i know the recall was done for the intercooler i called ford about it. i just pulled out the intercooler and there was some anti freeze down there. does this mean i'm goin to need a new intercooler? i'm goin to go ahead and continue on the cleaning but i need to know if i should put it back in and still run it until i can get a new one? i have pics i'm gonna try to get them on here asap. i read about this and it has me a little worried. so if you have any info on this please reply asap. thank you in advanced

 

I would not unless you can find a 01-04 replacement.

Mike

 

those three you can see the green this is a link to the other 2 pics of it https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?num=15268 i will post the pics of the nasty s/c and t/b later i just need answers on this now. today is my b-day and all i wanted to do was clean this and now i think i found some bad stuff. not cool. how to i clean that area down in there? i'm using carb cleaner and brake cleaner on the rest but i dont want that stuff getting inside the engine what the best coarse of action for gettin that crap out? please help thank you

 

i tried to get the pics to pop up in the thread but i dont know how. but the links work i just checked them

 

do you have a '99-'00...looks like intercooler recall was not done. gonna need to replace your current i/c, no way around it. can you continue to run the truck with the bad i/c? i won't if that was my truck.

check if cleaner you're using has acetone in it..should work great. is this the area you're asking about? if yes, blast away and wipe off with a rag

 

Do you lose alot of intercooler fluid from the reservoir?
Maybe get a cap and hose clamp on one side and garden hose and clamp the other side while its out and see if you can see a leak. If it is a updated 10 row charge cooler maybe it can be fixed. If it holds pressure then you can start looking for some other problem.

Hateful birthday present.

Good luck

 

when i first got the tuck i called ford and they told me that the only thing open for this truck is the cruise control. would the intercooler still be listed even if it wasnt done? what i was hoping is that maybe it was done the just didnt clean up after it? and that's just be sitting in there. svtjedi could you explain a lil more on how to test my intercooler? plug one side and hook the other up with a garden hose and turn it on to check for leaks correct?

 

Yea, just pressurize it basically is all I was saying and see if it leaks. From where I sit behind the keyboard its hard to tell whats up so I was just trying to get as much info out of you as I can, like how much intercooler fluid do you add on a weekly basis? There's alot of good people on here who can help you out with almost any problem if the right information gets conveyed. Btw I bet a radiator shop could test it real cheap if you wanted.

 

i messed with it a little bit. didnt see anything. so i cleaned everythign up and put it back together. my wife deploys in a little over a month. so i'll take it apart then and check again that way i still have a car to drive around. i bought some of that radiator stop leak stuff i read in a post that people used that and it worked. thanks for the advice

 

Stop leak may stop the leak but it will also block all the passages and render the intercooler useless.

Find the leak and take it to a rad shop or buy a new one. A band aid is just that...

 

i've been looking on line for a new one but i cant fine one anywher every time it pulls some thing up for "ford lightning intercooler" it pulls up heat exchangers and they look nothing like the intercooler. any suggestions for that. i would like to upgrade to the set-up in the 01-04 models anyone know of a site to get the kit? or atleast see what come in it?

 

Your pictures show the original (bad) intercooler. You're going to want to get the proper replacement.



This shows the 10 row replacement cooler. The failures occur where the 9 tubes (8 in the case of the "bad" units) are brazed into the bulkheads on each end. The middle tubes are usually the first to crack but eventually any of them can. This is why fixing leaks won't do much good long term.

 

ahh..well i called ford they want 1400 bucks for the upgrade replacement. i cant afford that right now. do you know where i can find the upgrade replacement? or even another 8 row that doesnt leak. i'm only an A1C i cant afford the 1400. but i really want to get that fixed. any help?

 

I have one used but leak checked. PM me.

 

lurker it wont let me pm you and i cant send you emails. could you try emailing or PMing me.