Damn Throttle Body Pre-Heater Gasket Again

SGaynor

Well-known member
Dec 6, 2006
7,148
162
52
Bristol, TN
I'm chill. Too chill. Last night I was too hot, at about 103 degrees give or take. I thought I was having fun. Must have taken forever to type that.


Ahh...that explains your delusions!



:bigok:

I'm just kidding. Hope you feel better.
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
Ahh...that explains your delusions!



:bigok:

I'm just kidding. Hope you feel better.

Only once a year now. The rest of my delusions are my own.

Used to be a hell of a lot more often and worse. I seem to be over this particular episode.

Cheers,

Kennith
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
Something interesting people ought to try in relation to this is making ice during summer in a hole in the ground. It will not work everywhere, but you'll have fun figuring out where it does indeed work, and how to make it happen in varied conditions. It takes only a few minutes to set up.

I've shocked a lot of people in the middle of nowhere with that little trick.

One thing people are overestimating is the amount of ice that can form. We're not talking about big chunks in a throttle body; it's just a little bit of "frost", but given how tight the tolerances are, it can be enough. Once it forms, it's not going away until the airflow stops.

You don't really need to understand what's happening when making that ice to work your way through it; have fun on your trail and camping trips figuring it out your own way. There are a lot of physical principals in play from nearly every such discipline, and trying to work through them may frustrate you.

Just pretend it's a science fair or something similar, and walk in ignorant. You'll be very excited the first time you get it to work.

The trouble you'll have is a demonstration of how unlikely the issue will be in a vehicle like this, but once you nail it, you'll realize just how quickly it happens on the rare occasions in which the conditions are perfect. :)

Try not to look up how to make the ice. Just think about how it might work, and play around until you start getting cold water, then adjust.

Cheers,

Kennith
 

squirt

Well-known member
Nov 13, 2008
824
13
Los Angeles
At the end of the day, why is this engine so special that it needs throttle body temperature regulation?

I realize there are other vehicles that have this "feature", but there are many, many vehicles which don't... And there isn't any mass outrage.
 

BarryO

Well-known member
May 15, 2018
98
7
Bend, OR
I realize there are other vehicles that have this "feature", but there are many, many vehicles which don't... And there isn't any mass outrage.

Engineers don't usually waste shareholder money by designing in parts where there's no reason for doing so. Maybe (and this is pure speculation) it's that the environmental performance envelope that was the design target exceeds that of the typical many, many vehicle. You know, all those videos of Rovers driving on the Arctic ice cap, and stuff like that. Stuff that most will never need. OTOH, very few will need a locking center diff, either. But it's part of the performance reputation that is promoted for the vehicle.
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
At the end of the day, why is this engine so special that it needs throttle body temperature regulation?

I realize there are other vehicles that have this "feature", but there are many, many vehicles which don't... And there isn't any mass outrage.

It's special because it was debuted by Buick, the masters of making something conventional unconventional, in 1959.

There are many ways to accomplish the same thing. The top end of this is a little less developed than others.

It's also a rather "bolt-on modernized" and unique engine, almost unchanged since Buick built the first unit, fitted to a vehicle with a factory snorkel option that's designed to operate in harsh and varied environments.

It's not a normal engine. It may just be an old leftover Buick push-rod V8 designed to attract budget customers who didn't want a six, but it was odd then, and it's just as odd now. Buick called it the "Fireball V8", after some of their earlier offerings. Oldsmobile called it the "Rocket V8" and fitted it with alcohol injection from the factory.

Buick engines are weird. They're wonderful, but they are weird. Land Rover-built, modernized Buick engines are even more weird.

There is a lot of history under that hood. It's one of the most important engines of all time.

Cheers,

Kennith
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
For the record, quite a few engines run coolant to the throttle body. We just happen to be on a Rover forum.

