metal112524

Well i just got word from the dealer that if i put on my recently purchased pulley, that i can say good bye to my warranty. THIS IS BS!! RIGHT!?! thats only true if they can find it to be the direct cause of the problem in question not, the entire warranty being voided.

OldYeller

Here are the facts:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...light=magnuson

hayalex6

your pulley affects your engine. throw a rod, get an oil leak, whatever, you will pay for it out of your pocket.

ProshopXB

They dealership must prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the aftermarket item caused the issue. They must be able to do so on paper and in a court of law, or they can be heavily fined....

metal112524

Thanks yeller for bringing this to my attention.

Tim_Carr

Hey metal, I too have an xB. Mine has some pretty questionable aftermarket parts. I have a header, ported and polished throttle body, underdrive pulley, tranny cooler. I have had no prblems with my warranty. I have been in for repair's under warranty. My dealer told me, as long as I do not abuse my xB too much I should have no real problems. I do know I have gone through this with other dealership's and they were not willing to help. I bought my xB when they first came out and most of the dealers in Texas had never seen a xB before. I have 2 dealer's here needless to say only one will get my business. This part of the Quote is very important.
Dealer's will definitely make it hard for you. be careful with this. I also kept all my stock parts just in case.

metal112524

well here is the deal all of the "prove it caused it" i have heard and knew thats why i bought the thing, so what i have to say is that, my future father-in-law, is a manager(incharge of parts and service) at my dealer and he told his guys if they could do it, and told him that their is a alist of mods that will leave me "screwed" he actually question it himself and was going to speak to toyota about it,

RTon20s

There is no list of parts that will "screw you." If you were in CA, I would tell you to only go to the dealership for service with CARB approved parts. Even if they did warrant the repairs, they could make your life hell over the illegal parts.

Technically speaking you could be running a supercharger, header, exhaust, lightweight crank pulley, nitrous, and just about anything else you could imagine, and still be under warranty. Problem is, with all of those mods, chances are if something happens they could put it in writing that your parts caused the failure even if it didn't and it would stand up.

You really have to look at the risk vs. reward. Is it worth the risk TO YOU to supercharge your car? Knowing that almost no dealerships will honor your drive train warranty afterward?

Personally I would have no reservations with having the typical intake, header and exhaust on my wife's xB. Why? Because I know enough about the law that I'm not about to let a dealer screw me over on warranty work. Once I get my own xB, I will likely supercharge it. But in doing so, I will assume that no dealership will warrant my drive train after.

Always remember that they have to follow THE LAW, not manufacturer, or dealership policy.

Tim_Carr

I have worked in car dealerships enough to know.
this is the truth. Anything else is not true. There are plenty of dealerships that have very good mechanic's. No dealership or mechanic has the right to deny a warranty claim if the aftermarket part did not directly cause the failure. This also mean's they do not have the right to make B.S. list of parts that "void" your warranty. I know that is what we all are saying. I am just saying what RTon20s is saying. I just don't want to see you get misled.

metal112524

Well seeing as the light weight pulley is what im concerned of, i dont want to end up like being blamed if my engine blows and they say well there is an aftermarket crackpulley. as far as s/c and t/c i know that will go out the window but just want to hear that there is no way they can blame me for this. another thing is if i were to put on the pulley and say the engine blew how would they know that i had it on anyway (that is if i switch it before) but what im afraid of is that when i go to go get my oil change they will mark it for future reference just by some weird happenstance.

hotbox05

if u have a problem swap back to stock pulley.....

metal112524

Thats what im sayin, i dont know why im even talking still well here we go. i just tried to install my pulley and just now i quit and as far as i got was the damn alternator bolt on the bottom was so damn hard (seeing as i dont have the perfect tools for the job) but tomorrow im gonna get some others and work like a dog. alsso if you guys could tell me more specificly what kind of hardend steel i could use if the key brakes seeing as that was a common problem, if I runn in to it im prepared.

hotbox05

if it breaks get a nail. a hardened steel nail of the same diameter. i used that and just cut it into a correctly sized length

metal112524

do you know the diameter exactly or did you wing it.

awdisuzu

if you throw a rod, it is easilly caused by not having the stock harmonic dampener installed. if you use a lightened pulley, don't expect the motor to last long - especially if you cruise at 80 mph.

good luck!
~mike~

TuningIsLife

Facts are not all dealers are going to ahear to the Moss Act.

