Mike

Here's the deal. I am moving from LA to another city where there is only 1 VW / Audi dealer. I just called and "felt out" the service department about their position on chipping. It was made perfectly clear to me that if they found out about it they would void the warranty. Not that this is a big surprise in any way, but I have been fortunate enough thus far to have been servicing my A4 at a "chip friendly" dealer. In two years I have never had to swap it out. My car is heavily modified with aftermarket wheels, suspension, lighting, grille etc. There's no question in my mind that when I bring it in for oil changes they'll be lookin'. My question is this. Is the socket strong enough to handle 3 or four swaps a year for the next 4-5 years? I really don't want to have to do this, but I'm concerned. Will they know even if I swap the stock chip back in? Is the swap easy? Am I worrying for nothing? I love that damn chip. Any info would be greatly appreciated......

Thanks,

Mike

PT

What chip friendly dealer did you use in LA?

Cris

Okay,... each time you swap your chip (disconnect and reconnect the ECU), the VAG will get a power failure fault. That may prompt them to question the ECU. The swap is easy, takes about 20 minutes from start to finish. The sockets will handle the swap IF you are careful not to bend any pins.


Now, when I was at the recent Audi group gathering last time, a service manager from a dealer was there. He openly stated that the Wetterauer chip is invisible to the VAG.

If you have the Wetterauer chip, you may just want to leave it alone.

Cris

Brad Bilut

A dealer can not void your warranty. A dealer could give you a hard time. The only person that can void your warranty is the regional Audi service rep, and he can only deny to pay for a problem that HE can PROVE was caused by your chip. If you can your radio fixed, the dealer or Audi can not refuse you. If you bring your car in with a blown trans, you might have problems. Even if you had a blown trans, the dealer can not void the warranty work only the Audi rep can do that.

Brad Bilut

DaveL

times without any problems. You do need to be careful not to bend/break any pins but you've got to be pretty clumsy to do that.

If what Cris says is true, that the VAG can't detect it, then just leave it in. I doubt they would ever go to the trouble of opening up your ECU for no particular reason. My only fear would be if they swapped out my ECU for another because of some "unannounced" recall reason, but if that happened, I'm sure Wett would reinstall a new chip free of charge. It would just be a PITA to ship it and have down time.

rick

just curious. who is the chip friendly dealer in LA?