Lightning Supercharger swap into an 04 Expi write-up

[boiler71]

Lightning Supercharger swap into an 04 Expi

As promised, here is the write-up on our Lightning supercharger (SC) install. This write-up is not intended to teach anyone anything. If you undertake this swap, you do so at your own risk. This write-up is strictly for informational purposes. This write-up is specific to a 2004 Expedition (I assume the 03 would be identical). If you have a 1st generation Expi, the install should require less fab work. This swap will only work for the 5.4L 2V motors.

If you find any errors, please feel free to make corrections. I take no pride in ownership here.

Gathering parts:

There are plenty of Lightning SCs available out there…eBay, Lightning Rodder forum (www.lightningrodder.com), and National Lightning Owners Club (www.nloc.net) always have some listed. Both forums have a for-sale section that should have 90% of what you will need to do this swap. What you can’t find there, at your local salvage yard, or your local Ford dealer, you can get through Mike Dunn at Mad Enterprises. Mike has an AWESOME list of all the parts that you will need to complete this swap (http://www.madenterprise.com/catalog/scparts.htm). Whatever you can’t find yourself, Mike can get for you. I used him for the Lightning intake manifold bolts, SC pulley bridge bolts, and the Lightning alternator brackets. He hooked me right up. He is incredibly knowledgeable about Lightnings and can answer any question you may have. NOTE: If you have the plastic Expi intake manifold as we did, you will have to purchase new intake bolts. You can reuse the thermostat housing bolts however.

UPDATED ITEM Both our SC units came with 42# injectors (stock size). Because these injectors were an older style, we had to purchase adapters to connect our Expi injector connectors. We hit Summit Racing and purchased their Ford Racing kit, part # M-14464-U2J. I believe the kit was $50. Anyways, just wanted to add that to the parts list.

One additional part I would like to mention here that is not required but certainly recommended by most is the oil separator. Depending on the brand you choose, this item will be important very early in the assembly process. An oil separator simply removes any oil from the PCV hose prior to entering the plenum. When the engine is under boost, the SC will actually suck oil through the PCV and draw it into the SC and then into intercooler (IC) itself. Over time, the oil clogs up the vents on the IC reducing its effectiveness…not to mention making a big mess inside the plenum, SC, and the IC. The two pics below show a clean IC vs. an oil-soaked IC.





Lightning SC 101: Ford used 2 different SC assemblies on the Lightning: the 1999 & 2000 model years used a 9-row IC and the 2001-2004 used a 10-row IC. According to most folks on the Lightning forums, the 9-row IC assembly tends to leak coolant over time and was a recall item by Ford. I didn’t know there was a difference when I bought either of my units and of course, I ended up with one of each. To hopefully alleviate any future leakage problems, I opted to purchase the 9-row Xtreme (aftermarket) IC from Lightning Force Performance (http://www.lightningforceperformance.com).

Now onto the fun stuff!

Disassembly:



As you can see our Expi motor compartment looks like most any other. The only mods we did prior to SC installation were a Poweraid throttle body spacer, a K&N CAI, Flexalite electric fans, and a PA Performance 200 amp alternator.

We started by removing everything associated with the Expi plenum and intake manifold. You will notice that the heater hose connection on the manifold is different between the Lightning and the Expi.

Here is what you will see with everything off:



SC Install:

With everything apart, this is a GREAT time to swap spark plugs. During my research, I found that a lot of Lightning owners use the NGK TR-6 plugs gapped at .035. I have always been a Motorcraft guy but when in Rome, do as the Romans.

For intake gaskets, we went with Felpro for the 2003 Lightning. The only difference between the Lightning intake gaskets and Expi intake gaskets is an extra alignment pin on the top side (fits into a hole on the Lightning intake). I highly recommend replacing all the gaskets during the install. If you get a SC with the 9-row IC assembly, any of your local parts stores can get the gaskets for you for about $80 or so. The 10-row assembly is quite a bit pricier ($170). For our 10-row assembly, I called Sam at Bob Utter Ford (http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?siteid=213787) and he really hooked us up. He sold me the 10-row gaskets for $103. Quite a big difference in price. Bob Utter Ford sells at wholesale prices; I highly recommend giving them a call…ask for Sam.

