Throttle Body Bypass

[andrewc4]

I decided to bypass the coolant line through the throttle body, as I was replacing the water pump, this was the time to do it. (I live in SOUTH Florida, you've got to wait for a cold night in January/February to see temparatures below 50 degrees).
The heater T connection was replaced by a Goodyear heater hose directly to the water pump.
The upper radiator hose T connection was replaced by one of the those 'hose repair plastic pieces' kits, (short length of gray plastic material).
The problem is, that the kit piece is suppose to be used for temporary repairs, and I would like the piece to last a long as the radiator hose, (say three years before replacement).
For a three year solution, I was thinking on a short length of 1 1/2" copper tubing, covered by a 1 1/2" length of radiator hose for asthetics.

Would the copper/aluminum/steel metal combination set up some type battery effect using the coolant as an electrolyte and start to rot something out?

 

[WhalePirot]

While I am not convinced that the TB bypass delivers anything discernable, I did it with only a short piece of copper tubing. Given that there are and have been copper components in cooling systems, I do have no concerns about those issues.
I am always looking to learn new things and there is a fantastic pool of talent here.

 

[ON 7TH]

i believe your heater core is copper

 

[RWDsmoke]

I ran one of those plastic hose splices in a top radiator hose. (only way I knew to make a custom hose for my tpi s-10) It finally did crack after five years, but only leaked a little even then, so I replaced it with another one.

 

[tlong]

The physics say the air moves too fast through the TB to make much difference, but it stays cool to the touch vs. red hot with the original configuration. I don't think the system will be prone to electrolysis. The bypass can't hurt anything unless you drive in extreme winter temperatues, and even then just a precaution.

 

[C4Tom]

Doesn't the heated throttle body allow for heat transfer to the intake manifold as well. Even if it is barely discernable, it seems that it would partially prevent the intake from self cooling ambiently.

The pipe... why not use brass tubing?

 

[tlong]

It's hot as hell under there anyway. When running the bypassed TB is cool to the touch. 3 minutes after shutdown it's red hot again from heat sink.

 

[tigmaned]

i have heard it dosen't do any thing to add horses? but i did my since the little C- shaped hose was all wore out and leaking. i just got a new peice of hose and ran it from were the C-shape one was to the other end that entered the TB on the pass side. $5 bucks for heater hose and done deal??

 

[Vettefan87]

I did notice that my coolant temps went up a little bit since the coolant wasn't running inside of the TB anymore.

 

[C4Tom]

Went up? Saying that the TB was also cooling the fluid???

I suppose that happens, wonder if the benefit/gains are offset by the losses??? Hmmm....

 

[Vettefan87]

It seemed to me that it did. It might not have but I thought it went up like 2-3 degrees. So I doubt it did much of anything, to say the truth.

 

[andrewc4]

Initial very limited testing did show a slight increase in fluid temperature by 3 or 4 degrees, but I was thinking that a longer drive might have driven the temperature down. Tonight I'm going to drive five miles and look for leaks.
If the throttle body was hotter to the touch before the bypass was setup, yes it was cooling the fluid. It was cooling the fluid because it was absorbing the fluid's heat. However, compared to the heat being transferred to the air at the radiator, I would think the cooling effect would be minimal. Of course, without numbers, its all circumspect.

 

[tigmaned]

it all sounds good, but only a dyno would tell you some thing that works and dosen't?? we we all try and even myself have done the air foil and bypass, even did the removing the screen from the MAF, K&N fliter and opened up the fliter cover too. from what i hear long tube headers really open up the horses for our L98's. any others i missed let me know??

 

[WhalePirot]

any others i missed let me know??

how much money do you have? :L

 

[Vettefan87]

how much money do you have? :L

Yeah, no doubt. I am running out of the easy mods to do, that are relatively cheap and don't require a lot of time to do. The only things left for me, are MAT relocating kit, and underdrive pulleys. That is if I do decide to get them.

 

[tigmaned]

thats not funny!! just kidding!! it more like were do i start the list!! new shocks are number one on the list!! i think the factory bilsteins are still on mine, 19 years old with 85K miles, way over do!! and then poly suspension, they great! rear leaf cushions are the first there since the old rubber ones are flat.

 

[MPoore]

The purpose of passing coolant through the throttle body is to prevent carb icing. Aircraft have to deal with this much more than cars because the required weather conditions rarely occur at ground level. In short, you need high humidity and low temperatures, which can cause ice to form behind the throttle plates. If this rare condition occurred in a car, you could pull over for five minutes and wait for the ice to melt. An aircraft does not have the luxury of parking and therefore has a heating system to deal with it. If GM didn't employ a heating system, people would complain. For those of us willing to trade that reliability for a little more power can bypass it.

I would never make a point of taking apart my car to bypass the throttle body for the 3hp you may gain. However, if you are already in there, why not.

Another option, which I chose, is to leave all plumbing intact and install a valve where I can open and close coolant flow. In the winter, I open the valve and in the summer I close it.

Mike

 

[tlong]

If you drive a C4 in 10*F in two feet of snow the throttle body icing up is the least of your worries. It's 200 degrees under the hood and the chances of that happening is almost nonexistent.

Keeping the air flow cool is a good idea any way you look at it. And you don't have to 'take the car apart'. It is 10 minutes to alter an engineering idea based on the miniscule possibility of a liability situation. It's overkill to heat the TB. The aluminum FI plenum benefits from the cool TB, and in reverse the hot plenum transfers plenty of heat to the TB to keep it from freezing as they are both aluminum and fastened together.

Bypass those TBs and hang right on the edge with us that have and lived to tell about it! Not recommended if you see penguins and polar bears on the way home to your damn igloo.

 

[C4Tom]

I was thinking about adding a valve to shut off the heated coolant to the TB. I haven't done it yet because I feared shutting off a supply of coolant to somewhere else.

Is it SAFE to add a shut-off valve in this line? Which side of the TB is the right side to add it?

TIA

 

[tlong]

I think it goes to the heater core.