Ok, I may have to drive my car through another winter . I'm just curious if the TB bypass is probably a bad idea for those that live in cold climates. It does get really cold here in the winter... so is it going to stick open or something crazy if I do the bypass?

 

they say not to do it, thats why gm put it in in the first place

 

Why can't you do it for the summer and hook it back up for the winter?

 

I was thinking the same thing. When winter comes around just get rid of the bypass

 

It has never given me a problem in the heat of Texas.

 

I leave it bypassed during the winter and MO can get pretty cold. I rarely drive this car in the winter though. My previous car I had the TB bypassed and drove it all winter with no problems at all.

 

I have done this mod to both of the LS1s I have had, previous and current. I live in KY and it get's in the 20s and lower at times. I don't daily drive the car, or drive it in incliment weather, but there are alot of clear road, 25-35 deg days that I go out for a spin. Never had a problem whatsoever. And if you think about it, what's there to freeze up anyway? Do it and don't look back.

 

I dont think it would cause too much of an issue unless its below zero outside.

 

It's NOT there to prevent the TB freezing??????

Think about it when you start a car on a cold moring (frosty, icey, hell even snowy) the coolant is COLD. Proof of this is the heater will not produce any warm air for some time.

So that means for the coolant in the TB is to acutally prevent freezing you would have to drive the car for 10 mins or so to get upto temp. But if freezing of the TB blade was an issue you'd crash long before the engine reached operating temp.

So logically and using the laws of physics the TB coolant is not there to prevent or affect freezing.

Also TB's have been used for well over 40 years with the majority not having coolant going thru them, why would GM suddenly dicide it was an issue when no one else did?

Well the answer is they didn't.

I believe and also logiaclly thinking there must be some other reason for it.

And I surmise that it is related to emissions and fuel efficency.

We all know cool air is denser and good for power, but many forget warm air is good for economy. At light throttle (remember a 2.73 geared A4 is only spinning at 2000rpm @ 80mph) the TB blade is almost shut which means the air flow thru it is very slow. This allows the intake air to be slightly heated and thus increases cruise economy.

I know, you're thinking but hay that's robing me of HP. Well no it isn't, at light throttle your engine isn't making PEAK HP anyhow so it makes no odds.

And when you go to WOT (wide open throttle) the air flow velocity increases dramatically, so much so that the intake air will not have any chance to be heated by the TB (think how big a TB is and how fast the air is moving at WOT).

Some claim it must still have an affect in IAT (Intake Air Temps) but I believe if it does it is so minimal you'll never see the difference by SOTP (seat of the pants), at the track or on the dyno. The only proof anyone ever offers is from BMR who sell, wait for it------ yes a TB by-pass kit. However their results are totaly rubbish because they "claim" that the TB by-pass will lower IAT temps and produce more power, yet the results they offer actually show the highest dyno run with the hottest IAT.

Another way to look at it is if you have the oven on at home and it's been on for several hours like when you cook a roast. If you took a glass of tap water at ambient room temp and quickly stick the glass of water (and your hand!!) in the over and back out again in a matter of 2-3 seoncds do you think you hand will be burnt to a cinder and that the water in the glass will now be near boiling point?

No, becuase the water and your hand where not in the hot environment long enough to have a "significant" affect. If you moved the glass slowly thur the oven over a period of say 10 seconds then yes I would expect a more noticable change in it's temp along with a trip to hospital to tend your burnt hand!!!

I hope someone (anyone....) can see the logic and science behind this.

So as for the TB by-pass mod, well it's one of those totally pointless ones. It won't make you any faster but it won't make you any slower either. So if you're really really bored then go ahead else why not leave it be.

The only time I'd perform the TB by-pass mod is if I bought an aftermarket TB which didn't cater for it. Until then you might as well have the same HP as you would if you performed the TB by-pass yet also reap any extra potential it may offer in improved cruise economy for when you aren't bouncing the tacho off the red line!

 

so explain to me again why slightly heated air is gonna make better fuel economy when running low rpms? than colder air? You didnt really explain that

 

The physics is quite involved, but here's some additional info which might be of use. This is with respect to the Jaguar V12 as fitted to the XJS coupe but the physics and prinicple behind it are the same for every internal combustion engine:

http://www.jagweb.com/aj6eng/v12_performance.html

 

I could count the number of times I've seen snow on one hand if it was missing 2 fingers.

 

Equals frost build up on the throttle blade. My friend tryed it on his 99Z don't do it. He wondered why the throttle was sticking so we took a look and found a thin layer of frost on the butterfly. This was only in 18 degree weather.

 

yea thats kinda to much to read....but the heat wont hurt the tb, just the air going through....but in extreme cold the tb can stick or the car wont heat up right....thats all i know...

 

I've had the TB Bypass mod for a while and daily drive my car. Winters can get very cold here in MN but it has never given me any problems.

 

It's made up for by the flooding and thunderstorms though.

 

300bhp/ton, thanks, that makes perfect sense

 

Are you sure? Was it -15 outside?

I mean. Was the whole car covered in ice? You'd think the rest of the car would freeze before a tb blade thats inside the tb, thats cut off by a lid, thats plugged with an air filter, that under the hood. Thats closed.

Not to mention the heat of the engine right behind it somehow not being able to evaporate the frost.

The throttle was sticking when the engine was running right? Thats how you knew it was sticking. Right? I don't see how this affected performance. The frost would have melted shortly after the engine started up.

In short.

 

I tend to agree with the idea that it is an essentially useless mod either way, but I think it cleans up the engine bay just that much more. Seems like it really shouldn't matter

 

I did the TB bypass here and had to drive the SS when the beater broke down for two weeks.. No problems here.