So theres a guy selling his 03 L with 50k miles..he's NOT the original owner and say's he bought the truck with a 6# pully on it and the trucks NEVER been tuned also claims there no other mods just the pully w/no tune..just how bad is this... im kinda new to Lightnings in general, so hoping you guy's can shed some light on this for me..what problems/damage could occur from pullied L with no tune...should I just look elsewhere ?

 

Never had any experience with this , just what I have read. However, running a 6# pulley with no tune could theoretically cause a lean situation in the motor (too much air, not enough fuel) This in turn can cause a catastrophic failure. There are stories about folks blowing their engine up with this setup, but i have never actually seen it happen. I would be very careful with the truck, but if it still runs well, and has no signs of any abuse, you may have a little leverage with the sale. Make sure you get a stock pulley or a tune before you run it hard though...Just my thoughts.

 

hey bro i was in the same situation as u b4 i bought this truck. ppl were telling me that a 6# lower with no tune is bad but i bought it anyways. i am a newbie when it comes to lightnings too so i didnt know a thing about what to buy and what not to buy. my friend is a huge svt guy and basically guided me through and told me what to watch out for. him being a cobra owner himself, i listen to his advice. so far, what ive gotten from everything i hear not only from him, but from other svt enthusiasts is that IF u have a 6# lower, whether u have a tune or not, its risky, BUT as long as u dont abuse the truck or floor it in cold weather, then u will be ok. my truck is in perfect condition and i have never had a problem with it the 2 months i have had it. i absolutely love it. i drive it everyday and every night it is garaged.

whether u r interested in my truck or not, i just wanted to let u know from my experience and from talking to plenty of other enthusiasts that dont let anyone scare u from a 6# pulley. or any other pulley or mod for that matter. just research b4 u buy and be smart about what decisions u make. my decision to go with my truck was one of the best decisions i ever made. if u get a lightning, u will LOVE it. they are very exciting trucks. best of luck to u and your search of a lightning.

p.s. when i bought the truck from the previous owner, it came with a handheld diablo tuner and im assuming he tuned it that way. like i said i am a newbie to this as well. i really dont know how well a handheld tuner would work

 

Running a 6# pulley with no tune is like playing Russian roulette with 6 bullets in the chamber. Death is emminent.

A quick search of any of the Lightning forums will turn up hundreds if not thousands of horror stories of 6# pullies with a tune (although maybe not a good one) - without a tune is suicide.

 

ER03lightning
This is a shot in the dark, but I think MikeZello is talking about your truck.
I could be wrong.

 

With out a tune a 4 pounder will lean and burn a/several pistons. The noise is a ticking sound. sort of like a leaking exhaust manifold. The 6 pounder is certain to lean out with out a correct tune. reread jollygiants post.

The hand held tuner can import tunes to the computer and can be used by the dyno teck to do a good and safe tune, ( tuner teck has to be knowlageable) The tuner can adjust the air, fuel and timing for the most safe power for street and /or an aggresive tune for high octaine and advanced timing for the track.

when I bought my first lightning it was a year before i modded, I researched all the options and understood the risks and finally ended up with 428 rear hp and 502 torque with a preditor tuner. That is about as far as you want to go on a stock block.

good luck

 

I knew what this was before i even opened the thread
:de vil:

haha

but to entertain this thread some more, as I've read b4, on the 99-00 it is easier to run a 2# lower with out a tune, not so much on the 01-04.

with that said, I would NOT run a 6# w/out a tune

edit you can only have 10 smilies per post!!!

 

When I first got my truck back in 2001, a 2# pulley was pushing your luck.

If nothing else is done to the engine, a 6# pulley can be ran without a tune. (Colder plugs would be a good idea though.) The trucks are rich as all get out from the factory, with conservative timing, and the computer is very adaptive. I would not trust it in freezing cold weather though. Most of the engines I've seen blown over the years were blown because of bad tunes or stupidity. Having said this, I wouldn't run more than a 4# without a good tune myself... Just for piece of mind.


I've been told repeatedly that you can't run over a certain amount of power on a stock block for years. Guess what... If you have the right supporting mods, you can run at least 520 rwhp and 600+ "torques" (As they say on Top Gear). I've been doing it on my daily driver for over 3 years now, without a single issue... Aside from the tranny letting go.

 

lol...you are correct sir.

 

niceley said but I prefer playing Russian roulette with a semi automatic



any pulley change without a tune is silly, you're better off having a tune (even a canned tune)

 

I used to think the same thing. In a way, I still do. You leave a lot of power on the table without a tune, so I don't see the point in running a pulley without one. After all, the point is to get more power. At WOT a 6# pulley is going to be too much in the wrong climate. A 4#er is better. I'm not saying it's the way to go, just that it's not the evil sin of Lightning modding that it's been made out to be over the years. I've ran into guys that were running 6# and 4# pulleys (that they got from "A Guy" a few years ago) and had no idea what a tune even was. Lot's of miles on their trucks without a problem... And not easy miles either. One guy was an outright hooligan behind the wheel. He was close to 70 years old.

 

exactly, why not get the most out of your mods

 

I have been meaning to bring this up lately. The maf meter tell the computer how much air is coming into the engine. The pcm then commands a certain a/f ratio for that given amount of air,plus other things,in wot or open loop. So in theory it does not mater how much more air your running into the motor provided the meter doesn't peg. The only thing about the stock tune is that it is pig rich and no spark. I have experimented with this on my truck. I run a 4# lower and a tweaked canned predator tune. I have taken the tune out just to see what the stock tune would look like on the wideband. It was high 10's and about 10 deg of spark I think,on an 03. Ran like a dog. Alot of people think if you up the boost that you will go lean cause there is more air and the same amount of fuel and if it were a speed density car this may be true but we have a meter that its sole purpose is to tell the computer how much air is going into the motor weather it be 14# of boost or 8# of boost. Now a 6# lower will peg a stock 90mm maf let alone an 80. Then you will get a lean spike because the meter cannot count any higher and more air keeps going in but the computer thinks the same amount of air is going in so it will lean out. LIke you said a colder spark is needed to help curb detonation but with the low timing from the stock pcm anyway it would probably be fine. Granted the stock plugs and their .50 gap will start blowing spark out but whatever. Does this make sense or am I way off basis. If I am wrong tell me why because I am curious. I am just laying out my theory not preaching gossple so if I am wrong its all good,im here to learn. I did use to be a mechanic for a while but I have been out of the buisness for about 9 years and you tend to loose stuff in that time,especially living the lifestyle I did . I hope this isnt considered a derailment because if you think about it,this is exactally what he was asking. Granted yes the 6# will peg the meter but the rest is the same. I dont post much here and I am a bit of a clown in other boards but I am eager to learn.

 

that is how I understand it also, I wouldn't run a 6# with out a tune

I went from a 6# and stock eaton to a 6# and 2.7 on ported eaton and did not change the tune, it was still spot on.

 

Ok so after reading this i have just a quick newbie question about pullies on a stock eaton.

What would be the stock pulley size compared to the #6 or #4 or other numbers. Is the stock pulley like a certain # or is it just refered to as the stock pulley.

As far as the tune goes. Are the preloaded tunes on the diablo tuner good? or should a dyno tune be done? I am using this as a daily driver and granted everyone loves power I don't need it to be uncontrollable or unreliable on a daily basis.