1. There's a chance for a leak but highly unlikely. If there was a bad gasket anywhere your truck would idle poorly, surge and just be horrible to drive.

2. I highly doubt that Ford put a different intercooler in the H-D's.
Your problem might be a clogged intercooler due to too much oil ingestion. Take the intake boot off in front of the throttle body and take a look inside the throttle body. If it's dripping oil you're intercooler will look the same. Unfortunately, every supercharged vehicle has this problem. Oil ingestion is a byproduct of forced induction.

3. Monitoring the coolant temperature can help prevent many things. Blown head gaskets can be caused by overheating.

4. Exhaust temp gauges help diesel truck owners prevent turbo/engine damage. Interior catalytic converter damage is extremely rare in factory applications. I've had aftermarket cats go bad ( Bassani ) but it was easy to notice the signs, for one they were glowing red !!!

5. An accurate air/fuel gauge is about the single most important tool you can buy. A friend of mine is helping me get some information on a wide band unit that will cost approximately $500.00 but it rivals meters costing twice as much. I'll keep you posted on that.

 

I think I read on one of the boards thats one of the things they did to detune this engine compared to L. Considering you are extremely familiar with both maybe you could check it out and give your input what is truth (at least in case of '03HD).

I will check that out today.

Are you saying coolant temperature gauge on instrument cluster is insufficient?

If there is an obstruction to flow anywhere in exhaust system (be it before cats, in the cats, or after the cats) would exhaust temperature gauge show that?

Definitely keep me posted, please. However, until I can afford $500 for that do you feel that Autometer gauge as modified by Gadgetseller would be better than nothing and good enough for a while?

Thanks again!

ZoranC

 

The main differences between the Lightning's 380 hp and the H-D's 340 are this....

1. The Harley has a bigger blower pulley. Less boost.

2. The Harley has a longer exhaust system. Not a significant loss in power but some compared to the shorter L.

3. The lower valance on a Harley has a much smaller opening to let air pass through the heat exchanger. I personally think that this might be costing the H-D truck around 10 horsepower.

Also, the Harley trucks have the same identical intakes as the Lightning. This makes me believe that the intercoolers are identical as well.


# 2. The coolant temp gauge on the cluster is pretty sad, as most of the gauges are. They are stylish but I don't know why Ford did away with the actual numbers on the faces that you could read. Now we have to guess what's going on if a needle is 3/4 of the way up between the "H" and the "C". Is this good or bad ???

# 3. The EGT would show you if there was a restriction at any point but like I said, catalytic converters aren't prone to breaking.

Yes, I'll keep you posted on the wide band set up and I'll also check out what Mr. Gadget seller is offering

 

I was aware of smaller lower valance opening. I plan to change lower valance once I have the money. In the meantime there is no front license plate bracket on mine so I don't worry about it.

Now you got me curious. I could have sweared I read something about it being smaller (I have '02HD, if that matters). I will look for it as soon as I have some time. In the meantime I don't worry is it smaller, all I worry is does it work right.

While on the same subject, I did check throttle body and it seems OK. There is very slight oil sheen on it, but nothing much. If there was any oil crud there only time it could have been cleaned was 3K miles ago. How one can check is there any oil in the intrecooler and remove it? Also, how one can eliminate or minimize this potential ingestion?

Is 'coolant temperature gauge' same as 'water temperature gauge'? What temperature range it should cover?

I have thought little bit about this and I am starting to realize that I don't need exhaust temperature gauge. However, I do want to check (not constantly, just on per need basis) that there is no obstruction anywhere between engine and end of exhaust. Is there a way to do that?

Thanks! Right now I have bung welded in my exhaust close to factory O2 sensor (dyno shop told me to do it so they can get A/F #s with their wideband sensor for me). How many O2 sensors are on HD anyway?

Thanks! I'll be waiting to hear your opinion before I order any of the gauges.

Thanks again!

ZoranC

 

Rob,

Any input/thoughts on previous Qs?

Thank you again!

ZoranC

 

Rob, if your looking for a kickass Wideband that is @ the $500 level, look here. I got just about every option and it works fantastic. Main website here

 

Actually, the Lightning, Harley AND Cobra all use the same size intercooler and liquid capacity level.





2 Sensors

 

Thank you!

Where are they located? I know one is on driver side front, where is the other one?

Thanks again!

ZoranC