Hi all, new to the forum. Recently purchased an 02 Lightning (first foray into S/Cs, other car is a 12 gt). I was getting in the interstate a week or so back, hit the throttle, truck and supercharger all running just fine. After a strong shift at 9lbs the service engine soon light began to flash for about 15-30 seconds with a little bit of shuddering. Misfire. Ordered new plugs and coils (truck has 88k on the clock, figured might as well do them both and check that box), Wilt waiting on them to come in, truck did the same thing a few days later. It was running normal between the two incidents. Well I had to get it home after that and could tell it was in limp mode, wouldn't rev over ~2200rpms. Let the truck sit until I had a day off to do the tune up. Swapped new NGK tr6s and msd coils in. Noticed all the old plugs were in rough shape and gapped at .06 or higher (to my knowledge truck is stock minud a k&n intake and flowmaster exhaust). New plugs were gapped at .042-46 like it says to. Put it all back together, started up with a rough idle. That mellowed after a minute or so, assumed it was adjusting to the new plugs and coils. Took it for a test drive around the block, as soon as the boost opened up above 6lbs it blew both the lines off the (I apologize I dont know the name of it) the metal pipe with the braided heatshield that runs from the SC down to the exhaust. Put them back on but, now the truck is incredibly weak. Idle is normal, but even floored the tach creeps up. Has a boost ~7 or 8lbs but still wont accelerate worth a damn. Cant find any leaks in the engine and theres still vacuum in all the lines. Going up the hill to the entrance of my neighborhood the truck fell on its face, wouldnt rev over 1900, even with boost. Got it back in the garage, cant find any loose connections and the idle in P is normal. Did notice the engine bay and SC have excessive heat, but gauges reading normal. Crawled underneath and the cats crackled for a good hour and were radiating a serious amount of heat. Im leaning towards fried cats due to the misfire, performance and fuel economy are near non existent right now. The spin around the block was maybe 2 miles and burned 1/8th tank. I was planning on replacing the midpipe and exhaust with magnaflow, but before I pull the trigger on 1200$ in exhaust wondering if anyone has any other ideas as to what it might be. Not sure when the fuel filter and MAF were replaced last, planning to those as well here soon, but the truck gets fuel and idles normal, just feels like its bogged down or held back. Any help would be appreciated. Oh also, no codes and no CEL on. Thanks
Power Loss after plug/coil change
- Thread starter Zombii88
- Start date
Alright, wall of text post, please install a few line breaks on the next go round.
Item #1 SES light flashing is an indicator of a serious condition/problem upon occurrence, you did not indicate you read codes. If you did what codes did you get? If you did not, that is an oversight in any SES situation.
Item #2 If you ever have an issue like this, the last thing you want to do is continue to thump on the engine like normal. A modern car like a '12 GT will have a lot of protections to prevent damage, older systems such as this EEC 5 Lightning will not intervene and in many cases allow misuse to cause irreversible damage. Boosted vehicles do not suffer fools lightly, proper care, feeding, and respect will keep them alive for a long time.
Item #3 Plugs, If you are at stock boost use stock heat range plugs and stock gap, a TR6 is one heat range colder, if the old plug gap was burned open to 0.060" the truck has either been poorly maintained, or suffered detonation to blow the electrodes open. If you have photos of the plugs please share to help with determination of cause. For future reference any Lightning with a slight boost bump should run a TR6 at or around 0.032" to 0.035" plug gap.
Item #4 K&N Intake, which K&N Intake do you have? This vitally important, if you have the older K&N/AEM Bruteforce intake there is a serious problem as they require a tune to work properly. They use a one piece intake tube and MAF housing which is not the stock 90mm housing, it is closer to 100-110mm and will play hell with all aspects of fueling. I have one still on the shelf, not recommended. If your intake reuses the factory plastic MAF housing you are likely fine, anything else is cause for investigation.
Item #6 MSD Coils, these and any others by Accel, Granetelli are considered to be junk, unreliable, and worse than stock, only use Motorcraft OEM or simply throw your money in the trash, at least then you save on shipping.
Item #7 The truck will not have to adjust to new plugs or coils, it doesn't work like that, disconnect your battery to reset, or use a hand held to clear the KAM, this way you can clear any learned behaviors from the situation that triggered this problem in the first place. With the KAM cleared you will see if your tune up has had any effect or not.
Item #8 It sounds like you some how blew the EGR pipe off the exhaust, I have never heard of that happening ever. It suggests a plugged driver side exhaust, likely a failed catalyst, do not drive the truck, and do NOT use boost until that is investigated and resolved. We are talking about losing an engine if you get this wrong, plugged cats and boost usually result in broken pistons. I can explain the mechanics of it, but it is not important at this time.
Item #9 The MAF should (almost) never require replacing, unless damaged or mistreated. A proper cleaning never hurts when reuseable air filters are installed.
Item #10 The Fuel filter should be done every single year, regardless of how good things are running, full stop.
Finally, you have a lot to investigate, the exhaust, the CAI, and the plugs, in that order, you will be lucky if you didn't damage the engine, plugged cats on a boosted motor is usually catastrophic.
