Headers and Powertrain Warranty?

[smg1138]

This is a question for those who have installed aftermarket headers. How do you deal with visits to the dealership? Do you just put your stock headers back on to be safe? I don't plan on going back to my dealership unless I have a major warranty issue. Just curious what I would need to do in the future to avoid any warranty hassles though.

[Decay107]

All depends on the dealer, you'll hear everything from "My dealer voided my warranty because I painted my brake calipers red" through "I had my engine replaced under warranty and they even re-installed my turbo kit!" (obviously both are exaggerations)

I don't think most are replacing headers for each dealer visit, but if I had a major issue and wanted to get warranty service without hassle, I'd go back to as close to stock specification as possible.

[go_a_way1]

I leave mine on. They can only void warranty if they can prove that the aftermarket part was what created the problem. I.e if you have a aftermarket header with a cat and some cat material gets sucked back into the cylinder during scavenging due to a defect in the aftermarket cat and your cylinder walls gets cored and you start to burn oil then you have no warranty for that. Now letssay you blow a rocker arm, then you will still have warranty because your header has no effect on that.

[smg1138]

I guess my main concern is that I have catless headers which require a tune in order to not throw a CEL.

[steve99]

The dealer wont care about your header or other engine mods until you have an engine related issue.

Then those mods will be scrutinized very carefully to see if they could have been a contributing factor.

If you have any engine issue then you may have warantee issues.

EG excessive heat from aftermarket header (they dont have heat shields like stock header) caused deterioration melting overheating of components ie plastics belts sensors wiring ect.

Incorrect install of header exhaust leaks, incorrectly installed or damaged o2 sensors or changed location of 02 sensor caused engine to run rich or lean contributing to engine failure overheating or operation outside normal levels.

The risk may be small but its their if you mod any component the component you mod and any associated component's warantee is no longer guaranteed.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by go_a_way1

I leave mine on. They can only void warranty if they can prove that the aftermarket part was what created the problem. I.e if you have a aftermarket header with a cat and some cat material gets sucked back into the cylinder during scavenging due to a defect in the aftermarket cat and your cylinder walls gets cored and you start to burn oil then you have no warranty for that. Now letssay you blow a rocker arm, then you will still have warranty because your header has no effect on that.

Originally Posted by steve99

The dealer wont care about your header or other engine mods until you have an engine related issue.

Then those mods will be scrutinized very carefully to see if they could have been a contributing factor.

If you have any engine issue then you may have warantee issues.

EG excessive heat from aftermarket header (they dont have heat shields like stock header) caused deterioration melting overheating of components ie plastics belts sensors wiring ect.

Incorrect install of header exhaust leaks, incorrectly installed or damaged o2 sensors or changed location of 02 sensor caused engine to run rich or lean contributing to engine failure overheating or operation outside normal levels.

The risk may be small but its their if you mod any component the component you mod and any associated component's warantee is no longer guaranteed.

Yes, the Magnusson act blah blah blah.

Subaru has been known to void warranty on cars for attending Auto-X and track days. And this was right after they used to buy new WRX/STi buyers memberships to the SCCA!

They will just bury you under enough legal crap it's cheaper to just fix whatever issue than battle them in court.

You just have to accept that if you're modifying the car, you're taking the risk that you likely won't have warranty coverage in the event something goes "pop." This is obviously dealer dependent, just saying, don't count on it.