I noticed a small leak of fluid from the lower of the two plugs in the pass side of my 96 5.0 Throttle body.

Thinking it was gas, (I can't smell very good) I was in need of a FAST fix. I went directly to the local Ford dealership. Thye informed me that it is actually coolant leaking, and that the only repair is to replace the throttle body. $525 installed, $385 for the part.

Well, being that it is only coolant (no fire danger) and a small leak, the urgency is down slightly. I refrained from telling the service writer that I thought he was on dope, and just took my truck and went on my way.

I know that the service dept. is there to make money, and I don't begrudge them that, but there is WAY too much part changing and not enough actual mechanic work going on at that dealership.

I am going to try to tap the hole and put in a pipe plug. 1/8" if the hole isn't already too big for it, 1/4" if it is.

I don't know if anyone has seen this, or tried my method of repair, but I'll post back, and let you know how it turns out.

 

Slow down there killer...It is indeed coolant. If you look closer at the throttle body there should be a spacer between what is actually the throttle body and the upper part of the intake itself. This spacer is part of the EGR system and coolant is routed through it through some little tubes to "keep it cool". Funny how that works. It's for the heat from the exhaust gasses recirculating through there. Most likely your leak is just one of these rubber lines. As for the dealer, they are on dope but it's because of their prices. Good luck.

**Disclaimer** I am used to my '91 so your '96 may look a little different. Not sure.

 

take the coolant lines off and plug them. it'll be fixed. it is used to heat the incoming air in cold weather. it robs power the other 364 days of the year.
it couldn't be used to cool incoming air
coolant 160-190*+
ambient air temps. a lot less hopefully

 

The coolant flow is used to cool the EGR Spacer and egr gas. The spacer will get super hot with out the water flow.
Bypassing the coolant was a good trick used in the mustangs , but it had to go along with blocking off the egr port or you didnt get any benefit. If you have OBDII I dont know if this trick will work anymore.

Drilling and plugging sounds good to me.

 

864 is right on!

 

Ok, I had some time this morning, so I pulled the throttle body off.

I drilled through the plug with the drill for 1/8 NPT, and it didn't remove all of the old plug, so I went back through it with the drill for 1/4 NPT. Tapped the aluminum with the pipe tap, wrapped a brass pipe plug with some teflon tape, and put it in. reassembled, and the leak is gone!

Dealership wanted $524 to fix the truck, $385 just for the parts. I paid a dollar for a new throttle body gasket, $6.49 for a gallon of anti-freeze, and 39 cents for the plug.

I realize that this is a bizarre event, and there may never be anyone else reading this board that will have the problem.

But on the off chance there is one, I want them to know how to save themselves having to buy a new throttle body.

 

Thats being a true mechanic, not a parts changer. Good fix.

 

Happens quite often. We see it here in Florida, cause no one changes their coolant or flushes their cooling systems.

Without the yearly freeze, they just leave it in. Then the acid in the contaminated cooling system eats up things, radiator, egr spacer, front timing covers, etc.

Bypass it.

 

Does anyone know if and where you can get replacemnt plugs rather than cutting threads for a bolt