NOTE: Depending on your choice of oil separator, this will be a critical step. The factory Lightning PCV hoses form a giant “T”. The long edge of the T connects to a nipple on the lower rear of the Lightning intake manifold. This nipple is inaccessible once the intake is installed. One end of the short side connects to the PCV valve and the other to the plenum directly behind the IAC. We choose an oil separator manufactured by L&S Automotive (L&S website: http://www.lnsauto.com/articles/for...ford_truck_performance_20051001_article.shtml). Per the L&S instructions, the long side of the T is disconnected from the other two sides and a plastic cap is used to block it (the long side) off. We simply discarded the entire T and affixed the plastic cap directly to the nipple. This step simply gave us less clutter around the intake and fuel rail.

Intake and midplate ready to go in. For the record, my wife Cass (pictured here) performed this install with me. She had almost as much gunk under her nails as I did once we were done.



Once the new gaskets and intake were in place, we ran the bolts down finger tight and grab the torque wrench. After the intake was torqued to spec using the below factory diagram, we installed the fuel rail.


We made sure to lube the injector o-rings with light oil prior to install. Note: Although the Lightning uses a fuel return on the rail, it isn’t necessary on the 04 Expi. The 04 Expi has a mechanical fuel return system at the fuel filter (third fuel line heading back to the tank). For fuel delivery, we went with a Walbro 255 lph fuel pump (can be purchased at Jegs, Summit, eBay, etc). Although it was about a ½” taller than the original 120 lph fuel pump, we had no real issues swapping it out. Even the electrical connections were identical. We did swap out the fuel pump first as we had access to a lift and the Expi started and drove fine the week prior to SC install.

After the intake and fuel rail, we used this time to make the heater connection. I raided the local part store’s collection of pre-bent heater hose and found a 5/8” hose with a 45 degree angle that we attached to the Lightning manifold. We also lucked out and found a 5/8” “U” shaped piece that connected our factory Expi T-connector to the 45 degree hose.

 

[boiler71]

After we marveled in our accomplishments so far…especially since have discussed this install since July, we installed the new midplate gasket and midplate (with IC attached) to the intake manifold. NOTE: when installing the new IC gasket we used some Indian head gasket shellac and thread lock on the bolts. While there was no torque sequence listed in the factory manual, the torque spec is 53 ib-in for the IC bolts. The first time we installed the IC and fired up the motor, we heard an ear-splitting squeal. After extensive troubleshooting and disassembly, we discovered we had an air leak between the IC and the midplate.

At this time, we only installed the 4 rear midplate bolts finger tight.



Next we put the new SC gasket in place and installed the SC assembly. (We recommend removing the plenum from the SC prior to SC install. It will make torquing the rear bolts easier.) Just as we did with the intake bolts, we installed the midplate/SC bolts finger tight. The torque sequence and specs are below.



Intake, midplate, and SC install complete:



With the intake, midplate, and SC now installed, we moved onto the IC lines and vacuum harness. The IC lines consist of two black steel tubes that bolt to the passenger side of the SC and connect to the IC with 5/8” heater hose elbows. The other ends of the black steel IC lines were hooked up later.

Let’s take a moment and discuss the vacuum harness. The Lightning uses a boost by-pass solenoid and a barometric sensor. Because we used our original Expi wiring harness and computer, we did not need either of these connections. These two devices along with the EGR solenoid and DPFE sensor are mounted on a black bracket that attaches to the driver side of the SC. We basically cut the bracket in half so that all we had on it were the EGR solenoid and DPFE sensor.

Why does this matter with regard to vacuum, well…without the by-pass solenoid or barometric sensor, the stock Lightning vacuum harness could be trimmed down. We removed all the lines that would connect to the boost by-pass solenoid and the barometric pressure sensor. If you look at the harness with relation to the sensor positions, it should be fairly obvious which ones to cut out. When I do the SC install in my truck, I will get pics of those deleted lines and update this post.

