White2000SVT:
Your lightning and mine were built pretty close, Mine started leaking at 4,200 miles about three weeks ago or so. And we have put on about the same mileage. I bought my truck in Sept. how about you? I will keep my fingers crossed for you too, but I won't hold my breath. Good luck
Here is my truck info, close to yours and we both have the rarest color.
'00 white lightning-#2030 of 4966-4/6/00 thursday
2000 Lightning - built on 4-17-00 #2250
4,200 miles and no leak yet (fingers crossed)




------------------
Bill
'00 white lightning-#2030 of 4966-4/6/00 thursday
muth mirrors,door key pad mod,fog light mod, Homelink remote
clear corners, super white; headlights,corners,fogs,
trenz billet upper and lower grills, billet 3rd brake light cover,
Bedrug, harley davidson tonneau cover,
JDM flip chip, JDM lower pulley on order, 90mm mass air, JDM tranny mod,JDM 5"aluminum driveshaft, driveshaft safteyloop on order
J.L. stage 2 ram air kit
BellTech 3/4 lowering kit
2001 tails installed,2001 headlights on order,
20" chrome lightning wheels on order
Bassani exhaust (full meal deal, coated) soon to be installed
more to come....
my zing albums-_-click here-_
'00 harley davidson FLSTC tons of custom parts..
'99.5 nissan pathfinder le-STILLEN EQUIPPED
'88 toyota show truck(TONKA)
'91 toyota mr2 turbo (to many mods to list)
'00 yamaha banshee(toomy race kit/chrome pipes)

 

Just started leaking. Half the tank in last 500 miles. 19700 miles. 99L

 

bought used at 17.2k tank was dry, filled up now had 17.6K and inch down.....2000 L, no mods.

------------------
-White 2000 L, stock, currently, 17.6k miles and having more and more fun with it everyday.

-1991 ford mustang lx conv.
stage 5 Kenny Brown suspension.
302 short block, twisted wedge heads with street fighter port.
Cobra upper and lower intake.
Vortech 8psi huffer.
190lph felp pump with t-rex helper.
36lb injectors.
3.73 geared.
AOD trany customized by the local seeed shop, (Alternative Auto).
Battery Relocated.
2 1/2 inch. off road exhaust.
approx 400hp and always going up, not exact numbers not been on a dyno yet.
Hasnt been to strip, being built for the turns..

 

bought used at 17.2K miles and tank was dry, filled it up and now has 17.6K and inch down from where i filled it up to...2000 L with no mods.

------------------
-White 2000 L, stock, currently, 17.6k miles and having more and more fun with it everyday.

-1991 ford mustang lx conv.
stage 5 Kenny Brown suspension.
302 short block, twisted wedge heads with street fighter port.
Cobra upper and lower intake.
Vortech 8psi huffer.
190lph felp pump with t-rex helper.
36lb injectors.
3.73 geared.
AOD trany customized by the local seeed shop, (Alternative Auto).
Battery Relocated.
2 1/2 inch. off road exhaust.
approx 400hp and always going up, not exact numbers not been on a dyno yet.
Hasnt been to strip, being built for the turns..

 

25,000 miles started leaking getting fixed this week

 

99L #3682, born August 17. Bone stock. Started leaking (slowly--a pint in 250 miles) at about 32,000 miles. When I first mentioned it to the SVT service writer at the dealer, he disclaimed any knowledge. SVT (1-800-FORD SVT) gave me the service bulletin number which I gave to him. Now he is a believer.

Added the die to the IC reservoir this morning; going back Thursday morning for the inspection. More later.

[This message has been edited by Big Red Truck (edited 06-04-2001).]

 

Spoke to SVT today in re: to the intercooler leak. Without being completely commital he said fix would be available within 30 days. Not sure if dealers would even chose to replace intercoolers with another "sure to fail" intercooler at this point. May just want to wait for permanent fix. They suggest you have dealer check for leak and disconnect intercooler in mean time. Im going to wait.

 

Originally employed hdminium's strategy of adding distilled water, but eventually the leak got so bad that I knew the motor would blow if I didn't do something, so I added the BG and it has not leaked a drop since. This is just a stop gap, of course, until I get the i/c replaced with the "new and improved" (?) unit Ford is supposedly coming out with. SVT recommends draining the fluid, but if you do be sure and disconnect the pump or it will burn up without lubrication.

