The Mustang Forum for Track & Racing Enthusiasts

Taking your Mustang to an open track/HPDE event for the first time? Do you race competitively? This forum is for you! Log in to remove most ads.

  • Welcome to the Ford Mustang forum built for owners of the Mustang GT350, BOSS 302, GT500, and all other S550, S197, SN95, Fox Body and older Mustangs set up for open track days, road racing, and/or autocross. Join our forum, interact with others, share your build, and help us strengthen this community!

Trackey installation issues

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

I just wanted to quickly post my ongoing experience with getting my Trackey programmed in my KB 2012. I haven't read all of the Trackey threads, but from what I have seen, I think I have had one of the most difficult times ,so far, getting mine programmed.

Admittedly, my first mistake was to try to get the install done over the period between Christmas and New Year (mainly because I had some vacation time). That being said, I called a local dealer that I had heard had done a couple of Trackeys in the past (one of which was the sales managers 2012 CO). So I took the car in around lunch on the Thursday after Christmas. Since it should only take about an hour, I hung out with the car. After 4 hours at the dealership and being informed Ford Racing tech line was gone for the day, the dealer kept the car and gave me a ride home.

The next day the dealer continued to struggle while constantly communicating with Ford Racing. Unfortunately, the issue seemed to be a connection problem which could only be troubleshot by a guy at Ford Racing that was on vacation until after New Year. Since I intended on hitting a car cruise on New Years Day and a Cars & Coffee event a few days later, I had them set everything back to normal so I could take the car home for the holiday.

When the Ford Racing IT guy returned from vacation the dealer asked me to bring the car back in to finish the install. I brought it back in this Wednesday, Jan. 8th (my birthday) and told them to have at it. By Thursday morning, they called to say that they were removing the PCM and sending it to Ford Racing to be programmed. They overnighted it to Dearborn Thursday night and it was received, reprogrammed and sent back to the dealership in 24 hours.

At this point, the dealer has 15+ hours into trying to get the Trackey installed. They are only going to charge me for the recommended hour for install but also want to charge me for the labor to uninstall and reinstall the PCM as well as the shipping cost to send it to FR. This irritated me since I feel like Ford should be covering all of the extra effort under warranty since the car is still well within the factory coverage (only 8500 mi). After a 45 minute talk with Ford customer service, Ford has agreed to cover the shipping but they instructed me to take the extra labor cost (time to remove and reinstall the PCM) up with the dealership.

The PCM should be back to the dealer today but they are waiting until Monday to reinstall it so that the tech that has gone through the whole process with my car can be the one that completes it.

Has anyone else had to have the PCM sent to Ford Racing? Am I being unreasonable to expect the extra cost to be Fords problem and not mine?

I will update this post after I retrieve the car on Monday to let you know how it played out. Sorry this was so long but I wanted to share this experience in case others were having issues too.

Chris
 

Senderofan

Having more fun than should be allowed..in my Boss
Guess I'd recommend talking to your regional Ford rep. I think it sounds as if your are going to get stuck with a higher bill than you should. I think if there was an issue with the ECM...then it should be a Ford warranty issue...since Track Key is specifically offered by Ford.

Good Luck....But I would recommend pushing back on some of what you are being charged for.

Wayne
 

302 Hi Pro

Boss 302 - Racing Legend to Modern Muscle Car
2,009
441
Southeast
Senderofan said:
Guess I'd recommend talking to your regional Ford rep. I think it sounds as if your are going to get stuck with a higher bill than you should. I think if there was an issue with the ECM...then it should be a Ford warranty issue...since Track Key is specifically offered by Ford.

Good Luck....But I would recommend pushing back on some of what you are being charged for.

Wayne

Chris:
I have seen your other post on this, and this advice from Chris is the best advice I have seen anyone give you. Ask to see the Ford Service Rep. He or she has the authority to make this right for you. Good luck and let us all know how it goes on Monday. Who knows, I'm hoping the Dealer steps up and makes this right for you on Monday. Good luck 302 HP
 
130
0
I would have told them to GTFO the moment they suggested sending out the PCM. That's like going to a doctor to get blood drawn and they can't hit a vein so they want to surgically remove your arm and send it out to get blood taken from it before reattaching it.
 

jneary

Performance Fords
323
0
Norcal
So, my dealer took several hours and only charged me the hour as per the suggested time. Them having to send your PCM back to Dearborn is not your responsibility at all and I would not pay it. I agree, contact the local Ford rep. They should cover this. It is NOT your fault that the car took extreme measures to program and I am betting the the service tech was using a faulty piece of gear to do this an d that is not your fault. The instructions are very clear about error codes and if there is any problem with comms between the laptop a d the PCM, it will not work. Also, the instructions specifically say that if they screw it up, the PCM will have to be reflashed by sending it to Dearborn. Sounds like they bricked your PCM and had to send it back.. Read through the dealer instructions that they put in the kit...