On the driver side harness, there is a black vacuum connection with a red and black line coming out of it. The ********* end connects to the nipple on the midplate (located about halfway between the front and rear of the assembly on the driver’s side). The red plastic line connects to the fuel pressure regulator. On the black line, we added a T-fitting…one end connects to a boost/vac gauge and the other end connects to the top nipple on the boost by-pass motor (black vacuum motor at the upper driver corner of the SC. This motor remains in the open position during non-boost moments (idle, cruising, etc) and the closes during hard acceleration (under boost). Its purpose is to release boost back into the plenum when it isn’t needed. We will address the passenger side vacuum lines once the plenum is bolted on. The bottom nipple on the by-pass motor remains open/disconnected.

At this point we attached the plenum, throttle body, and throttle cable/cruise control cable bracket. Back to the vacuum lines from earlier, there is another ********* vacuum connection that wraps around the back of the SC assembly toward the passenger side and attaches to the plenum forward of the IAC motor.

The final vacuum connection was a black plastic line that ran towards the passenger fender. This is the main feed for the Expi’s vacuum system. We just plugged it into the rubber hose that our original Expi vacuum harness plugged into.

Onto the electrical connections:

For the electrical connections, we had to lengthen the wires for the IAT, IAC, and TP sensor. We routed our IAC and TP sensor connectors around the back side of the motor and then up the passenger side to connect. Lightnings use two IAT sensors…one at the air filter and one on the intake manifold. Since our harnesses only have provisions for one IAT, we connected to the one on the intake manifold. This gives our computer the most accurate IAT reading since it measures the charged air temperature (post boost) vs. the ambient air at the filter. Our tuner had to adjust for this when he wrote our starter tune. The DPFE and EGR sensor connections were already the proper length. NOTE: because we decided to use the EGR system, we had to use the Lightning EGR tube. The Expi tube is way too short.

We had to use the Lightning throttle and cruise control cable for this install. Both Expi cables were entirely too long. Changing the cruise cable took about 30 seconds. The throttle cable was a little different. I’m guessing the Expi’s firewall sits back further than the Lightnings. I say that because once I connected both ends of the throttle cable, the pedal sat way too high and the throttle plates were open about 1/8”. As you can see in the pics, we cut the throttle cable portion of the bracket and moved it forward about 11/16”. Doing so will allowed the plates to close normally and the gas pedal to rest in a more natural position.



At this point, the SC portion of the install was complete.

Lightning alternator and SC drive belt install:

We had to use the Lightning alternator for this swap as the factory Expi alternator was too deep and would have hit the SC. The Lightning alternator mounts the same as the Expi alternator to include the battery cable. The Expi regulator plug had to be changed to plug into the Lightning alternator. I bought mine from Carquest but can’t find the part number and my parts guy has no idea what I’m talking about. Did a quick search and found a name and part number for you. The plug is a PICO Wiring # 5702C. It is a 3-lead plug that fits most late-model Fords. We cut off the Expi plug and wired the new plug as follows: yellow lead to Expi orange & light blue and green lead to Expi brown & pink. The middle lead on the new plug (white) was not connected (in other words, it is not needed). The middle connection on the Expi harness is also not connected. According to my factory tech manual, the middle connection (tan and light green) is only a communication line. NOTE: we have had no issues with our charging system after the install. Voltmeter on dash is functioning normally and battery voltage while engine is running is around 13.9 volts at idle. Our Expi had 2 radio interference capacitors attached to the timing cover. These were relocated higher up (one on the alternator bracket and the other to the power steering reservoir bracket) to make way for the pulley bridge.

