toycloser01
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2015
- Posts
- 11
- Reaction score
- 0
So why does the coolant run thru the throttle body?
cleaning MAF and Throttle Body
- Thread starter Red Rider
- Start date
Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.
Found this:
A. Since the first engine sucked in air, intake air has been heated to some extent. Remember on cars equipped with carburetors there was a large tube that connected to the air cleaner? Well the other end of that hose was connected to a heat collector around the exhaust manifold. This is how warm air got to the carburetor.
There's two reasons we want to heat the incoming air. The first is that the atomized fuel will mix with warm air better than cold air. This was actually more important with carburetted engines rather than fuel injected engines.
The second reason is to keep the throttle chamber from freezing. Yep, that's right. I said freezing. As in ice forming inside the throttle chamber.
Anyone who lives where it gets cold in the winter has heard of "wind chill". It'll be 30° with a wind chill of 10°. As the air moves through the throttle body, the same wind chill affects the inside if the throttle body. Under certain conditions, such as high humidity, condensation will form inside the throttle body and the moving air will freeze it. This ice will keep building up until it chokes off the air supply and the engine dies.
By running hot coolant through passages in the throttle body, it keeps the throttle body warm and prevents this ice from building up.
Some early fuel injected engines did not have heated throttle bodies and ice formation was such a problem that heated throttle bodies were retro fitted at the dealerships.
A. Since the first engine sucked in air, intake air has been heated to some extent. Remember on cars equipped with carburetors there was a large tube that connected to the air cleaner? Well the other end of that hose was connected to a heat collector around the exhaust manifold. This is how warm air got to the carburetor.
There's two reasons we want to heat the incoming air. The first is that the atomized fuel will mix with warm air better than cold air. This was actually more important with carburetted engines rather than fuel injected engines.
The second reason is to keep the throttle chamber from freezing. Yep, that's right. I said freezing. As in ice forming inside the throttle chamber.
Anyone who lives where it gets cold in the winter has heard of "wind chill". It'll be 30° with a wind chill of 10°. As the air moves through the throttle body, the same wind chill affects the inside if the throttle body. Under certain conditions, such as high humidity, condensation will form inside the throttle body and the moving air will freeze it. This ice will keep building up until it chokes off the air supply and the engine dies.
By running hot coolant through passages in the throttle body, it keeps the throttle body warm and prevents this ice from building up.
Some early fuel injected engines did not have heated throttle bodies and ice formation was such a problem that heated throttle bodies were retro fitted at the dealerships.
