TB coolant bypass??

[Boston GN]

It's big for TPI equipped f-body's to do this, but do we do this? I'm in the process of swapping off my TB and figured I could leave these lines open and run a closed loop from the coolant rail. Just wondering if others have does this.
tia

 

[buickboy]

That is the first mod I do to a southern car.
Mitch

 

[turbot2112]

do it, every little bit helps, right? its cold as hell were im at right now and it aint effecting me at all.

 

[mgmshar]

That's one of the first free mods that you should do. In my case, I just pulled one of the hose, screwed a threaded rod into it, and put the hose back on. Looks completely stock, but there is no coolant flowing through the hoses.

Good luck,

 

[DonnieShort]

Anybody ever do back to back testing ( connected then disconnected ) to see what, if any, gain?

 

[Pronto]

That would be interesting to see. It would probably be more difference in performance gain in warm weather.

 

[Sleeper]

I've always wondered about the benefits of this setup on a street driven car. The flow of coolant is the only thing helping keep the TB cool. Think about it... how hot does the actual metal of the manifold, plenum and TB get, from the heat saturation generated from the block and heads? I pretty sure its a lot more that the 160 deg of the coolant.
It would be nice to see some before and after tests done with a heat gun.

Paul

 

[U1ARUNIT]

I have a temp gun but I am just about sure that the coolant will ADD to the heat instead of removing it. On a car like a 5.0 Ford where the EGR feeds into a plate between the intake and TB it will actually help to cool but the Buicks' EGR is not mounted there so the removal of HOT coolant will actually prove a benefit.

Just my opinion.

 

[Red Regal T]

I removed that whole coolant pipe that runs on the intake. Just gets in the way.

 

[mgmshar]

I've always wondered about the benefits of this setup on a street driven car. The flow of coolant is the only thing helping keep the TB cool. Think about it... how hot does the actual metal of the manifold, plenum and TB get, from the heat saturation generated from the block and heads? I pretty sure its a lot more that the 160 deg of the coolant.

That's a good question. The only data I have is "hand-touch" data. Basically, it goes like this. When I had coolant going through the TB, I would not be able to touch the TB after driving the car around the street for a short period of time. After I blocked off the coolant, I could touch the throttle body without burning my hand. That's not exactly scientific, but that's my experience.

Remember, the reason GM put that feature in the throttle bodies was to improve start-up emissions by HEATING the incoming air, and to prevent icing of the throttle body by HEATING it. Cooling the throttle body was not the issue. However, it would be really interesting to get actual temperature data under "scientifically controlled conditions".

 

[Boston GN]

Wow,
I didn't think this would get that many responses, lol.

From what I understand, it's only there to actually prevent the throttle blades from icing up in extreme weather. Not sure if this is fact or fiction. When I had my Z28, this was also one of the first things I did. I live in Boston and it gets pretty damn cold here. All year driving with my Z and I have never had a throttle blade freeze up. I'm not sure it's even possible

 

[mousemobile]

Icing is possible. It happened to me in my '65 Pontiac during an Interstate drive during a very heavy, wet snow storm. My throttle blades were frozen in the open position. There was a considerable amount of ice inside the carburetor. The carb. warmed up enough to allow the blades to close again and we continued on the trip.

There has to be a lot of humidity and it has to make into the throttle body airstream. Due to the throttle effect, you will get a drop in temp going past the the throttle blades, If I remember my thermodynamics. This will freeze the moisture.

Dimitar

 

[Slowhawk]

Do you guy's just block them or run a bypass hose?Mine has a bypass but looks horrible.

 

[Sleeper]

Originally posted by mgmshar
That's a good question. The only data I have is "hand-touch" data. Basically, it goes like this. When I had coolant going through the TB, I would not be able to touch the TB after driving the car around the street for a short period of time. After I blocked off the coolant, I could touch the throttle body without burning my hand. That's not exactly scientific, but that's my experience.

Remember, the reason GM put that feature in the throttle bodies was to improve start-up emissions by HEATING the incoming air, and to prevent icing of the throttle body by HEATING it. Cooling the throttle body was not the issue. However, it would be really interesting to get actual temperature data under "scientifically controlled conditions".

Thanks for the first "hand" input Quantitative analysis of the latent heat of confusion. I guess it's as scientific as the "butt dyno
I agree that under race conditions with cool downs, or a quick boot around the block, it will make a difference blocking it off... but I'm thinking more along the lines of being stuck in traffic on a hot day, or when the motor is completely heat saturated from extended driving.

Paul

 

[mgmshar]

I agree that under race conditions with cool downs, or a quick boot around the block, it will make a difference blocking it off... but I'm thinking more along the lines of being stuck in traffic on a hot day, or when the motor is completely heat saturated from extended driving.

Ah, yes, "butt" keep one thing in mind . On a hot day, your cooling fan is running. The air coming off the cooling fan can never be hotter than your coolant temperature. So, you have a nice stream of 150 deg. F air (about) blowing over your throttle body and upper intake. This is especially true if you've removed your hood weatherstripping.

So there!

 

[Sleeper]

LOL
Oh yah! "Butt" if that were true we wouldn't need intercoolers.
Take the 80 deg outside air temp, (I wish) and add that to the ambiant engine compartment temp, divided by the 1600 deg EGT, and multiply that by the square root of the spark plug gap, and you will burn your hand if you keep it on the TB for too long

Nah nya nah nah yay
Paul

 

[NEWCHAPTER]

ok so what are the benefits of pulling the coolant line off the tb.....?

 

[6pack]

Originally posted by Red Regal T
I removed that whole coolant pipe that runs on the intake. Just gets in the way.

John.....sent u an email on the above quote

 

[Red Regal T]

Hi Gary, Yes, I use my heater. I just run hoses to the heater core. Just install a nipple with a 1/2" or 5/8" outlet in the intake where the front stock plumbing is attached and attach a hose from it to the heater core. I use the stock curly hose coming off the water pump, use a nipple to extend the hose to the second outlet on the heater core. I don't use a heater control valve because my bottom slide on my dash controls doesn't work. If yours works, you can, if you choose to. I only run the heater hoses for the three cooler months we have down here then I remove them for the rest of the year.


Both hoses from heater core run together curving away and then back toward motor. One hose goes to front runner on intake to the nipple you install. The other goes in right in front of that hose to the hose that comes off the water pump and joins to it by a nipple.

Clear as mud?

 

[Sleeper]

Bringing this around again.
Seriously... Has anybody done any scientific testing to confirm that the TB runs cooler (under daily driving conditions) with the coolant hoses disconnected?

Paul