The dealer called and they have replaced my intercooler. However, the dealer had a few things to say about my mods. Although I had removed my superchip before servicing, the shop foreman said that his computer was reporting some kind of a code that indicated the computer had been chipped since the last reset. He also said that it was reporting a lean code indicating an improper fuel/air mix. He suggested that Sal's filter was to blame for this.

So, my question is this (sal, any ideas?):
Can the computer tell that it has been chipped? Why am I running lean if the fuel delivery system checks out ok?

 

Nathan,
I've read that several lightnings have had a problem with a tee that is located inside the gas tank. The lightning uses two fuel pumps that are connected together inside the tank. It was said that the tee was made out of a material that cracked open causing a loss of fuel pressure. If you are still having problems, have them check the fuel pressure.


------------------
99.5 Red Lightning
Superchip
K&N cone air filter
Flowmaster Deltaflows
Intercooler Fan
13.37@102.99

 

Thanks for all the advice. Even after my meeting with them this morning, they are steadfast. They wont touch the vehicle again, period. They also wouldnt give me the zone rep's info. I'm taking it to a new dealer monday so we'll see what happens. I'm somewhat concerned because they said that they reported my VIN and list of mods to Ford. Can they do that ?

 

I beleive they track everything about your truck and as much demographic info from you as they can everytume you walk in the door. That way next time, they can bring your file up and become acquainted with your vehicles history, kinda like a rap sheet from the DA office.

The question is whether or not they saw something that was broken and they are not telling you about it and maybe gonna try and play the mod voids warranty rule game. I suggest getting a copy of the law which I think k&n filter websites have the info and show it to them, along with your attorney's business card. Good Luck

[This message has been edited by Tundra (edited 03-10-2000).]

 

Nathan,
I relayed your story to my service rep. yesterday, he laughed about the lean vs air filter part, then just shook his head. He said no way on that at all, but he also said if anyone has any changes like chip & filter that are easy to remove before any service DO IT! He said some like to use the oil from the filter excuse, which can be a problem if over oiled. Just a word of caution to all.
Tom

[This message has been edited by blue blood (edited 03-10-2000).]

 

Nathan Take a look at these links

Good luck

Doug

Ad from attorney "If you are having any problems with warranty repairs to your car (bought or leased) you should immediately call us. " http://www.primenet.com/~wilsfam/wilmain.htm
http://www.knfilters.com/affacts.htm#VWNTY
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/...y/undermag.htm
http://www.pennzoil.com/carcare/pete...8/remember.htm
http://www.stanardgroup.com/_disc13/000007b0.htm

"Contrary to what you may have heard or read, a K&N Filtercharger will not void your vehicle warranty. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act passed in 1982 makes it illegal for a manufacturer to void a new vehicle warranty if the consumer uses non-OEM filters unless that manufacturer provides filters free of charge. If the manufacturer does not provide air filters free of charge, they cannot void the vehicle's warranty simply because you have installed an aftermarket air filter"

"Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act and general principles of the Federal Trade Commission, a manufacturer may not make its vehicle warranty conditional on the use of any specific brand of motor oil, oil filter or any other component, unless the manufacturer provides it to the customer free of charge"


------------------
Got Silver 2000 2/28/00!!
Doug
Carrollton TX
drbdkb@hotmail.com
Had 87 Turbo Coupe traded for
92 F150 XLT 302, Put K&N Filter, cat back and Chip on 92 Still not enough.
Silver 2000 Lightning, Valentine 1, K&N Filter as soon as I can find one, Snuglid and Bedrug next week



[This message has been edited by Silver_2000_! (edited 03-10-2000).]

 

Nathan, Sal here. You know I am a Ford tech at a dealer, so let me explain how this crap works. Before I do though, I must say that I had a big DUH on my part. I didn't put two and two together on your original post. You said that they had no problems fixing your intercooler, but claimed the aftermarket parts caused the lean code. If your heat exchanger was leaking coolant into the exhaust, that wipes out the O2s and causes a lean code. No doubt about it, every 3.8 head gasket job that comes in, usually has that code and gets new HEGOs. I'm really surprised that this dealer knows pretty much nothing about how cars work obviously. But anyway, this is what is currently happening to you- The dealer denys your warrenty claim. No big deal, they have the right to and nobody can stop them. Now they have to get paid for looking at your truck, so they have to close out the warrenty repair order. All warrenty repair orders get uploaded to Ford at the end of each day. All they do is when they upload the repair order, they enter comments. They probably put something like "parts failed due to aftermarket accesories" or something like that. Now, all Ford/L-M dealers have whats called OASIS. That is our on-line link to Ford. You enter the VIN, and the warrenty history for the past year will come up, with every dealer repair, and their comments. Now, it's up to the new dealer to either deny it again, or do the repair. There is no Ford Motor Company intervention that "voids" your warrenty. It is totally up to the dealer. I have come to realize that many dealers across the US don't know thier *** from their elbow, and even more really don't know how the warrenty/aftermarket parts thing works. The thing that makes me laugh about this dealer, is that they won't budge on thier decision, but they not only did not prove the parts caused a problem, they also did not even diagnose the problem!! Are they kidding, or are they really just that STUPID??? Bring your truck out to me, I'll fix it

------------------
SAL
13.24@103mph
All stock with Power Surge Performance 99 Lightning Chip and Filter Kit
PowerSurgePerf@aol.com

 

Sal,

Is the OASIS the only dealer "link"? The reason I ask is that from my understanding if you go beyond that "threshold" of aftermarket parts installation (and its not a clear line) then you can indeed get what I call "blackballed".

