put in 4.88 gears, 37" tires 3.5" lift and used a Tazer to correct the tire and gears in the computer.
His clutch was all jacked up and he argued to have it replaced. The dealer could have used any of the above to void his clutch easily but he pressed them and they did the work. Turns out his throw out bearing was never properly greased from the factory which had nothing to do with the price of tea in China or any of the mods he did.
I think it's how you approach it and how much common sense the dealer has. I had a service manager stand up for me when he knew it was bad stearing components that burned off two tires. The area rep said "screw him, he put a lift on it" and he stood up for me and said my lift had nothing to do with this issue and that I had been working this through the dealer and documenting it. I got two new tires.

 

[DHW]

For me, the Tazer was a necessity. One of the first mods I made was installing all of the OEM LED (blinkers/DRL, headlights, taillights, all Mopar) as my Jeep didn't come with that package. No issues with the headlights or taillights, but my blinkers/DRL were a nightmare. Blinkers hardly worked, and when they did they were erratic, and most the time I activated a blinker, for example the left blinker, the left DRL would go out until I restarted the car. It was borderline unsafe because basically my front blinkers didn't work. I took it to the dealer and explained to them exactly what I had read on this form, that it needed to be re-flashed to show the OEM LED package, and they had no clue what I was talking about. There was one technician who said he thought he knew how to do it, but he had already left for the day, and even if he hadn't he said it would take 2 to 4 hours because he had to look through a bunch of menus to find where to add the package. Oh and I think the dealer stated that they would have to charge me $140 just to look and see what they could do. I drove the Jeep this way for a while, but once I got a lift and 35’s, I knew I needed to adjust the speedometer, so I got a Tazer. Literally fixed both my speedometer and the Blinkers/DRL in about five minutes. The Blinkers/DRL have worked flawlessly ever since.

Only changes I made using the Tazer were adjusting the speedometer for the tire size, adjusting the TPMS threshold, and setting the DRLs to LED. I don't leave the Tazer plugged in. I have taken it to the dealer for an oil change and a few other things since then, and they have never said a word.

 

[Boogerburns]

My friend put in 4.88 gears, 37" tires 3.5" lift and used a Tazer to correct the tire and gears in the computer.
His clutch was all jacked up and he argued to have it replaced. The dealer could have used any of the above to void his clutch easily but he pressed them and they did the work.

Also in the warranty, it explicitly lists the clutch or clutch assemblies as non-warrantied part(s). So the dealer repairing it was a "good faith" repair, not a warranty service, which is within the service department managers control. They could have easily said its not covered, and moved on, and there would have been no recourse. It sounds like you had a similar situation, where the service manager did a "good faith" repair instead of warranty repair. I don't disagree, the mods most likely had nothing to do with the failures. The only way to avoid these kinds of situations is to do no modifications, and get all service done at a dealer's service department. But as several people have pointed out, there are somethings that they just aren't equipped to handle, or refuse to handle, so for somethings its just not possible to play by their rules.

 

[mgroeger]

The only way to avoid these kinds of situations is to do no modifications, and get all service done at a dealer's service department.

ROTFLMAO!!!!

 

[Halstem1]

If we set aside the warranty debate.... is there an actual difference that anyone is aware of? For example I just installed Mopar aux switches. I need to update my uconnect. Is there any functional difference wether it’s done by a dealer or a Tazer? I’m doing a gear swap soon. Can a dealer update gear ratios or does that have to be done with a Tazer? Thanks.

 

[mgroeger]

If we set aside the warranty debate.... is there an actual difference that anyone is aware of? For example I just installed Mopar aux switches. I need to update my uconnect. Is there any functional difference wether it’s done by a dealer or a Tazer? I’m doing a gear swap soon. Can a dealer update gear ratios or does that have to be done with a Tazer? Thanks.

Went through the same issue. Only a dealer can update the radio which is how the switches get recognized. I don't know if the dealer can do the gear ratio. I do know the dealer I got my D44 axles from would send there Jeeps over to the local diesel shop to have gears programmed in. So I called the shop and they said they simply buy a Tazer or Rough Country programmer, install it, program it and you keep it.

