Throttle Body Heater Leak

kcabpilot

Well-known member
Mar 26, 2006
334
1
California
...Intake icing can occur at ambient temps if the humidity/dew point/temperature/air flow are just right. Any pilot or A&P knows about this topic...

Like I said earlier, I'm a pilot and an A&P and carb ice is caused by the venturi in a carburetor which a throttle body does not have so it's not the same issue. Case in point - fuel injected aircraft that have a regular throttle body pretty much identical to that on the Disco do not have carburetor heat nor do they have any sort of throttle heater.

To be clear, I'm not arguing in favor of the bypass method (even though I've done it) I'm just saying that a throttle body is not going to ice up on a normal day regardless of how much humidity is in the air because it does not have a venturi, it's just a straight tube with a butterfly plate. Now, in extremely frigid conditions, that's a different story.
 
Like I said earlier, I'm a pilot and an A&P and carb ice is caused by the venturi in a carburetor which a throttle body does not have so it's not the same issue. Case in point - fuel injected aircraft that have a regular throttle body pretty much identical to that on the Disco do not have carburetor heat nor do they have any sort of throttle heater.

To be clear, I'm not arguing in favor of the bypass method (even though I've done it) I'm just saying that a throttle body is not going to ice up on a normal day regardless of how much humidity is in the air because it does not have a venturi, it's just a straight tube with a butterfly plate. Now, in extremely frigid conditions, that's a different story.

The crankcase breather doesn't act as a venturi?


I am a lowly never-finished my apprenticeship A&P wannabe who lost his flight medical long before I finished the classes. That said, I learned a LOT during that period of my life.
 

jymmiejamz

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2004
6,008
361
35
Los Angeles, Ca
You have steam coming out of the crankcase and freezing air coming into the throttle body. This is probably the #1 contributor to the TB freezing.
 

ezzzzzzz

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2010
604
7
SE Va
Haven't looked at mine yet, but can you use a file and true up the surfaces?

Truing the throttle body is the next thing I'll be doing. Using a file is certainly hit or miss because the tendency to lightly rock it. The better choice would be wet sanding on a piece of glass or comparable smooth surface in a figure eight pattern. The de-icer plate has a small rib cast in intended to help seal irregular surfaces but it is an abject failure.
 

best4x4

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2015
595
72
Beaumont, TX
Any 5.3L LS3 V8 from Chevy DOES NOT have a throttle body heater. You don't hear of their throttles sticking.

It "could" stick, but 99% of the time it's not going to. What is going to happen 100% of the time is the OEM throttle body heater plate is going to leak. Last thing you want is a coolant loss situation out on the trail so on my D2's they're bypassed! One less poorly designed OEM thing to worry about.
 

jymmiejamz

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2004
6,008
361
35
Los Angeles, Ca
Any 5.3L LS3 V8 from Chevy DOES NOT have a throttle body heater. You don't hear of their throttles sticking.

It "could" stick, but 99% of the time it's not going to. What is going to happen 100% of the time is the OEM throttle body heater plate is going to leak. Last thing you want is a coolant loss situation out on the trail so on my D2's they're bypassed! One less poorly designed OEM thing to worry about.

Does the crankcase vent less than an inch from the throttle plate?
 

best4x4

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2015
595
72
Beaumont, TX
The crank case vent on my 08 H3 Alpha was on the intake manifold about probably 4-5 inches from the throttle body. I'd take a pic, but I sold the H3 Alpha for an LR3.
 

helievacpilot

Well-known member
Mar 29, 2007
960
0
Denver CO
The crank case vent on my 08 H3 Alpha was on the intake manifold about probably 4-5 inches from the throttle body. I'd take a pic, but I sold the H3 Alpha for an LR3.

If you truly thought this was a good idea, you would have done it by now and not spent all this time trying to justify it to us (yourself).
 

best4x4

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2015
595
72
Beaumont, TX
I didn't make the H3 Alpha's 5.3L V8. Just pointing out it DOES NOT have a throttle body heater. A dirty throttle body can certainly stick.
 
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gthphotography

Well-known member
Aug 27, 2008
317
3
chicago
www.greghanrahan.com
I'm doing my 04's tomorrow. Every year, at the first cold snap, my goes. I'm switching to making my own gaskets from Fel-Pro rubber cellulose blue gasket material. Maybe I can get two years. The idea of having a few mounted to the throttle body ready to go sounds great.