Jaguar F-Type: Easy Ways to Add Power Without Voiding Warranty?
Adding a smaller upper pulley and RaceChip can give your F-Type more power, but will you risk losing your warranty?
It’s a dilemma that faces anyone who buys a fast car. You want to make it faster, but at the same time, you don’t want to void the warranty. Problem is, it’s extremely difficult to have your cake and eat it too in this sort of situation. Some dealers will look the other way if you mod your car. Others are sticklers for even the tiniest mods. Thus, you can’t blame Jaguar Forums member Obi for seeking advice on this topic from his fellow F-Type owners in this thread.
“I’ve acquired a 2016 base F-Type coupe within warranty, and I’m looking to add extra power without voiding it. After doing some research on the forum, it seems like a RaceChip and upper pulley are two options, as they are pretty easy to remove. My question is with RaceChip increasing boost and then the smaller upper pulley also increasing the boost, will that cause a CEL? Also, are there any other reasonable upgrades that add power without voiding the warranty?”
FullChat points out right off the bat that either of these mods could potentially cause problems with warranty claims.
“Both the chip and the pulley invalidate the warranty, technically. Jag doesn’t seem to be too strict from what I hear through the grapevine, however. The chip doesn’t increase boost, just adjusts engine operation (timing and stuff like that). Pulleys, both upper and lower, increase boost.”
RacerX has a bit of experience with these mods, however, and provides an easy way to remove them.
“The pulley will invalidate your warranty if they catch it. I’ve had my small upper pulley in for dealer visits and they didn’t notice. Mine is black instead of stock silver. I would get a silver one for a little better camo. RaceChip doesn’t leave a trace after it is removed. It is easy to install and uninstall. To get to the stock sensor on the rear of the engine, remove the screw on the opposite side of engine center that holds the rear wiring harness in place. Push the wiring harness back about an inch and wedge something between it and the engine to create 1” of space.
Stick a flathead screwdriver through the gap to unclip the sensor and to push it off. Remove the wedge so the wiring harness goes back into place. Stand behind the driver side front wheel, facing the back of the car. Slide your left hand down between the firewall and the rear of the engine, palm toward the nose of the car, and grab the loose sensor. Pull it up and clip it to the RaceChip harness. Put the RaceChip sensor in your left hand oriented the same way and slide your hand back in to clip the RaceChip intercept onto the engine sensor. It takes about 5 minutes once you get the hang of it.”
He also provides some real world gains that result from these changes.
“Changing the upper pulley will not throw a code with or without RaceChip. The pulley increases stock power by 20 hp/20 ft-lbs at peak numbers, and as much as 40 hp/40 ft-lbs best case over the whole rpm range.”
Thus, these F-Type mods seem like reasonable upgrades. But at the same time, you are taking a bit of a risk in terms of voiding your warranty. So we want to know – do you have any experience with these mods, or any others that could help the OP make more power? Head over here and let us know!
Photos: Jaguar Forums
Join the Jaguar Forums now!