 

Had my ic replaced a couple months ago, noticed leak after reading posts, replaced around 20k, date of build 4/00

 

On June 4 I reported that my dealer added the tell-tale dye to the intercooler reservior of my 99L (#3682, August 17, 1999) and told me to drive around and come back today. I did. And I did. The SVT tech told me to go back out there and come back after AT LEAST ONE PINT of fluid (with dye) has leaked out of the system. He needs that much to provide visible traces. Mine is a slow leak. (Conveniently, the difference between the low and high cold-fill marks on the reservior is just about a pint.)

What SVT told him to do when I return sure got my attention. No more looking at O2 sensor tips or spark plugs. After a painstaking examination for external leaks, he will remove the S/C and inspect the I/C air passages with a black light. If he finds dye traces, he'll check for excessive exhaust back-pressure--an indication of catalytic converter damage--and for spark plug damage. He'll order replacement parts as needed. He said I'll get the "new kit": '01 I/C and upper intake manifold.

Unanswered questions at this time: How long will the dealer (and I) have to wait for the parts? and, Will my truck be off-the-road while we wait for parts?

I'm off to L.A. this weekend to help my saintly mother celebrate her 89th birthday (Gawd, that means I must be getting old, too). That's a 1,000-mile round trip, so I should have lost sufficient coolant and dye for the visual check. I'll post what happens next week.

 

I've got 7000 mi. on my second IC. No leaks on this one yet.

Total miles on truck = 25,240.

------------------
Red 00"
Pro-M mass air
Swanson chip
Aluminum driveshaft
Jay Lincoln homemade
traction bars
*******'s bed cover
Wet Okoles
Lightning floor mats
Email: jaylincolncobra@aol.com

"UNLESS YOU'RE THE LEAD DOG, THE VIEW NEVER CHANGES"
http://www.zing.com/album/?id=4292716723

 

Finally developed a leak after two years of service. Checked coolant level and it was on the low side. That's ok if it was evaporation
only. Added a pint of 50/50 mix and checked it after 3 days and it was at the low level. LEAK !! Called a local non SVT dealer and asked if they have changed out any IC's, they said several and bring it in. I asked if I had to remove chip & filter, answer was no, they don't care, leave them on. Great. Dropped off L about 3 weeks ago & they are still waiting on intake gasket. They are supposed to be on national backorder. So, there is my story. Any one had this story from the dealer?

------------------
1999 RED Lightning, DOB 3-16-99, Build #043, 25,000 miles.Full Bassani Xhaust,R9 Superchip, Downs Filter Kit, Valvoline Synpower 5W30,Ti tint, 2" shackle drop, Zaino.

 

I bought mine used and the original owner had the IC leak at 22,000. Has 26,800 now and waiting for the 'real' fix.
SV

------------------
99 red L
#957 of 4000
5/5/99

 

mine started leaking @ 9000 miles and mow I'm @ 9800 miles and taking it to the dealer next week. build date is in sig.

------------------
2000 White lightning #4494
Born on 8/3/00
Delivered 10/18/00
Magnaflow #12568
Snuglid
Line-x

 

Big Red Truck,

our trucks are brothers, might as well be twins, except for the color, I have the one right after yours, or right before, I dont care to say which (but it looks like I am a little quicker ).

Thanks for sharing you information, but it looks like there arent batches of good ones or bad ones, I think its just a matter of time before each and every one go bad, and it looks like a life expectency of 30k miles, max.

I will be surprized to hear a 2001 Lightning getting over 30k miles without a leak. From what I hear the '01 intercoolers are one row larger, but the same design, which tells me its a couple more welds that could break.

Wanna hear something funny, a guy at the Ford Dealership today asked ME if Ford had a fix out for it. I looked at him, his name tag, and the Ford service writer uniform he was wearing, and told him they keep saying another few weeks.

My computer is still down, I borrowed this one from a tech savy bum on the street to type this, better get going!

ITS A GOOD THING I HAVE THE 100k mile warranty.