Throttle Body Spacer

Hello everyone:

I have a 97 TJ, and was wondering if a throttle body spacer would be a
good investment. Right now the engine is stock, and I've read that
some TBSs increase gas miles 10%, and increase horsepower as well. The
gas mileage is where it would help the most. Do these actually cause a
noticable difference, and, if so, what brands are the best?

Thanks,
Mike

"97tjMike" <MichaelJunior (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

Hello everyone:

I have a 97 TJ, and was wondering if a throttle body spacer would be a
good investment. Right now the engine is stock, and I've read that
some TBSs increase gas miles 10%, and increase horsepower as well. The
gas mileage is where it would help the most. Do these actually cause a
noticable difference, and, if so, what brands are the best?

Thanks,
Mike

TB spacers are supposed to facilitate fuel atomization when using a

carburetor or throttle body fuel injection system. Since you have a MPI
system with injection straight into the intake manifold, just upstream of
the intake valves, this would be a total waste of time and money.

I realized some performance and economy gain, although nothing to write home
about, using Turbo City's http://www.turbocity.com Stage Two performance kit
for Jeep YJ Wrangler 2.5. The economy gain is measurable, a whole 3-4 mpg.
The performance gain is probably wishful thinking.

Earle

97tjMike wrote:

Hello everyone:

I have a 97 TJ, and was wondering if a throttle body spacer would be a
good investment. Right now the engine is stock, and I've read that
some TBSs increase gas miles 10%, and increase horsepower as well. The
gas mileage is where it would help the most. Do these actually cause a
noticable difference, and, if so, what brands are the best?

TB spacers are pure junk.

The changes in "horsepower" or "feel" are due to the shifting of the
linkages. Essentially shortening them so the throttle is open a bit more
earlier in the pedal and the kickdown for the transmission is also
changed a small amount.

The only possible benefit is a thing called hemholtz tuning, but that is
only valid at specific RPMs and is not a trivial calculation.

Way back when, carb spacers were used to shield the carb from engine heat
and allowed a more dense charge. These days they are just snakeoil.

I've always said if they were that good I'd bolt on ten and never need
gas again.

--
-- DougW -- 93 ZJ 4.0 http://revbeergoggles.com
HESCO Supercharger - 300W IASCA Stereo - Edelbrock IAS Shocks
Gibson Exhaust - rear DCpower - custom gauge install - Stillen Rotors
Banks Header - and BEER, in the fridge!