The SC belt drive consists of a crankshaft mounted pulley, 2 idler pulleys, and a tensioner pulley NOTE: the SC tensioner IS NOT available at the local parts stores. I forgot to order one so we had to hit up our local dealer where we found one for $106. Sam at Bob Utter Ford has them for $54. The stock Lightning produces 8# of boost. This can be changed by swapping out the crank pulley or the SC pulley. Again, the forums are good places to find these pulleys or you can buy new at Lightning Force Performance or various other vendors. Initially we thought we were installing a 2# lower pulley (thus increasing our boost to 10#s). We found out on the dyno that we actually installed a 4# pulley (totaling 12#s of boost). The consensus from everyone that I talked to prior to starting this project recommended not going over 10#s total as our bottom ends couldn’t take the stress. Proceed at your own risk on that one. The lower pulley mounts to the factory dampener with 3 allen head bolts.

The pulley bridge (consisting of the belt tensioner and two 90mm idler pulleys) did require some modification as the Expi’s have an additional idler pulley on the driver’s side of the timing cover that the Lightnings do not. We opted to remove the lower ear on the driver’s side of the pulley bridge. Using 1/8” thick by 1” wide flat steel, we bent up two pieces and “sandwiched” the pulley bridge between them. The metal bracket then snaked around the timing cover pulley and mounted to the bolt behind the pulley (see pics). We have had the install done for almost a week now with no issues.

 

[boiler71]

IC Plumbing (mounting of heat exchanger, IC pump, and IC reservoir):

The IC uses an electric water pump to circulate water through the IC system. The pump is gravity fed from the reservoir and then discharges into the heat exchanger and then up to the IC. Since we had already installed electric fans from Flexalite (the BEST customer service I’ve ever experienced), we mounted the IC reservoir on the passenger side of the radiator support.

We used a bracket from Flexalite that is especially built for the Lightning reservoir and then fabbed up two ¼” thick pieces of flat steel stock. The flat stock mounts to the radiator support and then the reservoir mounts to that. The discharge side of the reservoir required a 1” heater hose. We used a piece 6” long and then slipped a piece of ¾” hose into that to connect to the IC pump inlet (used ½ of a ¾” coupler as a crush sleeve).

Speaking of the IC pump, let’s discuss the mount. As you can see from the pic, we mounted the IC pump horizontally to the rad support in front of the washer fluid bottle with the outlet angled toward the front bumper. This allowed the pump to gravity feed from the reservoir and then discharge forward to the heat exchanger.



For the electrical connection, we pulled a 12V switched trigger from the cruise control harness and ran it over to a 12V 30 amp relay mounted above the pump. Using a 15 amp fuse, we connected the battery to the relay to power the pump.
The heat exchanger acts as a mini radiator to remove heat from the IC coolant. While I did not take any pics of the brackets for the heat exchanger (formed from 1/8” x 1” steel stock), we mounted it in the lower portion of the front end in front of the tranny and power steering coolers (following their angles).

For the plumbing, we again raided the parts store heater hose collection and found two 90 degree 3/4” heater hoses for the heat exchanger inlet and outlet. Not sure it matters which direction coolant flows through the heat exchanger, we opted to plumb from the discharge side of the pump to the upper side of the heat exchanger and the out the lower side up to the lower black steel IC line on the SC assembly. The upper black steel line gets connected to the upper nipple on the IC reservoir.

And that’s pretty much it. Our tuner (James Henson at Henson Perormance) emailed us a starter tune to get us running so we could drive it to Birmingham for the dyno runs. All in all, it was a pretty straight forward install. I wanted to write this as there was VERY little info out there on how to do this swap start to finish.
Here are the pics of the completed install.





Obviously there were multiple steps left out here for the sake of time, space, and not wanting to insult anyone’s intelligence. With that said, hopefully you have found this informative. If you have any questions, comments, or gripes, please do not hesitate to PM me, post, or email.

 

[tmajikman]

Excellent write up bro, saved to favorites, thank you for taking the time to write all the info down and supplying all the pics, I am hoping to get this done on my Gen1 one day, this will save me a ton of time with the research.

 

[GAINMOB]

how much to do mine? how much was the tune?

 

[jacks3am]

thats a really nice and clean install, great job!

