Guess I got an excuse to get a fastman throttlebody now....

I was bored today, so I figured I'd clean the TB. While I had it off, I decided to take it apart and bore it to 50mm all the way through. It went great: I took my time, and had that sucker ported and polished in a couple hours.

Now the FML moment: I started putting everything back together, and got to the TB mounting bolts. I went in a criss-cross pattern, and upon the last turn of the last bolt, this happens:


*throws ratchet* FAAAWWWKKK *contemplates murdering kittens*

For those that cant see it: theres a crack to the right of that there bolt.

I didnt put a whole lot of *** into turning those bolts, so my conclusion is that my TB is just old, and this was bound to happen sooner or later.

My question: should I be worried about that crack continuing across and creating a piece that could fly into the intake? Or am I safe for a short while?

 

Take it back off and look underneath. Then JB it.

 

I wonder if the lock washer played any part in that.

 

You didn't knock off the raised portions on the top of the throttle body? That's fairly standard too......

If it's just the top flange that has a bit of a crack in it..... take it back off, finish the top off, JB weld the crack.... use flat washers... if any at all.... and put it back on.

 

maybe you tightened it a bit too tight. i know it is a bit different but the instruction manual for my Holley street avenger carb says "Install the hold down nuts and snug down progressively in a “crisscross” pattern (60-80 in./lbs.)"

 

The lock washers were OEM I believe; they were on there when I bought it at least.

Left those raised portions because is was getting dark, and I needed a beer after all the grinding, sanding, and grinding.

I contemplated some jb, but then I thought that if the jb ever broke, it would go flying into the intake. The crack is not all the way through the flange, I'd say about 1/2 or 3/4 of the way. So y'all think that jb would be safe?

edit: Also, I will take your advice heyyou, and use flat washers. (when I backed off the bolt to see the damage, I noticed that the lock part had scored the aluminum)

 

JB weld never comes off, even when you want it to....

 

LOL, alright, thanks man, i'll pull it this afternoon and throw some jb on there.

 

And grind that crap off the top too. It's light out again. Just bring a couple beers to the shop with ya.

 

best solution, and take this from a mechanic on f-16s, you can stop drill that crack, basically just drill a tiny hole at the end of that crack, then you can throw a thin layer of jb weld or whatever on if u want. it will work like a champ.