alright do you need the coolant lines on the throttle body or can you take them off? any pros/cons? thanks

 

It all depends on where you live and the current climate. Those lines are there for the clod weather to keep the throttle body from freezing over, so during the winter I would leave them connected. During the summer you can disconnect them from the throttle body and connect them together, this will help keep the air entering the engine a little cooler. Some people say they noticed a difference in power, but I haven't, at least nothing significant. (probably only 1/2 hp)

 

There was a huge thread about this subject a couple of years ago, I don't know if it can be found in a search or not; but it was sort of inconclusive. If I recall, at first the consensus was that removing it would add several horsepower and an overall improvement in driveability. Then the scales started to go the other way and folks were pointing out why the line is needed and that it would not add horsepower to remove it. I posted saying that I paid over $50 for a new line at the dealer since I wanted to swap out all of my coolant lines. It was expensive because it has the metal part that goes across the top of the radiator (there are actually two sizes, the first one that they got for me did not fit because I had the super cooling option and needed a different size than what the regular cooling uses). If you need to replace yours though, you can actually just cut the rubber hose parts off and put new hoses on with clamps, it would certainly be cheaper but by the time I figured that out I had already installed the new one. No biggie though.

There was not even a consensus about what the lines are for, but I am pretty sure that they are there to warm up a cold throttle body by sending warm water through it (as opposed to the line being there to cool a hot throttle body). I have always been determined to keep my Bronco's powertrain 100% stock, just like it left the factory; and because I live in Colorado I did not want to lose that warmup feature. I always figured that once I start removing this sort of stuff it can throw everything else out of whack as far as the computer, so I leave iit alone and this has worked well for me.

I will see if I can find that thread for you. It contains everything that you could possibly want to know about those lines and people's experiences with removing it; and probably more than you wanted to know at that.

 

Here you go - https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=57697

 

JB, there was also an arguement brought forth a while back that the coolant lines were not for warming anything but rather to reduce throttle body temperature due to the close proximity of the EGR inlet port immediately behind the throttle body in the upper intake plenum. While it was a short lived thread, the party posting the idea seemed to be certain of the validity of his idea. I don't know how much validity there is to it but it seemed odd to me since the itake air should be cooling the throttle body just fine since it is in FRONT of the EGR inlet port. The physics of the airflow would seem to negate this being a problem. ...just re-read a large chunk of the thread that you linked...nevermind... it covers this idea too.

 

That thread pretty much ran the gamut of opinions and/or facts. I am sticking with keeping everything just as Ford intended - it runs perfectly, smooth and quiet. Why mess with success?

 

All---- just a note to add .I have been having a surging problem (winter of course )where the bronco on a 20 degree day (warm up) would surge ,up and down. Few months ago it shut off, on a cold warm up.Culprit and as adding to a post on surging ,it dawn on me i too undid my throttle body lines . Rehooked them and the surging has stopped. Warm start up (60 to 75 degree weather) revealed a no shutoff off but a small surge with the coolant lines unhooked(250RPM SURGE). TR

 

alright thanks i remember the thread about it i just couldnt find it in the search thanks again for the info

 

Great observation! I removed the coolant lines from my throttle body and have the surging rpms. I reconnect and let you know.

 

I know a guy who had it disconnected, and on a very cold morning on a hunting trip.........while siting in the truck to warm up a bit.......it just died. This was after about 30min of running. Turned out that the TB had froze up due to the sub zero temps. IMHO....it aint for cooling at all......its there so the TB dont freeze over in winter.

 

Streetgang, what froze? There is nothing but air coming through the TB? And at idle the IAC controls the airflow not the TB bores. Whatever it design function, its pretty safe to say that based on all of the info accumulated on this subject, leaving everything just the way Ford put it together seems to work most reliably.

 

Thats exactly what I am saying......there was a accumulation of ice in the bore of the TB......is what I was told. Didnt see it with my own eyes though.

 

Could be due to the small ID of the IAC the moisture in the air condensed in there and froze up??????

 

My water line broke right at the Throttle body, I removed the lines and connected them by no choice at the time. I noticed a longer lasting power. You know the way a bronco has more response in the peddle in the morning when engin is cold. Well taking this hose off just made it have that good response longer. Then after it really warms up it drives normal again. I live in Houston TX, so I am just keeping it off.

As to the question is it there to warm or cool. The answer is to warm. Why do I know this... because if it was there to cool, it would be coming out of the radiator side of flow, but instead it is comming right out of the engine, where the water is its hottest.

 

I have had mine off for about a year now and everything seems to be fine. It does not get cold enough out here for my TB to freeze up. I noticed a difference on hot summer days, the throttle response seemed a little better.