Removing throttlebody--elbow doesn't come off?

[joebor1776]

Hello experts,
I tried to remove my throttlebody elbow last night to clean the throttlebody. I didn't want to mess with draining the coolant and depressurizing the fuel system to remove the whole throttlebody (it says to depressurize the fuel system in the Haynes book, but I don't understand why that's necessary). Anyway, I removed the Y bolt and the two other bolts that bolt on the elbow to the throttlebody. Turns out those four long 12mm bolts seem to hold the throttlebody onto the intake manifold? The elbow didn't want to come off, but the whole throttlebody was loose from the intake manifold at that point. Did I do something wrong?

If I go ahead an pull off the throttlebody, is coolant going to spray all over everything, or will I have time to cap off those hoses?

Thanks for your help,
Jborch

 

[staticbrainwash]

Someone probably RTV'd that thing on there. You should be able to get it off still, but if not, you can pull those lines. I did it just recently. Make sure you have pleanty of ras to catch what does come out. Then as SOON as they're loose, plug them with bolts or something so it doesn't leak. Then just go about your cleaning, and slap it back on.

 

[kahl23]

You can also use Visegrip pliers to crimp the hoses shut. If you make it tight enough, they hoses won't leak, even under pressure. Clamp them as close to the throttle body as possible and when you pull the lines, you just have to deal with the coolant in the tb, which isn't much.

 

[joebor1776]

Thanks guys, that is very helpful. I appreciate your help.

 

[dsmpokolm]

Did you take the throttle cable off?

 

[joebor1776]

Yes, I plan to--I am going to take off the whole throttlebody tonight.

 

[joebor1776]

Wow, those coolant hoses are hard to get to get off of there. It all came off though, and yea it was dirty. The intake manifold is really, really dirty too. I don't suppose there's any way to clean that (or maybe there's no need to).

Also, I noticed the valve on the throttlebody closes completely when it closes. I was thinking it was supposed to have a small gap when closed. Is that true?

thanks!