It's not about the outside temperature. The throttle body is a place where outside air is being sucked across a throttle plate and expanding into a lower pressure in the intake manifold. The pressure drop means a temperature drop. Have you ever owned an air compressor, and noticed when you open the tank drain valve to put it away, the wet air sprays out hard at first, then slows down as the valve ices up inside, speeds up again as the ice thaws, and repeats? Happens even at room temperature.
Or the carburetor venturi/throat in your small aircraft engine icing up at reduced throttle in humid air, unless external carburetor heat is applied.
I do mostly short trips, so I'll leave it. It's just something I noticed and have done to previous vehicles because the forums for those said it was advantageous.
Its worth it to do the bypass its a well known performance mod but on this car i was shooting to preserve the fly by wire throttle motor. And I think the car ran better actually. It does no harm. Keeps the throttle body very cool. Heating up the throttle body is unnecessary in my and your climate. Its easy all it requires is a PEX barrel and 2 hose clamps clamps found at Lowes. I'm sorry I don't have the diameter of the barrel needed but measure the size of the inlet tube and buy that size barrel. The hoses reach each other after hose removal. Cant be easier takes 10 minutes after getting the barrel. I have bypassed every carburetor car I have ever owned in this state for the last 43 years. It was on my prius for 160,000 miles and 15 years and sold like that. Engine ran perfect. Good Luck.
Be careful what you do mod wise in California, some smog techs may find a mod like this and fail the car. They can be very picky, also with OCC's. Not worth it, keep it stock.
I'm going to do the EGR cleaning soon. I've watched several videos, and it's starting to look more time consuming than anything. Especially the part about leaving the cooler soaking in oven cleaner for days. I also got a new PCV valve, and all the parts for a catch can, which I do have on my other vehicles. I know CA is stupid about some mods. Even mods that make the cars run better and cleaner.
If time is short, just do the intake manifold EGR passages initially. They take a lot less time (no need to remove wipers and cowl), and are more likely to be clogged enough to cause problems than the cooler at your car's mileage. This assume it isn't guzzling oil.
I finally got around to doing the full EGR cleaning yesterday and today. It was about involved as I thought, but I took it bit by bit, following Merv's Service videos and I got it done. It wasn't nearly as dirty as Merv's was. I bought the plugs he recommended and let it sit in oven cleaner for 30 minutes or so, then repeated. After the each time, I blasted it out with the 0* nozzle on my pressure washer. I could see light through it as well as he did in the video, so I have it one more blast with some parts cleaner, then another blast with the pressure washer, but I nicked my left index finger with the stream right in between the fingernail and finger. I had already cleaned everything else, so I decided to take a break for the day by soaking it in oven cleaner overnight and looking after my finger. The next day, the oven cleaner came out about 99% clear, so I figured I was good. I gave it one more blast with the pressure washer (being very careful lol. I learned my lesson). I cut off the "expendable crew member" bracket and removed the stud for it, and remounting everything was easy, although I should have done a better job of labeling what bolts and nuts went where. In the end, everything went back together and the engine seems fine, except for the last bolt that mounts the airbox to the top of the engine decided it needed to snap for some reason, so I just left it. I'll fix it later, but he airbox seems to be held in just fine with the other 4 bolts. I also installed a catch can and replaced my spark plugs while I had everything apart. It didn't blow up, no check engine lights and no weird noises that I can tell. The engine was a bit jittery (it could just be my pessimistic imagination), but I'm hoping it's just the ECU adjusting to things running a bit cleaner. What's the recommended interval for EGR cleaning?
The EGR cooler’s original purpose (it isn’t just there to clog) is to cool exhaust gasses. When its fins have a modest amount of carbon clogging, is that cooling ability compromised? not sure how significant, but preferring to err on the side of excess, and because it sorta syncs with coolant changes, I’d advocate every 50k.
50k is excessive for cooler/valve cleaning (unless your engine burns a bit of oil, and then yes). 50k is fine for coolant changes..every OTHER coolant change, do the EGR stuff.
