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Truck Hit by Lightning


mrnate450r

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Well, my truck was struck by lightning last Friday.  No physical damage, just will not run.  Insurance adjuster is going to look at it today.  Dealership should be looking at it as well.  I don't want the truck back.  Any advice? It is a 2017 Ford F-150. 

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She gone!

Had a cousin have his car and the Expedition sitting next to it struck by lighting.  Both were toast and totaled by insurance, he bought them back since the care was a cheap manual transmission commuter and turned the Expedition into a plow truck for the farm.   Lots of rewiring to bypass fried components and make them as basic as possible on the inside, but most things never worked on them again.  Electrical gremlins. 

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Our sail boat got hit. Everything but the fuel gauge was fried. Insurance made us have the boat pulled and inspected. Some pin hole marks around all the through hulls and marks all over the lead keel. Don't think I want one of today's vehicles after that.

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6 hours ago, mrnate450r said:

Well, my truck was struck by lightning last Friday.  No physical damage, just will not run.  Insurance adjuster is going to look at it today.  Dealership should be looking at it as well.  I don't want the truck back.  Any advice? It is a 2017 Ford F-150. 

How did you determine it was a lightning strike?

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The truck was parked in the direction a bolt of lightning hit near the house while we were in the house. Truck ran fine 20 minutes before, but not 20 minutes after the lightning strike. 

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2 hours ago, Eagleboy99 said:

I did see that!  We were getting ready to race and the engine would not crank. Thought dead battery, and brother went and pulled the battery from our truck. On the way back he looked up at the top of the mast and saw all the weather and wind gear gone and cables just blowing in the breeze. No racing tonight!

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Talked to the dealer today. Several modules fried.  Going to replace them and see where that gets us. Not excited about it, but without doing this we can't get more info on what else is wrong. 

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Years ago I had a new 1999 suburban, about 2 mon old. We were at a camping lodge with cabins. Big storm and huge lightning strike felt and sounded like right outside the cabin. The next day, the stereo was fried. Dealer replaced it but they asked about a storm, we said no, they said good thing because they wouldnt cover that. 

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Update*****

We are at almost $5,000 in damage with what they "know" is damaged. Most likely more damage to find, but have to replace the fried modules to see what still isn't communicating.  I figure my truck is worth around $30,000 give or take.  I'm losing hope it will be totalled. 

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I would push for the body mounts, tires, and any rubber mounts the electricity had to jump through to get to ground is now compromised. The tire manufacturers will back you about them no longer being safe. 

Also wheel bearings, and potentially internal components of the engine and transmission could have arc damage which could be become major problems down the road.  

 

I used to work at a chemical plant that the operator of a crane hit a overhead power line. The repair list was all of the above plus some. And that is much lower voltage / damage. 

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Dealer thought it was a lightning strike, but no marks on the car.  Next theory was a nearby lightning strike.  Final theory, dealer decided the traction control computer got fried when a capacitor shorted out, that in turned fried every system in the car.    Six weeks to repair, followed by three returns for additional repairs.  Car has been fine for the last six months. Covered by Honda basic warranty.  I have no idea what it cost to repair.

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Speaking of lightning, the neighbour's house got a strike the other day.  Our place is fine but the neighbours  low(er) voltage stuff is fried and a lot of other stuff.   Security system, TVs etc.  She has 5k deductible but figures the damage will add up to 15-20K (darn fancy telemetry systems!)

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On 7/12/2019 at 10:21 AM, Eagleboy99 said:

Speaking of lightning, the neighbour's house got a strike the other day.  Our place is fine but the neighbours  low(er) voltage stuff is fried and a lot of other stuff.   Security system, TVs etc.  She has 5k deductible but figures the damage will add up to 15-20K (darn fancy telemetry systems!)

5K deductible?  OMG.

We had a ground strike back in 2012, fried a number of things, mostly TV's, laptop, stereo receiver, sub and a few other things.  About 6k in damage.  I learned my lesson and installed a whole home surge protector, which is actually both cheap and easy to install.  I mean, I did come well ahead in the deal with the insurance company...

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Modules and PCM replaced. All codes gone. Now there is a power draw somewhere.  Been 2 weeks and still not fixed.  Who has had success getting a vehicle totalled without the repairs costing close to the value of the vehicle? 

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2 hours ago, mrnate450r said:

repairs costing close to the value of the vehicle

I've done this a couple times unfortunately, and it was about 60% of book value for write-off.  Depends on the insurer.

Edited by Eagleboy99
Correction
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2 hours ago, mrnate450r said:

Modules and PCM replaced. All codes gone. Now there is a power draw somewhere.  Been 2 weeks and still not fixed.  Who has had success getting a vehicle totalled without the repairs costing close to the value of the vehicle? 

You should only have to get to about 60% of the value of the vehicle.  

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24 minutes ago, RyanB said:

You should only have to get to about 60% of the value of the vehicle.  

That's what my adjuster said. It's worth around $30k.  We are only around $6k so far. 

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On 7/20/2019 at 6:51 PM, Eagleboy99 said:

You should ask your adjuster for an allowance for diminished value - because the repairs will be on Carfax and you will take it on the chin at resale time.

Diminished value on a first party comp claim?  Not familiar with that possibility in my state, but I guess it doesn't hurt to ask.

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