Throttle Body Upgrade ?

[VanillaGoorilla]

Is there such a thing as a Throttle Body upgrade ? Benefits/Drawbacks ? I'm only considering because I may have to replace mine...replaced sensor, gasket, cleaned it fought with the idle relearn(started off with the 2500-3000k idle,seems to be fine now) & now its still throwing the same code...

Mine is a 5.3 if that matters.

 

[Trey Hardy]

Is there such a thing as a Throttle Body upgrade ? Benefits/Drawbacks ? I'm only considering because I may have to replace mine...replaced sensor, gasket, cleaned it fought with the idle relearn(started off with the 2500-3000k idle,seems to be fine now) & now its still throwing the same code...

Mine is a 5.3 if that matters.

Yea the ls6 throttle body is bigger then our 5.3 one! personally I ported the hell out of my stock throttle body and intake inlet but that was going to be my next upgrade when the time comes

 

[VanillaGoorilla]

Yea the ls6 throttle body is bigger then our 5.3 one! personally I ported the hell out of my stock throttle body and intake inlet but that was going to be my next upgrade when the time comes

any reprogramming needed ? I saw some options on Texas speed... but I dunno. This really isn't ever going to be a fast vehicle, I do want the most I can getout of it though.

 

[Trey Hardy]

any reprogramming needed ? I saw some options on Texas speed... but I dunno. This really isn't ever going to be a fast vehicle, I do want the most I can getout of it though.

Probably cheapest bet would be a second hand TB off a vette off eBay or marketplace.
Fast TB are overpriced for the gains
Fella they call chuey 454 ports these stock TB and intakes for a decent price if you don’t want to do it yourself
Shouldn’t need any reprogramming atleast I diddnt have to with either of my 07s when I ported them out

 

[gooffeyguy]

Does the 6.2 engines in these trucks use the same TBs as the 5.3?

 

[Marky Dissod]

Is there such a thing as a Throttle Body upgrade ? Benefits / Drawbacks ?
I'm only considering because I may have to replace mine.
replaced sensor, gasket, cleaned it, fought with the idle relearn (started off with the 2500-3000k idle, seems to be fine now)
now its still throwing the same code.

Mine is a 5.3L if that matters.

There is such a thing as a throttle body upgrade.
However, if you have not already done several other power releasing mods - longtube headers and catback exhaust, heads and cam and valvetrain, better intake manifold (you already have a pretty good one), larger fuel injectors - you'll find that a larger mouth and/or nostrils alone is not in and of itself going to release that much power, because it needs bigger better lungs and stronger legs first.

If the throttle body is NOT the engine's chokepoint, upgrading it won't release any power.
Also, if you don't yet need to upgrade the injectors AND the intake manifold, you don't NEED a better throttle body.

This really isn't ever going to be a fast vehicle, I do want the most I can get out of it though.

If you haven't had your vehicle tuned yet, you should.
Besides tuning, the best bang for your buck in terms of dramatic effect would be
4.10 if you have a 4L60E
3.73 if you have a 6L80E
And yes, both require tuning.

This idle relearn procedure only applies to throttle-by-signal, yeah?
Every time I cold start my '02 Tahoe L59, the idle briefly exceeds 2000RpM before settling for about 1000RpM, and it takes about 3-4min before the idle gets down to 600RpM.

 

[THarber]

You're not going to gain anything by upsizing the TB. Your engine is tuned and designed to only take so much fuel and so much air. You will open up a whole new set of problems by doing so. Larger TB are great for performance cars or trucks running in the upper RPM range and thats about it.

What code is it throwing? Lets start there.

TH

 

[Doubeleive]

you can open the top end up a little bit fairly easily with a 6.2l intake and a ls7 throttle body
it's plug-n-play,
better yet if you get them ported. probably run you $8-900, more like $450-500 if you port the intake yourself
you will want a tune with it, won't get you much but anything helps
not sure if the ls7 throttle body fits the 5.3l intake, it does on the 6.2l

oh and cai for the ls7 tb, I believe the stock plastic intake housing will not fit without modification

 

[gooffeyguy]

you can open the top end up a little bit fairly easily with a 6.2l intake and a ls7 throttle body
it's plug-n-play,
better yet if you get them ported. probably run you $8-900, more like $450-500 if you port the intake yourself
you will want a tune with it, won't get you much but anything helps
not sure if the ls7 throttle body fits the 5.3l intake, it does on the 6.2l

oh and cai for the ls7 tb, I believe the stock plastic intake housing will not fit without modification

Do you know the sizes of the different throttle bodies (like 80mm, 90mm, etc)?

 

[VanillaGoorilla]

There is such a thing as a throttle body upgrade.
However, if you have not already done several other power releasing mods - longtube headers and catback exhaust, heads and cam and valvetrain, better intake manifold (you already have a pretty good one), larger fuel injectors - you'll find that a larger mouth and/or nostrils alone is not in and of itself going to release that much power, because it needs bigger better lungs and stronger legs first.

If the throttle body is NOT the engine's chokepoint, upgrading it won't release any power.
Also, if you don't yet need to upgrade the injectors AND the intake manifold, you don't NEED a better throttle body.If you haven't had your vehicle tuned yet, you should.
Besides tuning, the best bang for your buck in terms of dramatic effect would be
4.10 if you have a 4L60E
3.73 if you have a 6L80E
And yes, both require tuning.