John
 
Senderofan said:
Track Key is specifically offered by Ford.
The TrackKey is a Ford Racing product warrantied by Ford Racing and not by Ford. The PCM is a Ford product warrantied by Ford and not by Ford Racing...


The problem is you had issues with your PCM... One, the track key installer must of done something wrong and caused issues or two it was bad, or even a third, the tech really didnt know what they were doing. now, you really cant say it was bad because your car was running fine before you took it in for the TracKey and I a have to guess, no mention of issues after Ford put it back to factory...
So with it being sent to Ford, why didnt Ford install the track Key while Ford had it, why? the Track Key is a Ford Racing Part and No Ford does not cover Ford Racing Parts and Ford Racing Parts does not cover Ford parts, SO it looks like if the dealer wants to be an ass, they can charge you 15 hours or how ever long they took to get it done, unless you have a write quote that states other wise.
Pay your bill, smile, and never return to that dealship.
 
When I purchased my Boss, I spoke in great length with a young Tech in the service department. He was anxious to install my TraKey once I purchased it. I could tell he was energetic, detail oriented and responsible.

About a month after I bought the car and having the TracKey voucher in-hand, I went to the dealership and I made an appointment while asking for the Tech I spoke with a month earlier. Well, he came right to the counter and we sat down together going over the installation instructions. He had done some research on the installation (he had never performed a TracKey install beforehand) and he said he was prepared and ready and the Service Writer quoted me a 1-hour labor charge. The appointment was three or so days later and I waited while service was being performed. One hour and ten minutes later I was out the door with a successful install.

Advice for those that are planning Trackey installation, meet with the Service Writer and the Tech and go over the instructions beforehand and this might help eliminate some of the in-shop problems, especially where the computer and networking access is not what is specified in the instructions. Love my TracKey.... Sure glad I went with it!
 
Trackey finally installed!

Yesterday morning I get a phone call form Ray at Ford Racing. He is calling to ask if I have gotten my Boss back from the dealership and if I am happy with how the new Trackey software is functioning. I tell him that I have not received a call from the dealership yet and proceed to ask him if he had any issues with the software loading on my PCM. He had no issues but also explains to me that it did not seem to him that the technician was doing anything wrong but that the PCM just would not take the reflash. Before he hung up, he also told me that I WOULD NOT be paying any extra cost above and beyond the 1 hour alotted to do the install. If the dealer tried to charge me anything above that, to immediatly fax him the invoice and he would take care of it. Not 5 minutes later I received my call from the dealership telling me that the PCM was reinstalled in the Boss and everything was up and running. Also, they informed me that, not only was Ford covering the cost of shipping, but they were also covering the extra labor for removal and reinstallation of the PCM (imagine that). That said, the dealership was extremely nice when I got there asking me to take the car for a ride to make sure everything was to my liking. I also found out that my car, the whole time it sat at the dealership, was on the front lift of the service department raised up out of the way because the service manager was afraid of anything happening to it. You gotta love the extra respect the Boss comands!

After a short drive, I'm going to go ahead and call B.S. on the "Trackey adds NO hp or torque" statement Ford made. I was only able to do 2 pulls on the butt dyno on my way home from the dealership yesterday but it certainly feels like a far better car with TK enabled. The silver key has just been relegated to road trip only status! I am a happy boy!!!

Thank you to all for suggestions and insights,
Chris
 

jneary

Performance Fords
323
0
Norcal
I am really glad that Ford is doing this right and not messing around. $50k is a lot to pay for a Mustang and when you do, you deserve to be treated with respect as these cars really are a cut above. I am glad to see that you got this resolved without resorting to bull$%&~.

By the way, since the trackey advances the timing, I would assume that mileage should improve on road trips. Might want to relegate the silver key to the hiding place for safe keeping?!

John
 

TMO Supporting Vendors

Top