Is the steam pipe on the back of the heads absolutely necessary? What would be the consequences of not running it?

Thanks,
-Aaron

 

hmm trapped steam pockets in your head = overheating = no no = bad idea. It's there for a reason, stop messing w/ it..

Matt

 

I believe if you do the throttle body bypass, you put the feed hose into the steam pipe anyways, gives you a few extra *lost* ponies

 

Steam pipes? Never heard of them. Are you referring to the coolant crossover pipes? The coolant goes from one head to the other due to having a dry intake.

 

that's what he's talking about, but I'm sure he's prolly refering to doing the Throttle Body bypasss??????????

 

With him calling them steam pipes, I dont think its safe to assume anything

 

http://shbox.com/1/93-94_hoses.jpg

You'll see in the above diagram that you are all talking about the same thing.

It is technically a coolant crossover but I've seen numerous people refer to the long part that runs up to the TB as the steam pipe.

I don't think I'd take if off just for the sake of taking it off.

 

Those are called steam pipes by GM and they are critical due the the LT1's reverse flow cooling system. Without them, you run a much higher risk of warping your heads--especially if you do sustained high speed driving, like on a road course.

 

Yeah, I'm calling them steam pipes because that is what they are referred to on the shbox.com website. I'll definately leave them on the car, thanks for the advice everyone!

-Aaron

 

yes, they are a steam pipe. It's common in all motor but with the LT1 reverse cooling number 7 and 8 pistions can get REALLY hot and the coolant can boil in the heads. The steam pockets will heat and if traped cause lots of issues with heat in the heads, combution chambers etc etc. The steam pipes allow the steam somewhere to go and bleed off. I would never ever ever remove that function. some people with big time motors actualy imporve on the design with a bigger SS line to help aid in the steam removal.

 

so our heads are dry manifolds. no coolant in em? did this start in 93?

 

no, the manifolds are dry manifolds. Because of the reverse cooling, the heads get the coolant first but numbers 7 and 8 can get very very hot and you can get nucleat (sp) boiling which is why the steam tube is on the back of the heads.

 

so no coolant is in the manifolds right? i can take it off with out draining the coolant.

 

correct our intake manifolds contain no coolant