Coolant Leak near Throttle Body (TB) (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Dec 27, 2022
Threads
3
Messages
25
Location
Iowa
I've enjoyed reading through these forums and many of you on here have already been an invaluable resource as I embark on my LJ78 journey - thank you! I recently picked up a '91 LJ78 with the 2L-TE and have been working towards implementing some of the mods many of you have kindly documented and discussed.

I'm in Iowa (US) - it has been a warm winter, but it's still cold-ish here - 20's, 30's, sometimes 40's (deg F). I did the EGR delete about a week ago(early February) and all was seemingly well until this morning. I have a coolant leak somewhere near the throttle body. A bit of history, then my questions:
EGR delete, block off plates, etc all seemed to go well. I did drill out the large butterfly plate and removed the smaller one, as well. Throttle body was fully off the vehicle when I did it. The lower TB gasket was in poor shape/crumbling, so I cleaned the lower throttle body gasket off as well as I could and cut a new fel-pro gasket (paper type). I coated all mating surfaces (including both sides of paper gasket) with a thin layer of super high tack gasket sealant, let it set up a few minutes to a light tack per instructions, and fit things back together. The upper gasket looked to be in OK shape minus one little piece that had chipped off near TB stud/bolt, so I decided to reuse that gasket. I coated mating surfaces with gasket sealant and also did a layer of ultra copper high temp gasket maker (700 deg F kind) since that little piece was chipped off - thinking it would fill the recess. I let all gaskets set up for 24 hours in heated garage space (was 55+ deg F in there over night) before starting the vehicle. All seemed good/sealed and I've been driving it for short trips for the past 5 days without issue.

For the two coolant lines that come into TB - I did notice one of the hoses was a bit checked/flared out at end of hose (you can see in photos). I don't have extra hoses/hose material, so I decided to just attach it and put the old clamp back on.

When I start it up and manually rev with my hand on throttle cable/plate, I can't see where coolant is leaking from - it doesn't appear to be spewing out, at least not when sitting in parking lot with a warm engine. Coolant has sprayed around / up onto fuel filter, though, so it's clearly spraying some when driving.

My questions:
  1. Have any of you experienced this?
  2. What do you think chances are that leak is coming from hose(s) that go into throttle body? I will try to put a stronger clamp on later, maybe trim flared end of hose and see if that fixes.
  3. Is there a chance that leak could be coming from the throttle body gaskets that I made / patched up? Can't tell if coolant I see there has sprayed up from hose, or if it is seeping from TB between gaskets.
  4. Any risk of damage to engine with coolant leak at this location? Want to get fixed as soon as possible, but may need to drive car away from office to parts store...back home, a couple miles city driving. Could I temporarily pull hoses from TB and block off and limp it around from work to store to home... until I get it fixed?
Some photos attached. Appreciate the read and thanks in advance for advice/assistance.

Coolant near TB.jpg


TB hoses.jpg


Coolant spray near TB.jpg
 
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Another piece of info - I torqued nuts down on TB to 16 ft/lbs. Struggled to find exact torque spec, but thought that was in ballpark based on what I did find.
 
...16 ft-lbs, not "/"... (192 in-lbs with 1/4" drive torque wrench).
 
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Update: found the leak over lunch. Coming from nearby hose, small hole in hose, spraying towards throttle body. Will have to track down a replacement hose. Right by t-stat housing.

PXL_20230216_183950706.jpg
 
once you have blocked your egr and removed your throttle plate you really dont need coolant running to the throttle
body anymore. if you disconnect and block the coolant line to the throttle body more coolant will go to radiator
and improve your cooling.

image.jpg


image.jpg
 
Thanks for the info and sharing photos, Houser. I will consider that once I get the broken hose replaced. I need to go get this engine bay cleaned up, that coolant sitting on hoses, wiring, other components can't be good... your engine bay looks so clean, mine is a mess at the moment!
 
The hose that was leaking was one of my double 90 degree bend molded heater hoses. Did not look like I could purchase just that small section of OE heater hose. Parts diagram only showed entire heater hose assembly as part #/available for purchase. Didn't want to spend $210+shipping and replace all at this time, so I found a $10 molded hose at local parts store that worked out. It was part #B88395 Dayco hose. Should anyone ever need something available in the States that works for a short heater hose in this location: 3/4" I.D. and two 90 degree bends, try the B88395 Dayco hose.
 

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