Black Boxes to monitor tuning mods

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sat 13 Mar 2004 11:32
Black Boxes to monitor tuning mods - Dude - {P}
I see in this weeks` Auto Express that Suburu are aiming to have black box devices fitted to all their vehicles within two years.

It seems that without full engine monitoring, with owners removing their tuning boxes prior to their main dealer servicing, manufacturers are currently picking up the tab for expensive engine rebuilds under warranty.

In future once black boxes are fitted, all ECU mods and tuning devices will be detectable and not only will the vehicles warranty be invalidated, but the true vehicle`s history will be made available to the used car buying public.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 13 Mar 2004 13:54
Black Boxes to monitor tuning mods - Oz
H'm. Wonder whether this will include turbo diesels where chipping kits have long been marketed on the basis that you can unplug them undetectably, just before exposing your car (which is still under warranty) to the scrutiny of your dealer's service department, or your insurer.
Personally I have always been skeptical about the 'undetectability' claim and have therefore resisted the temptation to chip my 320d.
Oz (as was)
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 14 Mar 2004 18:39
Black Boxes to monitor tuning mods - redafour
Fair enough if your`e lucky enough to have a new car all the time but for the rest of us who have to use cars \"out of warranty\" I don`t see any problem with these devices.Ive had a tuning box in my A4 1.9TDI 110 for the last 3 years and only disconnect it at MOT time and no main VAG dealer has ever detected it.And yes my insurance is aware of it.Oh and if you think it doesn`t work It does because I had my car on a rolling road before & after fitting the device.Mind you I gave up on crediting VAG with any brains long ago but thats another story...
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 14 Mar 2004 19:31
Black Boxes to monitor tuning mods - Dude - {P}
I have no objection whatsover to people fitting tuning boxes to their cars, - after all it is still supposed to be a free country. !!!

I do however think it is currently unfair,(because of the present lack of detecting whether a tuning box has previously been fitted), on unsuspecting buyers of these vehicles on the used car market, as these boosted engines will obviously suffer greater stresses.

If black boxes are to become a standard fitting across the whole industry within the next 2 - 3 years), as manufacturers tire of repairing blown engines under warranty, then IMHO this has to be a sound move for the whole industry, not only to protect the manufacturer`s reputation but also their vehicles in the used market place.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 14 Mar 2004 22:27
Black Boxes to monitor tuning mods - BazzaBear {P}
Fair enough if your`e lucky enough to have a new car
all the time but for the rest of us who have
to use cars \"out of warranty\" I don`t see any problem
with these devices.Ive had a tuning box in my A4 1.9TDI
110 for the last 3 years and only disconnect it at
MOT time and no main VAG dealer has ever detected it.And
yes my insurance is aware of it.Oh and if you think
it doesn`t work It does because I had my car on
a rolling road before & after fitting the device.Mind you I
gave up on crediting VAG with any brains long ago but
thats another story...


If your car is out of warrantee anyway, then why do you need to remove the mod before MOT?
Does it put emissions above acceptable limits?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 14 Mar 2004 23:43
Black Boxes to monitor tuning mods - puntoo
How long before someone figures out how to modify the settings in the black box to make the modification "disappear" ?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 15 Mar 2004 19:11
Black Boxes to monitor tuning mods - redafour
If your car is out of warrantee anyway, then why do
you need to remove the mod before MOT?
Does it put emissions above acceptable limits?


I dont think so but in saying that TDIs can sometimes be tricky to get through the smoke test last time mine passed with 0.98 out of a maximum 3.0 with the device disconnected.Its anyones guess if it would lead to a fail if left plugged in.All I know is in everyday driving It dosen`t lead to any noticeable increase in smoke but revving the nuts off it at standstill as in the MOT I wouldnt like to guess because Its something I never do to my car.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link