I got this pic off of the Internet and this hose is missing on my truck and it's hard to tell how to connect it. Do I need a t fitting? Also what is it for and is it needed? It's outlined in red in the pic. Thank you

 

Ford says it helps warm the air going through the throttle body for better vaporization of the fuel in cold weather.
From the shop manual:
"Engine coolant is diverted through the throttle body mounting pad to improve cold weather operation."

Others on here will tell you it is to keep ice from building up in the throttle body but there is no venturi to drop the temp of the air so you would not have an ice build up.

It requires a "T" in the heater hose for the hose going to the throttle body and another hose returning to the radiator from the throttle body..

 

There should be 2 pieces of metal tubing; 1 going in and 1 going out of the throttle body. If its like mine, one has a hole rusted in it and the other one broke off right where it goes in. I by-passed mine and the truck runs great.

 

Then go ahead and disconnect that loop on your truck for the winter and tell us how you make out.

 

My winter truck has a 460 in it so it does not have the throttle body heater.
Ford never put it on the 460.

By the way the 4.9L engine never has this throttle warmer either, just the 5.0L & the 5.8L.

 

Thank you guys for the help, definetly learned something. Last hose question, I saw another hose that was worn and ripped on the end. It's a big one and it's on the drivers side connected to the bottom of the engine area. I tried looking it up and didn't really find much, The chilton book is ordered.








Not the smaller black hose, the one behind it. It's the only cloth type hose left.





You can barely see it, it's behind the newer black hose and runs down.

 

That's the heat riser for the air intake. It pulls warm air from around the exhaust manifold when air temperature is cold.