Throttle body icing? Anyone?

D

D60

Joined
Nov 6, 2017
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Location
Colo
Has anyone ever experienced actual icing of the butterfly on an EFI vehicle? If so, what state were you in and can you provide any additional details?

I'm not arguing for or against, just curious.

I deleted it on my EFI 351 (ancient by today's standards) and never had a problem in Colorado in ANY conditions. But we don't really get humidity. And it was cable of course, not TBW
 
I knew a fella with an e30 BMW with the inline 6 that iced up. He used the car for highway travel.
Climate was southern Alberta (similar to Montana, Wyoming, ND or SD).
The entire intake had heavy amounts of ice (despite having coolant hoses preheating the throttle area).

It was a single instance that never occured again.
 
I've had that problem with my Trailblazer and it would stall out . If I let it sit for 5 minutes it would start back up . I noticed that I had moisture in the Throttle Body Cover ( intake cover )
 
Marcozi said:
There used to be. I don't think newer cars has coolant running through the throttle body.
Click to expand...
I was kinda surprised because this '15 Tundra I recently serviced had it. I don't know if Toyota still does it today?
 
Warstud said:
I've had that problem with my Trailblazer and it would stall out . If I let it sit for 5 minutes it would start back up . I noticed that I had moisture in the Throttle Body Cover ( intake cover )
Click to expand...
If it was ice you wouldn't think it would resolve in five minutes?
 
D60 said:
Has anyone ever experienced actual icing of the butterfly on an EFI vehicle? If so, what state were you in and can you provide any additional details?

I'm not arguing for or against, just curious.

I deleted it on my EFI 351 (ancient by today's standards) and never had a problem in Colorado in ANY conditions. But we don't really get humidity. And it was cable of course, not TBW
Click to expand...
It would be nice to disclose what vehicle you are asking about.
 
Eliminating the coolant hoses routing thru the throtte body was/is a popular "performance" upgrade on GM L98/LT1 cars. I never did it and really don't think it provided any power improvements other than on paper. I still have coolant going thru my C4's. But to answer your question I have never experienced icing.
 
GMBoy said:
Eliminating the coolant hoses routing thru the throtte body was/is a popular "performance" upgrade on GM L98/LT1 cars. I never did it and really don't think it provided any power improvements other than on paper. I still have coolant going thru my C4's. But to answer your question I have never experienced icing.
Click to expand...
Nah I never really believed the claims of more power. I did it on my Windsor for dead-simple reliability when I was hours into the Utah backcountry or CO high country. For such applications I see no need to introduce more hoses that could fail and more places to leak.

Still, there's always the thought that "the engineers" went to fairly great lengths to run coolant up there, so perhaps it's necessary in some applications or climates.
 
I had a dual one barrel Stromberg side drafts freeze up on me once. It was just above freezing and foggy/humid. At steady highway speed as the slider dropped it would not again rise so I slowly was loosing speed. Really didn't know what was happening at the time and I pulled over and the engine heat soon thawed things out.

It was TR7 and I had removed the heat riser tube off the manifold earlier in the year.

All the FI cars I've had I've removed the coolant hoses from the throttle body with no freezing issues. But my Accent runs so cold I was having second thoughts when seeing an IAT of -10F in really cold weather. It took a big fuel mileage hit.
 
Toyota Dynamic Force R4 - current generation Rav4 and Camry engine - heats the TB. I can see the hose on the one in my garage. Here is the loop - taken from the article "dynamic force engine" from Toyota-club.net.

I have also never heard of a TB freezing up.

1701048701804.png
 
Icing occurs at near freezing temperatures with high humidity. The drop in air pressure at the throttle body causes the air temp to drop below freezing and ice crystals/frost can start to form. I've had it happen on an older Holley carb vehicle. Once the engine begins to transfer some heat it goes away.
 
pcoxe said:
Icing occurs at near freezing temperatures with high humidity. The drop in air pressure at the throttle body causes the air temp to drop below freezing and ice crystals/frost can start to form. I've had it happen on an older Holley carb vehicle. Once the engine begins to transfer some heat it goes away.
Click to expand...
I've even seen it on hot summer days..... On pile driving equipment powered by compressed air. The compressor is hot and the air hose and the hammer are hot to the touch (from the sun) but where the air exits the hammer there is a constant buildup of frost and/or ice.
 
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D60 said:
Nah I never really believed the claims of more power. I did it on my Windsor for dead-simple reliability when I was hours into the Utah backcountry or CO high country. For such applications I see no need to introduce more hoses that could fail and more places to leak.

Still, there's always the thought that "the engineers" went to fairly great lengths to run coolant up there, so perhaps it's necessary in some applications or climates.
Click to expand...
You mention a very good point - reliability with less points to leak from.
 
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