This idle relearn procedure only applies to throttle-by-signal, yeah?
Every time I cold start my '02 Tahoe L59, the idle briefly exceeds 2000RpM before settling for about 1000RpM, and it takes about 3-4min before the idle gets down to 600RpM.

The only reason for looking into a "performance" throttle body is the need to replace the stock one now. So, I was just gonna upgrade that now while changing it out. Instead of going with OEM now and possibly upgrading later. I'll honestly probably only go as far as Intake, ehxaust and a tune of some sort... so if I am understanding, its not worth it to go bigger o the throttle body... correct ?

 

[Doubeleive]

Do you know the sizes of the different throttle bodies (like 80mm, 90mm, etc)?

Off hand by memory no, I had looked it up on one of the pickup truck forums a few years back but I think the 6.2l stock tb is like 77mm or something like that a ls7 stock tb is like 80mm it bolts right up to the intake and the harness is exactly the same, the difference shows up for the air housing. I upgraded mine because the stock tb on mine seemed to have a flat spot and it would sputter from time to time, changing the tb solved the issue and I figured the ls7 tb was made for performance so no reason not to use it! Didn't even need a relearn.

 

[Marky Dissod]

The only reason for looking into a "performance" throttle body is the need to replace the stock one now.
So, I was just gonna upgrade that now while changing it out. Instead of going with OEM now and possibly upgrading later.

Dude, I'm so down with maintenance upgrades, especially when I can use an OE upgrade.

I'll honestly probably only go as far as Intake, exhaust and a tune of some sort.
So if I am understanding, its not worth it to go bigger on the throttle body, correct ?

The intake is also likely not worth it, pretty much for the same reasons that the larger throttle body also won't work on your engine (yet).
It just sounds a bit more kewl, but it won't make it any quicker.

The exhaust, on the other hand, is a restriction. If you select carefully, you will have released more performance!
(I wonder if the Escalade exhaust system would be an OE upgrade, for example?)

 

[Doubeleive]

I looked into it a bit for my 18 silverado, a +10 hp gain for less than $1k is not a bad deal (larger intake+tb & cai)
the best part is it just bolts on
with supporting mods, heads, cam, cat back you can see more gains, just takes money lol

and yes the 6.2l stock exhaust is mostly 3.5" or more, the 5.3l is 2.5"

 

[Doubeleive]

pretty much any muffler shop can build you a cat back for much cheaper than a pre made brand name one.

 

[Foggy]

The only reason for looking into a "performance" throttle body is the need to replace the stock one now. So, I was just gonna upgrade that now while changing it out. Instead of going with OEM now and possibly upgrading later. I'll honestly probably only go as far as Intake, ehxaust and a tune of some sort... so if I am understanding, its not worth it to go bigger o the throttle body... correct ?

Use a stock TB ... Make sure it's the OE part. Delphi/AcDelco
You will gain absolutely Zero with a larger TB. The only time would benefit
would be with more displacement(stroker engine) or very large cam/heads combo
operating at higher rpm range.
Just get a new TB. do the relearn... Drive on
If you want better driveability and little more umph, then do a tune to
get the most out of what you have and better transmission parameters

 

[Charlie207]

The exhaust, on the other hand, is a restriction. If you select carefully, you will have released more performance!
(I wonder if the Escalade exhaust system would be an OE upgrade, for example?)

Everyone here, and BBP, told me that the exhaust by itself is not a restriction.....even after I got my tune.

 

[adriver]

The only reason for looking into a "performance" throttle body is the need to replace the stock one now. So, I was just gonna upgrade that now while changing it out. Instead of going with OEM now and possibly upgrading later. I'll honestly probably only go as far as Intake, ehxaust and a tune of some sort... so if I am understanding, its not worth it to go bigger o the throttle body... correct ?

Your intake is fine, that's a waste of money.

Unless you get a new intake manifold, you're still going to have the same size opening behind the throttle body whether you use the one you have now, or a much larger one. An intake manifold is a few steps beyond what you want to do to make it worth it.

Cam, tune, and full exhaust are the $2k-$3k package for a bit more. For a new TB to be worth it, you need an intake with a larger opening. That's anywhere from $500-$1K+ more. It's worth doing if you can add another $1k on top of that first package, but not worth doing a TB alone.

pretty much any muffler shop can build you a cat back for much cheaper than a pre made brand name one.

Yeah, but good luck finding one that can actually weld well.

 

[Doubeleive]

Your intake is fine, that's a waste of money.

Unless you get a new intake manifold, you're still going to have the same size opening behind the throttle body whether you use the one you have now, or a much larger one. An intake manifold is a few steps beyond what you want to do to make it worth it.

Cam, tune, and full exhaust are the $2k-$3k package for a bit more. For a new TB to be worth it, you need an intake with a larger opening. That's anywhere from $500-$1K+ more. It's worth doing if you can add another $1k on top of that first package, but not worth doing a TB alone.

Yeah, but good luck finding one that can actually weld well.

the guys at the local shop by me have been there for 20+ years, welding all day long sooner or later you have to get better it. the exhaust they put on my 00 and my 03 are still intact. I wouldn't hesitat to have them weld anything for me... and they gave me a lifetime warranty.
I mean I guess if it's the local ghetto repair, maybe not so much

 

[Doubeleive]

so much negativety, you know some of us are poor and don't have 10k to drop on a upgrade all at once, but little by little it can happen even if it's small gains

 

[gooffeyguy]

Move out of Cali and you won't be poor anymore, lol