Throttle Body Coolant Lines
 

Has anybody contemplated removing the coolant lines from the throttle bodies so no more hot coolant runs through them? Seems like it would help out on the cold air entering the intake manifold. Or has anyone already done this? Just a thought. :rolleyes:

Posting quickly, look up a member called wstar.

Thanks! That answered all my questions.

yeah, I think Wstar created a DIY post on this last year... I should do this too... in DIY section if I recall correctly

I wouldn't do it to a daily driver. Maybe if you're just going to go track the car on a warm day where the rpms will remain high you could take it off.

I believe the coolant lines are there to keep the throttle body from icing up. Similar in function to the carb heat knob found on older carburetor airplane engines. With respect to airplanes, you can get carb ice on a warm clear day at a low altitude where the air temp is well above freezing (72F). I realize we dont have carburetors in our engines but there can still be a significant pressure drop down stream of the throttle butterfly where ice can form under the right low rpm conditions...ice can also form on the throttle body itself which could choke off the engine. Some really old cars were made without heated throttle bodies and there were a lot of issues that forced automakers to retrofit heat sources onto the throttle bodies.

Those lines are there, like others around the engine, to increase the speed at which a motor gets to operating temp. This is done for emissions and fuel economy. Warmer motors that intake warmer air have a leaner fuel/air mixture, or optimum when considering fuel economy. Removing the lines will likely have no tangible positive results. The temperature of the throttle body is irrelevant in the grand scheme of intake temps. Once an engine is warmed up, radiant heat quickly heats up surrounding metal parts, meaning the throttle bodies are hot, no matter whether they have the coolant lines running through them or not. Intakes temps are determined by the IAT sensors and flow by the MAF and MAP sensors.

Moral of the story, disconnecting the lines make no real, tangible difference, performance wise. But if you must, and you think it'll make you happy, by all means do it, just try not to make a mess!

Project Done! Thanks for everyone's response on the situation. BTW this forum has been awesome for me as I have built numerous muscle cars in my days and this is my first japanese sports car. All my friends were so suprised when I pulled up in the Z!

A simple updraft carburetor with a fixed venture illustrates basic carburetor action. Intake air charge, at full or reduced atmospheric pressure as controlled by the throttle, is drawn into the cylinder by the downward motion of the piston to mix with the unscavenged exhaust remaining in the cylinder from the previous combustion.



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MR GASKET CARBURETOR LINKAGE BALL JOINT,
2 PIECES -- Standard, A Premium Quality
Replacement Linkage Component