So I wound up paying the dealer like $100 for the AUX switch programming and then bought a Tazer Lite to program my gears. Nice thing is now I have the Tazer and when I went to 37s I was able to punch that in and I have that stupid auto start/stop disabled. I can also program my tire pressure sensors because the 37s are being run at 24 psi not the 36 psi the computer is set to from the factory.

 

[plex]

Warranty is totally up to the dealer. Some will reject your warranty because you put a sticker on window, others don't care and will do it even if you modified your Jeep to a cybertron.

 

[Halstem1]

Went through the same issue. Only a dealer can update the radio which is how the switches get recognized. I don't know if the dealer can do the gear ratio. I do know the dealer I got my D44 axles from would send there Jeeps over to the local diesel shop to have gears programmed in. So I called the shop and they said they simply buy a Tazer or Rough Country programmer, install it, program it and you keep it.

So I wound up paying the dealer like $100 for the AUX switch programming and then bought a Tazer Lite to program my gears. Nice thing is now I have the Tazer and when I went to 37s I was able to punch that in and I have that stupid auto start/stop disabled. I can also program my tire pressure sensors because the 37s are being run at 24 psi not the 36 psi the computer is set to from the factory.

I’ve heard this from others on gears and axles. That the dealer just has a local shop update with a Tazer. The dealers here (Iowa) won’t even do gear or axle shops so would never come up. I’ll just update with the Tazer and see what happens. I guess worse case, if I wanted to ditch my Tazer some day, I could just have the dealer add then. Someone was telling me that the dealer did a computer update, which makes sense because the uconnect is the brains of the Jeep, and it unmarried his Tazer. Said he had to reinstall and reactivate the switches.

 

[Halstem1]

So I wound up paying the dealer like $100 for the AUX switch programming and then bought a Tazer Lite to program my gears.

Also, I think it’s insane what the sealer charges. I asked the dealer Saturday and they said it’s 60-120$ depending on how long it takes. The instructions literally explain what needs done. They add a sales code to your vin and then update the computer. It costs them nothing and takes like 15 minutes. Such crap.

 

[Stickman3]

No, both the dealer flash and the Tazer changes are identical. The dealer just performs a different process, using "sales codes" to upload the new configuration to an FCA database, which they then download and flash the BCM with. The Tazer goes straight to the BCM and changes the configuration without updating FCA's database or adding the configuration to your build sheet.

Dealers are limited to what they can flash as they can only add the sales codes that show up for your specific VIN. The Tazer, in theory, can change every setting on your Jeep, but of course that functionality has to be added by Joe first.

My jeep dealer said the led turn signals i put in would not work and computer will give a signal out messege and engine code. They told me i needed to put original signals back in and that they could not flash computer to accept the LED signals... So with tazer i just enabled LED signals my self. Now no more signal out messeges and they work fine...Dealer just doesnt want you fixing stuff yourself....

 

[Stickman3]

I can see this happening. When I asked my dealer how much they would charge to lift my Sahara (even with Mopar parts) they said I would have to do it somewhere else and that they do not do any of that kinda work...yet they are selling 3 massively lifted Gladiators and 4 massively lifted wranglers out front. Left me scratching my head. The tech said they outsource all that work. So I completely believe your statement. The more I learn about the dealers the more I do not want to work with them but I feel like I have to in order to maintain my mopar max car warranty. Kinda leaves me in pickle. I definitely have reasons to flash my wrangler, like when I put bigger tires, lift it, and add the OEM LED kit...all will require a flash. And I know the dealer will mess it up a few times and charge me $150-200 per flash.

So if I am understanding you correctly. I can flash my vehicle myself, remove the tazer/superchip, and ill be fine? no error codes when they plug the vehicle in at my next check-up?

That IS SO TRUE. There is an audio shop 2000 yards down the street from the jeep dealer.This audio shop gets a new gladiator or wrangler and the dealer says, trick it out and we will put it in show room.. The dealer adds the cost plus 20% to the retail sticker an voila, The dealer doesnt do anything, they farm it out and sell it an an upcost to the consumer...Like the man said above. buy a tuner, follow instructions , and do it yourself. Or take it to the audio shop b4 taking it to dealer..Cut out the middle man.....

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