hey guys whats up i return yet again with another question, i read some time ago that someone had disconnected the coolant lines to their throttle body to get cooler air through the intake, the operation seems pretty straight forward, my question is is this a good idea? and do i risk damaging anything?

 

I think I remember the purpose of the coolant lines is to prevent icing in the TB.

 

It won't hurt in warm weather but in winter (especially cold climates), you run the risk of ice forming in the throttle body as moisture condenses on the walls of the cold bores and throttle plates.. Most folks don't realize it but the tolerances are so tight in the throttle bores that this can cause the plates (butterfly valves) to stick and not because of the ice but because the of different freeze rates of the metals of the throttle body itself, the butterfly plates, and the rod the holds them.

How often has this been known to happen? Not often. However the one time it DOES happen you will be in the middle of the Interstate with a stuck throttle. Take it for what its worth.

 

GS that reminds me of an old movie with a runaway locomotive in the winter. You have justified the Ford engineer's concerns as usual.

 

thats why i was thinking more along the lines of a shut off valve i figured it would need to be warm in the winter

 

The cooling effect that can cause icing in colder humid weather is created by the sudden pressure drop across the throttle plate. From atmospheric pressure down to partial vacuum.

Carb cars had a serious problem, the pressure drop created by the venturi effect could frost up the venturies. The flapper door in the air cleaner snorkle neck and the air pre-heat tube that brought up intake air heated externally by the exhaust manifold would prevent that.

I had a few cars that the air pre-heater sheet metal that was riveted or screwed to the exhaust manifold rusted through, so cold engine compartment air just went up the pre-heat tube. Besides being more finicky to keep running when initially cold, they slowly lost power while driving down the road in just the right conditions. Just above freezing, and very damp. You could wiggle the gas pedal up and down, and not have much effect. Then it would quit and coast to a stop. I got out quick and pulled of the air cleaner lid, could see frost choking the venturies. Would thaw with the engine heat in a few minutes, but could frost-up again. Had to replace the rusted out piece.

For multiport fuel injection, I would not think that shutting off the coolant flow to the throttle body would be worth the effort. The warm coolant heats the metal some, but the air is zipping by so fast, I wouldn't think the air is going to be warmed much. The heating effect is just to warm the metal right at the pressure-drop point, not to heat the air.

In the carb'd days, the idea WAS to heat the air, at least to give the intake air some minimum temperature, that's what the flapper valve did, regulate the intake air temperature. Different with fuel injection.