Anyone have this dumb problem? The QC on these things is brutal. This is my second one and there's a coolant leak from between the IAC plate and the TB. I didn't use RTV. Shouldn't need to. Wondering if this is a common issue with these.

 

Easy way to fix that is perform the TB coolant bypass, it’s as simple as a new hose and some rubber plugs for the TB coolant ports.

After doing this there will no longer be hot coolant flowing to your TB and heating up the air that goes to the intake. I don’t think think there’s much performance gain here but anything helps and as long as you aren’t driving your car in Alaska in the winter it should be fine. This also makes removing the TB for future maintenance much easier and cleaner.

I think D87658 was the hose part number IIRC, do a search on this if you’re interested, there are a few threads on it.

The only thing I would make sure is you have no vacuum leak at the IAC along with a coolant leak, you shouldn’t have to use RTV on that as you said.

 

...Except that the car is in Canada (not far from you), where icing of the throttle body can be a real problem even at temperatures above freezing. That's why the original designers put a coolant passage through there in the first place.

A good gasket should be all that's necessary, but if that isn't getting it done, an RTV sealant might be worth a try in case there is a design or materials flaw. With aftermarket parts, that's always in question.

 

Heard this many times but never happened to me. I drive as low a 24Deg.F. (15 years). Never tried below that.

 

I’ve driven around and below the freezing mark a decent amount before I put the car away for winter and never had an issue but as the man said they put it there for a reason.

Just for the ease of taking the TB off to clean it I thought it was worth it.