I know two Mustang owners who this happened to. Every Ford dealer within 20 miles wouldn't touch their cars. Now, honestly if you nuke two pistons due to silly tuning of an aftermarket blower then I'm not sure you deserve a new engine or warranty work...but my point is that I thought the dealers could issue a flat denial of warranty service on a car with a "bad" VIN. In both cases the district service VP (or whatever he is) got involved and supposedly wouldn't allow any of the dealerships to do warranty work on the cars.

This could be bogus...I'm just curious as to what Ford's line is on this type of thing.

Both owners ended up selling their cars to used car lots.

------------------
Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)
96 Cobra (12.63 @ 114.5)
97 SHO
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.3)
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fsT/index.html

 

Nathan,

I'm sorry to say, but it sounds like you're getting blackballed big time. Yes, they can input VIN #s via the Ford dealers' "web", so to speak, and make comments, share information, etc.

I know one guy locally here in Dallas who had lots of mods to his '96 Cobra and a dealer did that after he wanted warranty service and was denied (he had a blower on his motor and nuked 2 pistons). Tried going to different dealers and when they pulled the VIN# he was subsequently denied claims for service.

I agree with getting a copy of the law and contacting your attorney...especially if you go to another dealer and indeed you've been put on the "blacklist". There is NO way those minor mods should void the warranty in my humble opinion.

------------------
Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)
96 Cobra (12.63 @ 114.5)
97 SHO
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.3)
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fsT/index.html

 

I agree that if we're thinking clearly we'd all agree that the motor that had two nuked pistons caused by major lean conditions...caused by the blower, caused by... should NOT be warrantied by Ford.

It's not Ford's fault that whoever burned the chip, to help tune the engine management functions with an aftermarket blower, did a lousy job.

That's why I prefer to play with the older cars, msyelf. Those of us without the software/hardware to burn chips can still tune those things. :-)

If I was a dealer and the guy came in with a supercharger on a vehicle that was NOT equipped with a factory supercharger, any warranty claims would be under scrutiny.

------------------
Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)
96 Cobra (12.63 @ 114.5)
97 SHO
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.3)
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fsT/index.html

 

Im also a Ford dealership tech and Ive seen basically the same thing. It really comes down to the dealers interpetation of the situation.

Generally if the aftermarket mod is PROVEN to be the cause of the concern the customer is charged for the repair. But it still is up to the dealer- if the tech doesnt go to his manager or service writer and say "I dont think this should be warranty because this guy has an aftermarket part on it" then it will just be warrantied and go down the line like any other car.

Last week we had a 98 cobra with a vortech come in. Serpentine belt broke and the car overheated. Damaged the blower bracket and im not sure what else. the customer had the blower bracket replaced somewhere else but the car kept overheating. Whoever had replaced the bracket overtightened one of the bolts and pulled the threads out of the timing cover. We agreed to take care of the overheating problem under warranty unless we found out that it was caused by the mods. Turns out it was only a thermostat. We told the customer we would repair the timing cover but he would have to pay for it.

It really does just come down to finding someone competent with and open mind.

For your friend with the mustang to have been denied warranty the dealer either made a major issue of it with Ford or they called around to all of the surrounding dealerships.
Generally a bad engine with a blower on it will not be warrantied.

------------------
Struck by Lightning
Lightningstruck9@aol.com

Furthering the American Quest of Unlimited Horsepower and Crappy Gas Mileage!

 

Well, I got the truck back from the 2nd ford dealership that I took it to. They found that the lean code was being caused by a bad MAF and replaced it. The code has now gone away and isnt re-appearing. Some of the sluggishness and odd behavior has also disappeared.

However, I still have a problem. When the truck hits about 110, it runs out of steam. I can have it floored and the engine will be turning at about 3800 RPMs and the boost guage will be at 8psi (stock airbox, no chip). The climb from 80mph up to 100 takes forever.


I have no problems during around town driving although if I hammer it on the highway the same thing happens. The engine revs but I'm not making much speed. Is there a way to find out if the torque converter is not locking up properly?

 

Nathan,

I have a Superchip and stock air filter and I have a similar problem. I can run up to 5500 RPM in first and it pulls hard all the way. When it reaches about 4000 in second it suddenly falls on its face. Boost gauge is pegged and I don't hear any detination. It's still accelerating but much slower than it should. I'm waiting to see if others are having the same problem before I call Superchips or take it to the dealer.

Glad to hear you found a dealer that would fix the problem instead of trying to find someone to blame.

------------------
White 1999 Lightning
Build Date 7-26-99
#2892
Snuglid
Bedrug
Superchip
Member NLOC

 

Jack77..I had a very similiar problem with my SC. I called and talked to them and they asked me to send the chip it for an adjustment. When I got it back it was better. It know pulls hard all the way up with no lack of power. Jeff

------------------
99.5 red Lightning
13.2@103
jcks@home.com

 

Actually, this is with the truck is stock mode ( no chip, standard airbox). The lack of power is also MUCH more dramatic than most of the chip problems. I would actually probably get beat by a Stock V6 F-150 at this point. It feels like I'm making at best 180-200 horses.