Item #1 SES light flashing is an indicator of a serious condition/problem upon occurrence, you did not indicate you read codes. If you did what codes did you get? If you did not, that is an oversight in any SES situation.
Item #2 If you ever have an issue like this, the last thing you want to do is continue to thump on the engine like normal. A modern car like a '12 GT will have a lot of protections to prevent damage, older systems such as this EEC 5 Lightning will not intervene and in many cases allow misuse to cause irreversible damage. Boosted vehicles do not suffer fools lightly, proper care, feeding, and respect will keep them alive for a long time.
Item #3 Plugs, If you are at stock boost use stock heat range plugs and stock gap, a TR6 is one heat range colder, if the old plug gap was burned open to 0.060" the truck has either been poorly maintained, or suffered detonation to blow the electrodes open. If you have photos of the plugs please share to help with determination of cause. For future reference any Lightning with a slight boost bump should run a TR6 at or around 0.032" to 0.035" plug gap.
Item #4 K&N Intake, which K&N Intake do you have? This vitally important, if you have the older K&N/AEM Bruteforce intake there is a serious problem as they require a tune to work properly. They use a one piece intake tube and MAF housing which is not the stock 90mm housing, it is closer to 100-110mm and will play hell with all aspects of fueling. I have one still on the shelf, not recommended. If your intake reuses the factory plastic MAF housing you are likely fine, anything else is cause for investigation.
Item #6 MSD Coils, these and any others by Accel, Granetelli are considered to be junk, unreliable, and worse than stock, only use Motorcraft OEM or simply throw your money in the trash, at least then you save on shipping.
Item #7 The truck will not have to adjust to new plugs or coils, it doesn't work like that, disconnect your battery to reset, or use a hand held to clear the KAM, this way you can clear any learned behaviors from the situation that triggered this problem in the first place. With the KAM cleared you will see if your tune up has had any effect or not.
Item #8 It sounds like you some how blew the EGR pipe off the exhaust, I have never heard of that happening ever. It suggests a plugged driver side exhaust, likely a failed catalyst, do not drive the truck, and do NOT use boost until that is investigated and resolved. We are talking about losing an engine if you get this wrong, plugged cats and boost usually result in broken pistons. I can explain the mechanics of it, but it is not important at this time.
Item #9 The MAF should (almost) never require replacing, unless damaged or mistreated. A proper cleaning never hurts when reuseable air filters are installed.
Item #10 The Fuel filter should be done every single year, regardless of how good things are running, full stop.
Finally, you have a lot to investigate, the exhaust, the CAI, and the plugs, in that order, you will be lucky if you didn't damage the engine, plugged cats on a boosted motor is usually catastrophic.
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Only code it has thrown is P1000 not ready.
Old plugs all show light carbon deposit and look like it's been running lean, no damage or signs of detonated plugs, no oil on plugs.
Intake appears to be k&n 57-2549. Slight blow by residue where the PCV connects to the intake but none in the main housing or on the throttle body.
I have no knowledge of tune or maintenance history on the truck. Makes things harder, I know. Pretty much starting from scratch with it...
Drivers side exhaust flow was very weak compared to passenger side.
I suppose I'll be replacing the exhaust/midpipe/cats, recheck/regap new plugs, clean the MAF, replace fuel filter. It's been sitting for a week, and will be sitting in the garage for the time being.
Thanks
Old plugs all show light carbon deposit and look like it's been running lean, no damage or signs of detonated plugs, no oil on plugs.
Intake appears to be k&n 57-2549. Slight blow by residue where the PCV connects to the intake but none in the main housing or on the throttle body.
I have no knowledge of tune or maintenance history on the truck. Makes things harder, I know. Pretty much starting from scratch with it...
Drivers side exhaust flow was very weak compared to passenger side.
I suppose I'll be replacing the exhaust/midpipe/cats, recheck/regap new plugs, clean the MAF, replace fuel filter. It's been sitting for a week, and will be sitting in the garage for the time being.
Thanks
First things, this is opinion, but you wasted your money on those coils. OEM coils are the best until you reach very high power levels, and then only the weapon-x coils are better.
Second, stock motorcraft plugs on a motor with stock boost(this is not opinion). You just put plugs designed for a cooler heat range when not needed. You are literally delivering a less hot spark.
go through the truck, figure out exactly what mods you have and get back to us. Beating on a poorly maintained supercharged truck with weak rods is a good way to **** shit up in a hurry.
Basic maintenance and a basic knowledge of these trucks goes a long ways.
Here's a good read
http://www.lightningrodder.com/foru...5-lightning-hd-modding-101-superchargers.html
Second, stock motorcraft plugs on a motor with stock boost(this is not opinion). You just put plugs designed for a cooler heat range when not needed. You are literally delivering a less hot spark.
go through the truck, figure out exactly what mods you have and get back to us. Beating on a poorly maintained supercharged truck with weak rods is a good way to **** shit up in a hurry.
Basic maintenance and a basic knowledge of these trucks goes a long ways.
Here's a good read
http://www.lightningrodder.com/foru...5-lightning-hd-modding-101-superchargers.html
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