I was changing the oil today and checked the level of the intercooler... guess what - hardly any in it. What's the deal here? Am I the first with this?? The intercooler was supposed to be replaced with a 2001 unit, correct? Well, with 4,000 miles on the "new and improved" unit, it has indeed gone south. The previous intercooler lasted 15,000 miles, and was still good when they took it out. Needless to say, I am a bit angry that this happened... again.

Phil

 

This is NOT good. Keep us informed. Please.

 

the saga continues

 

I too have a bad feeling about this. My mailer tube/friendly recall paperwork is still sitting on my desk in my office.

Other than the chip/filter/exhaust mods, none of which are radical, my truck is still at 18000 miles and almost three years of service with it's original almost everything except oil and filters Sorry, two tires damaged and not repairable.

Original radiator fill/intercooler fill, brake fluid/pads/rotors, plugs and coil packs and, well, all as delivered in May 1999.

I am probably not alone in not really wanting my selling dealer to start messing with my engine if I don't actually have the problem in this case of a leaking intercooler.

I would hope that any others that are having failures on the new and improved intercooler replacement will post that information.

As a btw, has anyone tried to determine if intercooler failures on 99/00 models are in any way related to the driving habits of the owners that have experienced failure? I have never had mine at the strip. Flame me if you will, but my perhaps two dozen "contests" have been safely in my opinion done on the street and usually confined to let us say 15 mph to maybe 80/90 mph. No burnouts and tire cleaning, no sustained use of the boost over long periods of time and only two attempts to bury the speedo on long straights with no traffic about.

In other words, if one does not aggressively use the performance potential of the motor on a constant basis is the intercooler likely to survive very well thank you?
Bill

 

My truck has been to the track a few times - maybe six times since November of '99. I don't drive it very hard - just the occasional wide open blast... I am a volunteer firefighter so, time is of the essence in some cases. Other than that, I maintain 12-13 mpg... not really sure what others are getting, so I don't know if that's bad or not.
This has all left a very unsettling feeling in me. I am nearing the end of the warranty, and would like to get things starightened out for good. I have a list of items that need taken care of, so I guess I will have it at the dealer on Monday... this is going to suck, I can just feel it.
Am I the first that we know of with this? I seem to remeber a post a while back about someone having a blown intercooler in an '01... I could be wrong though. Is it possible that it isn't a blown intercooler and something else?

Phil

 

Keep us posted. I FINALLY broke down and had the new revised intercooler installed Thursday, replacing a non-leaking intercooler. I hope I made the right decision

 

do 2001 intercoolers use oil also ? i thought they where cooled by antifreeze?

 

I think you misunderstood... he was changing his oil and at the same time noticed that the intercooler reservoir was low on antifreeze mix

 

thanx DB just got off work

 

did you get the intercooler replaced after the recall came out?
can you find your paperwork & look on there to see what was replaced?
heres my work order:



if they did replace it with the new one, perhaps you just got a bad one..
if only a few of the "new and improved" intercoolers fail, it will be better than what it was with the 99-00 intercoolers.

what i mean is, not everything is 100% perfect in this world. there are bound to be a few bad 01-02 intercoolers out there.

 

I had the recall performed after I recieved the information in the mail. I sat with them when they ordered the parts so that I could make sure the right parts were ordered.
I understand that everything in this world is not 100%guaranteed... I guess my biggest concern is having to drop it off and leave it at the dealer again. I should be getting frequent flier miles for every time that it's been to the dealer. We'll see what they say tomorrow.
Thanks for your help guys, I 'll keep you updated when it goes in.

Phil

 

Hi Bill,

Glad to see you are still around. You were gone for a while and missed all the Numerous Intercoolers that Leaked on Trucks that saw NO MODS, and NO RACING. There are those that Leaked and those that will.

93Colbra,
Like Bill Murray, I have had my Lightning since May 99 and I just extended my Warranty another 3 Yrs for Just that reason. I would like to know what your Supercharger & intercooler looks like when It comes off.

Jim

 

clonetec i see they replaced your rims under warrenty,my rims are pealing around the edges they want to paint them which is cool because im gonna specify a different color

 

svt360: i think the rims need to be powdercoated.. if they just paint them, i bet it will peel off when they mount the tires.

 

Bill,

That's a good theory but I have to say from what I've seen that's not the case. Mine leaked right on time at about 16,000 miles but luckily the new intercooler had been out for about 3 weeks. I double checked the part# before they put it in so I know I got the right one (besides it had 10 rows of cooling fins instead of 9). Fast1matt runs at the track all the time and had 32,000 miles on his intercooler before he had it replaced a couple of months ago. The original one was not leaking btw. It's just the luck of the draw.

If I were you I would have it replaced. Just ask around to see who in your area had one done and how it turned out. That's what I did and it paid off.