Cheers,

Kennith
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
Engineers don't usually waste shareholder money by designing in parts where there's no reason for doing so. Maybe (and this is pure speculation) it's that the environmental performance envelope that was the design target exceeds that of the typical many, many vehicle. You know, all those videos of Rovers driving on the Arctic ice cap, and stuff like that. Stuff that most will never need. OTOH, very few will need a locking center diff, either. But it's part of the performance reputation that is promoted for the vehicle.

Another interesting point relating to how it ended up how it ended up is the fact that it exceeds Ford's "Leaf and Road" program specifications across the board, making it one of the most flexible fuel engines on the road at the time; as well as meeting ultra low emission standards in "Thor" form.

I love these things. Nothing else feels quite like it, and if you run one in a small, light vehicle, you really see the brilliance behind it all.

Dan Gurney's rookie Indy 500 run was powered by a Buick 215 in Micky Thompson's own vehicle design.

Cheers,

Kennith
 

jhk07

Well-known member
Jul 26, 2006
619
0
Seymour Indiana
It's been over 2 years since I last logged in. Merely a coincidence my TBH is puking and I run into this gem of a thread.....






edit sig............... I am not amigo free
 

kennith

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2004
10,891
172
North Carolina
It's been over 2 years since I last logged in. Merely a coincidence my TBH is puking and I run into this gem of a thread.....






edit sig............... I am not amigo free

I'm about to run a temporary bypass to save time diagnosing the rest of the system, which will also let me skim the stuff that's there and use the factory unit as a template.

Too bad we can't check the pressure all over the system in different places; especially in this area. Might not learn anything useful, but it would be pretty neat.

....still, who's stupid enough to uncork a non-leaking DII coolant system several times in various places to run the tests? :rofl:

Cheers,

Kennith
 

pdogg

Well-known member
Jul 18, 2005
1,216
29
Phoenix, AZ
As expected, I told you all in July 2018, that I was leak free.. fast forward to this past weekend I swapped out my TB heater.. leaking like crazy.. looking at the plate, the thing was warped.. I had originally run a file on the body mating surface, still flat.. So I think the single screw in the plate, by the two tubes, its our instinct to over tighten this.. I think this caused the plate to warp. I noticed mine always leaks there.. I didn't cinch it down as tight this time.. let's see if I get more than 2 years out of it...
 

binch

Member
Oct 8, 2019
5
0
Canada
I've had to replace my throttle body heather one too many times....maddening piece of junk. Well now I've found a replacement Throttle body heater that was made right the first time. These folks have built a "better mouse trap"! It's similar to the original LR THB unit but it's about 2x thicker with a more substantial hunk of metal between the inlet and outlet tubes that just won't warp!!! A simple solution that's solved an original design flaw. We've had it in the wife's disco 2 for two years and its doing fine and I figure the part will out last the disco itself
8)
These are the folks I got it from....

https://www.sportscarcentre.ca/MGM000010K?mid=948
 

binch

Member
Oct 8, 2019
5
0
Canada
Here's my solution to the throttle body issue. And it works!!!!

 

JohnB

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2007
2,292
12
Oregon
At the end of the day, why is this engine so special that it needs throttle body temperature regulation?

I realize there are other vehicles that have this "feature", but there are many, many vehicles which don't... And there isn't any mass outrage.
BMW had buckets of those in all the e30's around the same time they developed the THOR system for the D2. Believe me there was no real thinking they were just using what they had already in their tool box. Move ahead a few years and these heaters have all been put out to pasture on modern cars.
 

Swedjen2

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2018
594
127
California
That's probably why my coolant reservoir goes down about an 1"-1-1/2" every week or so just going back and forth to work.. If I go for a weekend trip of more than a few hours driving, it'll drop that much by the time I get back Sunday.
Well, here's hoping.
 

gthphotography

Well-known member
Aug 27, 2008
317
3
chicago
www.greghanrahan.com
I just had to bypass the throttle body heater plate due to stripping the bolt hole. I live in Chicago and it's been rather cold, like teens by the lake, and I had zero issue. Just bypass it. I am very happy that I won't have to replace it every year. I have so many plates!