Classic Case of this is my buddies Magnium. Where he took it too the dealer because his door locks stopped working and they said it was (in order) : Aftermarket Viper 791 Alarm, Because he replace the radio, because he had too many TV screens, because he had too many amps. Till finally they went out looked at it, pulled it up and down with the door open and declared it to be fine. (It didn't work with the door closed). My buddy got so ____ed he took the door apart itself and found out it was the crappy Dodge door lock/handle rod design. Pure mechanical. Nothing electrical. Yet the dealer would not touch it (both of them).

I got it all the time when working for Circuit City, dealer blaming all part failure on an aftermarket part. Then refusing to warrenty it. Truth is, there is warrenty time, and regular labor time. Guess which one pays more.

RTon20s

awdisuzu... You need to understand that our crank pulleys are not harmonic balancers. They are not dampeners. They are simple steel pulleys. They weight what they do, and are made out of steel to cut cost.

The only problems you may get with the crank pulleys are A) belt slipping from poorly machined pulley and B) sheared pin on pulley.

You will not have balance issues, as the stock pulley is not used in any way, shape or form to balance the motor.

RH... I feel bad for your buddy. But the truth is, yes all dealers do have to adhere to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975. It is THE LAW. Can they make getting warranty work hell? Sure can. Your buddy learned that real quick. Do your put yourself at risk when you begin modifying your car? Sure do. It is all a matter of risk assessment. Is the modification you want worth the risk of the fight, and possible expense later?

The risk you run is possibly paying for all of the dealers time just to diagnose a problem. If they trace it, and can PROVE it was your modification that caused the failure, be prepared to pay. You are liable for their labor up to that point. And any labor you authorize after that point. You also hit the nail on the head about the dealership trying to avoid warranty work. Wouldn't you rather make more $/hr?

A friend recently had issue with his Mazda 6. He was hearing a funny high pitch nose that matched engine rpm. The dealership told him it wouldn't be covered because he hadn't gone to them for oil changes, and could not produce records of someone else doing it. He changed his own oil, and hadn't kept receipts. In the end the dealership REPLACED the motor under warranty, and never did determine the problem. Only marked down "Possible bent rod in #4 cylinder" on his invoice. They also stated that from then on, he would have to produce all receipts for any oil changes he did or they would not warranty the car. More B.S.

TuningIsLife

Well Moss Act also says Dealers are not allowed to void warrenty for work performed elsewhere or the use of non OEM parts during this maintainence. But you are right. I have been around, Tech, Service Writer, 12V installer, 12V sales and now I am doing car sales. So I have seen every side of that fence. CYA is what you should do NO MATTER WHAT.

metal112524

thanks for clearing up others confusion about the harmonic balancer, it took me 15 minutes to get that through my father-in-laws head. lol he used to drag back in the day and was more intruiged in helpin me so he just said ok lets do it so hes bringin me some tools.

DarthXB

OK I contacted scion on this matter, here is a copy of what they sent back to me. At the very bottom is the letter I sent them,

Recently you contacted Scion Customer Experience. Below is a summary of your contact message and our response.

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.


Subject
Scion XB/XA Crank Pulley

Discussion Thread
Response (Joey L) 08/03/2006 05:54 PM
Thank you for contacting Scion.



We appreciate your inquiry into Scion. The crankshaft pulley, in general, is the harmonic balancer and it does dampen the vibrations.




Please feel free to contact us should you have any further questions or comments. We would be happy to assist you. You may contact us directly at 1-866-70-SCION or by email at Contact Us.




Thank you for your interest in Scion.




Scion Customer Experience

Customer (charles ) 08/03/2006 07:25 AM
I have a question. I am trying to find out if the crankshaft pulley on the 1.5l motor for the scion XB/XA, also drives the accessories. Is a harmonic ballancer. I want to know if this 4lb pulley also does anything to ballance the vibrations of the motor. So basicly, is it a harmonic ballancer or is it not? If you do not know the answer to this question can you get me in contact with someone who does know? Thank you for your time.