I installed one of these throttle body spacers on my 4.6 and noticed a 2mpg improvement.However,the throttle response went down the tubes.Seemed really strangled.
I'm 100% positive that it was installed correctly with no leaks,etc.I also have a MAC performance air induction system.
I ran with it for about a month.
Now it is just an expensive paperweight.
YMMV

 

I was wondering about getting one for my 4.2 v6. From what I read about them, I cannot understand the performance drop. Maybe someonew will come on and give us a clue.

 

Well,I can sum it up mighty quick for ya'.....
It's a piece o' ****e....
Too much turbulance,I guess?

 

I have read other posts of people installing them and not having any adverse effects. I am still hoping some others will come on and post some more info so we can get a broader perspective. Sorry yours is not doing well. I have still not ruled out trying one. Hope it gets better for you.

 

Yup - that's about the size of it.

Think about it - Ford has a LOT more money than Helix, so they can hire MUCH better engineers. So if you could actually get better overall performance from just having a longer intake system, or some goofy baffles or grooves inside it, don't you think Ford would have built it that way? Or at least offered it as an option?

That thing belongs with the magnetic-fuel-cluster-breaker-upper and the cell-phone-antenna-booster-and-EMI-shield : just Voodoo Engineering.

 

They work, I had one installed no loss of throttle response and up mileage 2 mpg.

If a company can save $2.00 each over the production run of a truck, this could save them $1,000,000.00 over a run of 500,000 trucks.

Each vehicle is made the cheapest it can be and for the general pubilc. Basiclly without any extras. Thats why the SVT program is working.

 

Think about it this way...the throttle-body spacer spins the air before it goes into the engine, right. You think that it is a good piece of equipment right. Why didnt you buy a "Tornado" air spinner. It does the same thing for half the price...Why would a helix be tha bomb and a tornado just be a bomb. Dont believe the propaganda....

 

Ok, I purchased a Helix power tower after putting in an airaid intake and i did notice an increase in HP and MPG. It does work. Not sure why it didn't work for you, I would doublecheck and make sure you dont have it in backwards, shortly after i put the spacer in I bought a bbk 75mm throttlebodie (i have a 99 f150 with a 5.4L v8) and installed it, my performance went way down the tube, i thought the two where conflicting so i went to take the spacer out and it was in backwards, Switched it around and life was good. If it is installed correctly you may want to try adding a bigger throttle bodie, the only bad thing i noticed about installing the spacer was it made a loud whistling noise, after i put the throttlebodie you can hardly hear the whistle at all.
Hope this info helps.
and about the comment earlier about why ford engineers didnt do it. I agree about the price thing but also if that where true then NO aftermarket part for the engine would work because ford would have it all figured out.

 

sskable......do they come with instructions or clear indications on how to get them in correctly? Did you see a difference after putting the larger throttle body on? I am basically looking for increased mileage.

 

Mine was installed correctly.
It did give me a slight improvement in MPG but made the truck a little sluggish.
Anyone need a paperweight?

 

Yes it does come with instructions, on the tower itself it has front with an arrow indented on it, and yes the throttle bodie did help the horses, a little with the mileage but not a huge increase. Probably not worth the money if you are just looking to improve mileage. If you want to improve mileage go with an intake, throttlebodie spacer and exhaust. Those give you the best increases in mileage.

 

Sskable.....already got the intake....I just made my own and used a K&N filter. The exhaust and spacer are next. I am going to install them one at a time to see how much increase I am getting. When I first installed the K&N mileage went down. Then I built the clean intake and brought it back to where it was. I will keep playing until I get it right.

 

I see alot of good (and a few bad) reviews about this. Well for such a cheap and easy to install part, I'll give it a try. I just have a few installation questions for those who have actually installed one on the 5.4L Ford motor. I have an '02 supercrew. The installation instructions look fairly simple and easy to follow, but there is a step which has me thinking maybe I should just pay my local performance shop the $45 for installation. It says "Inspect and test throttle linkage for full open and closed travel before driving. Some cruise or kickdown cables may require adjustment. Refer to service manual" Have you guys ever had to make any of these adjustments? If so how difficult are they to adjust? I am not a mechanic by any means, but I am not a virgin when it comes to working on vehicles either. Would you guys see this as Airaid covering their butt or is this a step that almost always has to be performed? Should I just pay the local shop the $45? The only reasons that I want to avoid taking it to the shop are that I would have to leave my vehicle for the day and get a ride to work, I'd also have to buy the part from them for $20 more than it is online. Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions.

 

sorry it took so long to reply i had lost my internet, as for as the homemade air intake goes i would really recommend just buying a real one, on last months truckin magazine there was an article where one of the writers challenged an intake company, they tested his homemade one on a dyno then the intake companys and the intake companies pulled out 8 more horses, according to the article the writer had done all his homework on how intakes work and had a heat shield and everything.

For the throttle linkage that was pretty simple to adjust, just used an allen wrench, took me a little while to get it right i had to listen to the engine idle while i was doing it, a few days later i had to re adjust it because the engines computer was trying to relearn about itself and had made some other adjustments. hope this helps

 

I installed one on my 97' Explorer 4.0 OHV, to be honest I really didn't notice any adverse positive or negative effects. What I didn't like was the poor quality of workmanship. The spacer is like.... 2" - 2 1/2" thick right? The replacement bolts were only approx. 5/8" longer than my stock throttle body bolts. Had to go to the hardware store (they're not automotive) to buy.... yep concrete bolts. The replacement throttle cable bracket slot was to tight to seat the cable in, so I had to take a diamond file to it ( can't return it now), to get it to seat, and with the new bracket in place, the plastic guard will no longer fit over the throttle body, even though the bracket has a mount hole for the guard on it. I guess you're supposed to stretch te guard by an 1 1/2". The gasket supplied also didn't quite seal the whole throttle body. It left a small pin hole open at the upper left corner. Nothing a little RTV silicone didn't fix. So all in all it was a little too Mickey Mouse for the time, MONEY, and performance gained. Even though I haven't removed it, ( after all the trouble ) I couldn't recommend it. Money could be better spent.