Throttle body coolant bypass on 2005 Tahoe 5.3

[OR VietVet]

I forget the exact date but you had a raffle and I won a "Traditional Tune" from you for my 2005 Tahoe Z71 stock 5.3. Just yesterday I did a new alternator and while I had it apart, I chose to pull the throttle body and do the bore cleaning on both sides. For removal, had to disconnect the 2 small coolant lines at the bottom front of throttle body and as has been discussed in my Under Construction Build Thread, why is there coolant traveling thru the bottom of the throttle body. Turns out it is to prevent water crystal freeze up at the throttle plate, in cold humid climates.

Here in Eugene, Oregon, that is not a worry. I have seen a couple videos and read some info that in climates where the freezing is not a concern, the hot coolant traveling thru the throttle body will rob horsepower from the engine.

So, I ask you, is that claim true and if I did the bypass and removed the hot coolant from the throttle body, would that affect the "Traditional Tune" that you did to my 2005 Tahoe 5.3 engine?

I value your insight and am eager to hear your thoughts on this. If it is a good idea, for better horsepower and any other reasons, can you recommend a kit that is best for this bypass? Or just any barbed tube and butt the hoses together and a couple of line clamps and call it good?

 

[Marky Dissod]

I know you wanted his answer, but here goes:

Turns out it is to prevent water crystal freeze up at the throttle plate, in cold humid climates.

Carburetion & throttle body 'injection' are VERY susceptible to freezing up the throttle plate in cold humid climates.
When fuel injection occurs well past the throttle plate, that plate is unlikely to allow/suffer H2O crystal formation in all but the most humid subfreezing conditions.

You may need to remove your throttle body every year or so if you want to keep its backside clean, but no worries anywhere.

... if I did the bypass and removed the hot coolant from the throttle body, would that affect the "Traditional Tune" that you did to my 2005 Tahoe 5.3L V8 engine?

It would not affect any type of tune done by any tuner to any fuel injected engine of any year regardless of displacement, cylinder count, or what vehicle it works in.

If it is a good idea, for better horsepower and any other reasons, can you recommend a kit that is best for this bypass?
Or just any barbed tube and butt the hoses together and a couple of line clamps and call it good?

A throttle body bypass is not a bad idea, but it isn't worth much horsepower either, given that our intake manifolds are plastic.
However you accomplish the throttle body bypass so that there are no coolant leaks, call it good.

 

[RET423]

That bypass connected to the throttle body provides an additional benefit of creating the highest point in cooling system, which means all air in the cooling system will go to that point & be drawn to radiator when the thermostat opens

In short, it's a great protection for the combustion chambers by using physics to help the steam ports do their job

I would also bet that a dyno would not be able to discern any difference in HP/Torque with the coolant routed around the throttle body but that's just an assumption on my part