Well the black "bat-truck" is supposed to be here today, and i was going over my checklist. need to look for: piston slap, steering clunk, coolant sensor plug,boost gauge operational,what else? oh yea my checkbook.

 

Exhaust leak(s), cops...

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'99 Black Lightning

 

check out article on piston slap in new issue of truck trend.ford estimates it occurs in only 1 out of a 1000 triton engines. they are going to fix it but it will require a major teardown replacing all the piston1

 

TybeeC5 I'm glad you got your truck I know you are going to have alot of fun with it

 

in the words of Ric Flair "woooooooooooo!"
g-tech'ed 0-60 5.78 85drgF 90% hum, only had "8" miles on it. got the bed cover, as a freebe, sticker showed it as only 150.00, well worth it (looks good), you would need a crowbar to get it off at speed. came to 30k w/cover cd, tow pk, also threw in a rhino job $400.00? none of the problems on the checklist yet except cops. "Sweet Ride"

 

"Slow" starts from rest, hmmm... ?

 

MRBBQMAN
What kind of bed cover came with? Is it Fords replacement for the tonneau cover? Also did the Ford dealer do the Rhino job onsite or elsewhere? Mine is supposed to be shipped this week, still waiting in Michigan.
Thanks in advance
jim

 

Evening Gentlemen:

Well, took my Lightning in to my dealer yesterday to get boost gauge and exhaust leak fixed.

By 4:00, had not heard a word. Called my Service Advisor, could not get through. Called again, was routed to Cashier, got voice mail. At 5:30 called my salesman and said please help.

Service advisor called back in 10 minutes, stated I had a heck of an exhaust leak and they could not get it into the "heavy duty" section of the shop and wanted to keep it through today. Also stated the exhaust leak was dangerous due to possibility of air leaking into cylinders and burning valves.
Said OK and picked up free rental car.

4:00 today, still no word, went through same routine. Got service advisor; said he would check and get back. 5:00 he calls and says can't fix exhaust "noise" as he now calls it. Said they called Tech Hot Line and were told it was a feed back noise through the catalytic converter and was normal and not repairable.

Further, my boost gauge problem is the gauge, not the 4" too short line mentioned in earlier posting. Have to order complete new inst. cluster, reprogram it and so on.

As well, brushed off the piston slap as "blower noise" and normal and acceptable and more or less the same with suspension clunk on right turn.

Now have another appointment for next Wednesday. Probably my last with this dealer.

I really am a rational person, my friends, not prone to blowing up or insisting that I have problems that may not exist. Many of the issues we have discussed I had experienced but felt perhaps were peculiar to my vehicle or maybe hearing or feeling things that weren't really there.

As we develop a body of knowledge and experience, I feel that the things I am concerned about seem to be repeated pretty darn often.

If any of you have success in solving the problem of exhaust leaks/noise, piston or blower noise, suspension knocks and even the inoperative boost gauge, I for one would appreciate it if you would post it on this particular board so I can have ammunition to go after my dealer or FMC.

Like most of you, I suspect, I can live with all kinds of little problems or peculiarities of a very limited production vehicle, but I don't take getting jacked around real well.
If there are fixes, let's share them. If we have to accept some shortcomings, let's share that too.

Best Regards

Bill Murray

 

Trimble
the cover is the original one i ordered in january w/truck (same part #) there is an article on all covers, hard and soft in this months "truck trends" magazine and shows the ford factory one (mine). the rhino dealer is next door to ford dealer and will do the job when i'm ready to select color,texture, up to 400.00 retail (i'm sure the dealer's bill will be 1/2 price) but it's paid for.

 

Bill-
As far as the piston slap that mine has, my dealer did at least confirm that's what it is. They contacted the "tech hot line". After about a week, an engineer from the hot line called the dealer and told them to do NO repairs on the engine and they would get back with a solution. Another week has passed with no response.
Bill, I would call two places and at least register all of your concerns. 1. SVT hotline 800-367-3788. 2. Customer Service Line 800-392-3673. Make sure you have your VIN as they will ask for it.
I called the C.S. line today. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens tomorrow.
It is important to get Dearborn people involved as I think it will help, especially with our high profile trucks. I don't think they need or want any negative publicity with the Lightning.
I will certainly let you all know what is happening, be it good or bad.

 

MRBBQMAN
Are you considering any other color for the Rhino liner besides black !? If so, I am very disappointed.

Seriously, I have looked at another XLT Flareside 4x4 in black, that has had the liner done in moving violation yellow. As I will get a SnugTop, I might just indulge myself. The question is, how will it hold up over time. I am not going to haul dirt or rocks, but it might fade or become dirty. I have seen old Rhino liners in black, and they still looked OK, especially compared to drop-in liners of the same age/sun exposure.

 

the cover and bed rails are the matching gray color, but i will probably go with the black rhino.

 

Hi Darin:

Yes I did buy from Tidwell, and no, I cannot recommend their Service Dept.

I don't know where I am going to get it serviced at this point. I had the same problem with them trying to get the brake rotors turned on my wife's 98' Continental. Took 4 visits before they got it done, and I had to go directly to the Service Dispatcher as my Service Advisor kept giving me the run-around.

I park the truck in back of the store to save getting parking lot dings. I am generally here from 8:00 till 5:00 Wed thru Sun.

To return to Tidwell, it may just be my Service Advisor. They are supposed to be pretty good, but they recently sold out to one of those automotive super groups and that may be the problem.

Bill Murray

 

Just got back from my first service at 2,050 miles. Oil change & tire rotation. They said my exhaust leak is a problem with the left front catalytic converter and they had to order a new one. They said my transmission is shifting properly, I don’t know. A spare key cost me $75!!! And, they said I couldn’t keep it in my magnetic key holder because it will goof the chip in the key! They ‘only’ put 30 miles on it during the day.

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'99 Black Lightning

 

DHFerguson,

$75 for a key?!?!?!? If the Lightnings use the same keys as the regular F150 XLT, I hope you got k-gel with it. I bought 2 spares for $15/$20 each, and programmed them into the system myself (it takes two keys already programmed into the system to add additional keys...see owners manual). I was told if I didn't have two keys already programmed for the truck (ie. lost one or both) it would cost $75 to program the key into the system. Actually my salesman thought it cost $75/key no matter what (till I set him straight with his parts dept.).

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'99 WHITE F150 XLT FlareSide SC 4.2 Auto 3.55, Superchip,
Black Westin Nerfs, White Prime Design BugShield,
White Vtech Taillight Covers, White Vtech Sidewinders,
LOTTA SHOW and SOME GO