Just got off the phone with ford and svt they both say that intercoolers are on back order and will not be available for another 45 days. Great news for me they have had my truck for 35 days now and will not let me drive it unless I want to void the warranty. Ford customer service sucks. No more fords for me got that nasty ford taste in my mouth.

 

If it were me, and hopefully I will never be in your situation, I would be bitching for some monetary compensation. Are you paying 500 or more a month to drive a rental, or a SVT Lightning? Once its past 2 weeks or so I would be super pissed.

 

I would talk to a dealer rep. from Ford and see about getting a comparable vehicle ($$$) to drive while they don't want you drive the L. Complain until your satisfied!

 

Right on. The rental vehical should be nothing less than a comparable Lightning, nothing less. If you see any Roush or Cobra Mustangs, through them into the options. Drive it like you stole it. ))

 

I would be talking lemon-law buyback to those twits.

There is no excuse for not being able to fix your vehicle for two or three months.

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Regards,
Gordon

'99 Red Lightning
Johnny Lightning Superchip
Johnny Lighting Ram Air Kit
Century Tonneau
Best 1/4 mi. ET: 13.249 secs

 

I would ask dealer. If they want the truck lemon lawed like some of the 99cobras.

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2001 Silver Lightning on order
2000 F150 Extend Cab 4x4 Off Road,5.4L
99.5 Black Lighting
#1277
SOLD
2000 Mustang GT Convertible
SOLD
99 Triumph Speed Triple
955cc,Roulette Green,Corbin Seat,Carbon Fiber Silencer,Fry Screen,Carbin Fiber Tank Pad

 

hmmm, my L diagnosed two weeks ago with case of Leakin I/C,got a call yesterday from rodman ford, told my I/C is in and scheduled my appt for this monday, two week wait on I/C,you should do a little research or maybe call s.v.t. to find out whats up.we too were told it was on backorder but that was two weeks ago,have 17000 miles on my 99 black L

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99.5 L, k&n filtercharger,chip and accesories

 

Ford is only going to give me a rental for 14 days. SVT and Ford both told me another 45 days and customer service acted like they didn't care. I called them five times and didn't get one return call. Only by telling them that it is bullsh_t did the girl slip up and tell me that the intercooler is 45 day out. I was told 3 times by the dealer in the last 35 days that ford had shipped the part when it didn't arrive the dealer said that ford screwed up and they didn't know when the part would arrive. By the way the seat cover they are going to replace also isn't comming in for another 45. I wish I knew more about the lemon law or could start a lawsuit, man it burns my -ss that Ford doesn't stand behind it's products.

 

I'm still waiting on the I/C. It's been 2 weeks and ETA is still about 1.5 MONTHS away. SVT said no problem on small leaks with driving or warranty. I'd be dorked if I couldn't drive my truck for that long. You should at least get as much of an extension on your warranty as you have down time.
Kent

 

Glad I didn't have them tear into mine until all the parts arrive. Still driving it; just not adding any more antifreeze to it. Using a mixture of distilled water and alcohol, and, on the sage advice of another board member, rust inhibitor and water pump lube. Actually I am sort of glad for this parts delay because it means that the supplier is building new ones, and Ford is not going to be sending me one of the old ones off the shelf. I hope it also means that the new batch has been reengineered so that it is not going to fail. I seem to recall that someone who had their intercooler replaced recently said that the new one seemed to be a lot more heavily soldered than the old one. Does anyone have any concrete info about this?



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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

'84 Alan Record Carbonio, Aerospoke wheels, Campy brakes.
'00 SVT Lightning, silver, G-tech Pro, JBA headers, 4.10 gears, Swanson chip, Pro-M, NGK plugs, carbon drive shaft, Roadmaster suspension kit
13.39 @ 102.5
2001 Kevlacat 2400, twin 115 Evinrude FICHT, Raytheon VHF, radar, autopilot and GPS chartplotter/fishfinder.

gmvye@pacbell.net

 

alphadoggy
Sure do hate to drop this on you right before Christmas but the only thing that will be new about the intercooler is that it will be new to you. Check the part numbers real good when they go to install the intercooler. Here is another thought for you. If and when there is a new intercooler for the 1999 and 2000 Lightnings and it fixes the leaking issues. What will it cost? I am not talking DOLLARS but rather Performance. Will it flow as well as the 1999 design? Will it flow better, like the claimed improved design of the 2001. Could this scenario happen. The leak issue is fixed but air flow is impeded and now you have a Lightning that cannot attain it's previous level of performance. Just a few thoughts for a Sunday afternoon.

P.S. I check with Ford parts every week for availability of the 2001 lower manifolds and intercooler. It is my plan to swap out my own hardware. I have yet to be back to the dealer for service.
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BABolt
SVT#290




[This message has been edited by BABolt (edited 12-17-2000).]

 

BABolt,

You bring up a good point about intercooler design. If mine ever goes out, I will get it replaced...even if it takes awhile. But, after I get the truck back, if performance is down then the truck is gone. Period.

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Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--597rwhp/590rwtq
96 Cobra (12.34 @ 115.8)--392rwhp/433rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.8)--364rwhp/447rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/index.html

 

Well, BA, in that case it seems like it would just be a waste of time to install the same intercooler because there is no doubt in my mind that eventually that sucker is going to fail, too. I like your solution of installing the '01 unit. I don't know that much about mechanics, and I was under the impression that it was not retrofittable to the 99's and 00's.
What other parts would be required to change out besides the lower intake manifolds?

 

I think Ford should replace every 99-00 lightnings with a 2001 intercooler and intake manafold. Being a Special Vehical I feel we should get special service. They should have a special loaner vehical, and if it takes more than 30 days they should give you a free extendened warantee.

 

alphadoggy
I believe that in the short term you will be stuck just like the rest of us in using the current design intercooler. It will buy you time and some safety because you cannot continue to operate your vehicle with a leaking intercooler no matter what you use for a coolant. I have not viewed the new 2001 production intercooler and intake manifolds yet but I do have them on order. Yes there will be issues to adapting them with some of the 1999 hardware.I believe that Ford will offer a fix but I have no way of knowing when and what it will consist of. I expressed a concern that I have and that is what price will the leak-free intercooler extract. Could there be a performance loss or could we have the gain that is being touted for the 2001. I try to look at both sides of the coin and in this case I sure hope that we turn up as winners.

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BABolt
SVT#290




[This message has been edited by BABolt (edited 12-17-2000).]