 

[jacks3am]

bump, people need to see this!

 

[boiler71]

bump, people need to see this!

Thanks Jacks!

how much to do mine? how much was the tune?

Tell you what bhsoula...when I do the install on my 03 F150 (same as your Gen 1 Expi), I'll let you know what the differences were between the install. I suspect my F150 will be an easier install.

As for the tune, the most expensive part is the tuner itself. We are using the SCT X3. Henson Performance can get you the tuner and a tune in a package deal. Not sure of a price for both, but his tunes are $53 each.

When I put the long-tube headers on my truck, I went with Troyer Performance. He sent me the tuner and 3 tunes for almost $400.

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

Whoa, nice writeup. This mod is one of the biggest reasons I opted for the "underpowered" 260hp SOHC 2V year Expo. Definitely saved to favorites and will be referenced often. Just got my Expo so lots of other stuff to do first but very nice for motivation right now.

Anything else major performance wise done to that thing or just the blower/intake and tune? Would think it'd make more than 300 to the wheels but it all depends on how agressive a tune you go with. Buddy of mine back in 2005 had a Lightning tuned by Johnny Lightning with all the major bolt ons, underdriven pulley (forget how much) and it made 420whp. Not trying to be negative at all in any way, just curious. Obviously the Expo is going to have more driveline loss and there is the issue of the transfer case handling that much power going through it if you are in 4wd I suppose...

 

[boiler71]

Several updates...

Well...its been a few months and the Expy is running better than ever. Between the increased power and the feel and smoothness of the Monster Transmission, we couldn't be happier.

With that said, we did make a few changes recently. After the first month, I started to notice an oily residue where the driver side valve cover connected to the breather tube. I removed the breather tube and saw oil all around the butterflies and even passed the butterflies. It appears that the supercharger was actually sucking oil from the valve cover. I yanked the plenum and supercharger to clean all the oil out and I noticed we even had some oil slipping passed our oil separator. Once everything was cleaned and back together, we decided to do a PCV delete and just add a couple of breather filters to the valve covers. Everything seems to be working good so far.

Second addition just came this last weekend. After we mounted the heat exchanger behind the bumper, we noticed the tranny temps getting a little high (usually hanging between 200 and 210 degrees). I'm guessing air was not moving across the factory aux tranny cooler. Doing a little research, we found that several of the Lightning owners we using a tranny cooler from an F250 that mounts higher up in front of the A/C condenser. Two benefits here: (1) there is a ton more surface area and (2) it gets plenty of airflow due to its location and by the e-fans sucking air across it. Wife is taking a trip on Friday so I'll post updated temps then. But from the little bit of driving around town, she says it hovers around 180. I can deal with that.

While I didn't take pics of the trans cooler install, here is the link to the write up I used. It has a bunch of pics and a detailed parts list. I used all the parts listed (minus the aux filter) and all worked out well.

http://www.lightningrodder.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5004

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

Any more info on how the Expy is running with this done? I had someone randomly interested in buying my 95 Cobra the other day and got to thinking if I sold it I could put some of that money into finally doing this.

 

[boiler71]

Any more info on how the Expy is running with this done? I had someone randomly interested in buying my 95 Cobra the other day and got to thinking if I sold it I could put some of that money into finally doing this.

Not sure why this post is listed under the General Discussion heading. There is a sticky under the Engine and Performance section.

Anyways, here is my latest update:

Okay...been running the supercharger for almost a year now and have had ZERO issues. Expy currently has 101,000 miles on it...13,000 of that is with the supercharger.

Just wanted to pass along the update.

 

[pedro]

ford expedition advance track vaccum diagram

hi i need a vaccum diagram for the advance track of ford expedition 2003 thank you

 

[Lghtn_Expy_Girl]

Electric Fan

Im currently in the middle of putting a lightning supercharger on my 03 expedition and Im kinda stuck. I need wiring for the electric fan? I have to add one to mine and don't really know where to mount it and how to wire it. Thanks!!!