Going out tomorrow to look at a 2003 Black Lightning, 50,000Kms on it, the dealer wants only $14,900. To me this seems like a smokin deal. It is at a Nissan dealership, probably a trade in. Anyway, what should I be looking out for? Are these trucks prone to any major issues that I may not notice during a look over and a test drive? I am going to do a carfacts on the VIN, and I was thinking of taking it to a Ford dealer and see if they can hook it up for me and let me know if there are any problems.

I understand that these trucks are driven hard, but hopefully they are built to handle it?

I appreciate any input. I've been wanting one of these trucks for a long time, was planning on waiting until the summer but at this price I don't want to pass it up!

Thanks!

 

Nevermind... truck has a salvaged title...

Too good to be true

 

Well I found another truck to check out. 2001 w/65,000kms Any tips?

 

Yes they usually are driven hard, and yes they were built to handle it... that being said, there are some things you will need to look for. Make sure to do a compression test and verify that the truck is in good shape across all 8 cylinders. Also check ofr excessive noise from the supercharger. Carfax is your friend, and most dealerships will provide one for free if they think a sale depend on it. Take a look at the rear end and suspension, a good weak point for an abuse truck. Also take note of the transmission and clutch. Past that, as long as you have a dealer check it out, you should be fine. The 5.4L is the bigger bro to the 4.6L, and those modular motors are really great engines! One thing though, do be sure to check to see that there is not chain slap in the front of the motor. A set of timing chains can be costly to replace, and even more costly if it breaks. Good luck with the buy!

 

Also look for go fast goodies. While they can sometimes increase the price of the vehicle, I am not a fan of them. You really don't know who installed them, how they installed them (properly or no), and is a good sign that the truck has been abused. That is why I personally like to hop up my own stuff, that way I know it is done right.

 

I was told the truck had the motor replaced at 27,000 miles. Since it has 47,000 on it I dont think I need to be too worried about that?

Any idea what numbers I should be expecting on a compression test?

 

Sort of worries me that the truck had to have a new motor after just 20K. As far as the comp ratio, I think it actually was pretty low, something like 8.4:1 or 8.5:1, due to the needs of the supercharger.

 

I've posted this a few times over the years as people have asked for tips. Hope something here helps.

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'99-'02 model year had the heads with 4 threads per spark plug holes. This causes a situation where the spark plugs are easily launched from the heads. This problem is not limited to the Lightnings, as all the modular engines Ford made have this problem. Starting with the '03 model year, Ford started using heads with more threads in the spark plug holes.

The '99 and '00 model year L's produced 360hp and 440 ft. lbs of torque and had 3.55 gears in the diff.

Starting in '01, due to slight changes by Ford (80mm MAF to a 90mm MAF and some other tweeking), the L's produced 380hp and 450 ft. lbs of torque and were now sporting 3.73 gears in the diff.

Ford also stopped using the 3.5" steel driveshaft and started putting a 4.5" aluminum driveshaft in the L's in '01.

All of the Gen 2 L's have the 4R100 tranny. A very stout unit used by Ford for the 7.3L PSD's.

There were intercooler issues on the 99-00 models. The problem was, they leaked bad. Ford, under a "Customer Satisfaction" program, replaced the intercoolers for free. IC's aint cheap, so if you ever look at a 99/00 model year truck, make sure the IC was replaced. Although it's been so long ago, It would be hard to believe there are any 99/00 L's out there with their original IC's.

Look for obvious stuff. Has it been modified and how extensively? If it has been modified, were there any custom tunes put on the truck? If so, how? Chip or flash and who wrote the tune? Someone reputable?

I'd also check how many owners the L has had. Are you buying from a younger adult or an older adult?

One thing I do is look at the engine bay. You can USUALLY ascertain if the present owner has kept the bay clean, or if its just been recently cleaned because it's for sale.

I look for this because, even though its very subjective, usually if the owner is meticulous enough to keep the engine bay clean all the time, then he has an eye for detail and will usually treat/work on/modifiy and generally take better care of the truck than someone who doesn't clean the engine bay.

Again, that's not a hard and fast rule, but I've found it to be true more times than not.

Also, get an Oasis report and a Carfax. You can never have too much info.


No clutches in the Lightning trucks. They all came with the same 4R100's found in the 7.3L PSD. Same innards, just in a different case.

Stewart

 

Doh! True, but I have seen a couple that have been converted. They showed one on Trucks a few years ago that had a six speed (T-56), Grabber Blue and black. Of course it was custom done though. The few I have seen that were manuals though were tubbed out drag trucks. But you are right, all were autos from Ford.

 

It woulda been a really nice option tho!

Stewart

 

Most definitely. I will have to see if I can Youtube it... the episode was on a few years ago, pretty slick!