[MidnightMetal]

I've sifted through a good portion of the Volvo site archives to find cases of warranties being voided because of the installation of a tuning chip because I am considering purchasing one. I have only found one actual case where the installer dropped the guys ECU as well as an article that completely blasted the benefits of installing one. I would like to know if anyone has heard of any other horror stories and/or peoples experiences (who have chips installed in their S-40) with their dealerships when bringing their vehicles in for routine maintenance. My goal is to determine the probability of something actually going wrong to see if the chip is still worth purchasing. My gut feeling is that the chip is very common, and that the risk it brings is minimal. I just want to make an informed decision. If any of you have any insight, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

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Hmmm, first make sure you choose a reputable chip manufacturer. You mention PES, and they sell the Garrett I believe. GIAC has a great rep in the VW aftermarket, and I would assume the quality carries over.

IPD uses TME and they've had a very good rep as well.

The thing with chips is that it really depends on the case and especially upon your dealer. Dealers can tell if there is a chip in the car when they run diagnostics, so you may want to discuss it with your dealer.

The other issue is damage, much of this due to running hard at higher boost and damaging the turbo or stress induced by higher revving with the aftermarket chip's higher redline. Your auto tranny on your S40 won't allow you to over rev it, but caring for your turbo is a good idea.

Let it warm up significantly when you start it up before you rev high, and let it cool after you are done using it (especially when you have been using it hard). To do this, let your engine run for a little while when you reach your destination and cool down slowly before you turn it off.