Hi Everyone, I just got finished adding some mods to the P5, and I figured I would do a how-to with pics on the TB thermal spacer install. Its really not too hard at all. Took me about 3 hours (over a two day period), which means it would take most people about 1.5-2 hrs. Im slow.
I got my throttle body thermal spacer from Steve at NSN Motorsports for around 30 bucks. Great guy to deal with. Ok, enough with the free plugs, here goes.
1) You need to remove any intake piping that connect to your throttle body, either the stock pieces, or your Injen pipe. Also, when you get the pipes off, stuff something CLEAN (paper towel, etc) into the TB opening so you dont drop bolts or anything in there.
2) You need to remove the wire connections (there are two) and rubber hoses (there are two of these also) that connect to the TB. The two hoses may contain a little engine coolant, so try not to make too much of a mess. At this time, let me plug my other how to, on the throttle body coolant bypass mod. Since you are doing one, you might as well do the other too. Here is the link to that thread:
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101336
3) Now that you have that done, there are two bolts and two nuts that hold the TB to the intake manifold. They are all 12mm if I remember correctly. They are somewhat hard to get to, but just be patient and try different extensions, and you will get them off.
4) Ok last step before removing the TB - you have to get the throttle cable loose. This was the most difficult part for me, but its not that bad. The throttle cable is right against the firewall on the right side of the TB. You need to twist the throttle counter clockwise, then pull on the throttle cable itself, and wiggle the little weight at the end of the cable out of its track. This is sort of hard to describe. One of the pics below shows you the throttle cable mechanism. Honestly, if you had too, you could probably leave the cable attached, and just pull the TB away from the intake manifold enough to get the spacer in there. But I went ahead and took the throttle body off.
5) Ok, you should have the Throttle body totally free and clear now. If you didnt tear the stock gasket, you are about done. I tore mine up, so off to the Mazda dealership for me, and 4 bucks later I had a new one.
6) I Pm'd Steve about the order of this and he said Intake manifold-then TB thermal spacer-then stock gasket-then the TB itself. Im not sure it matters much, but just to be safe.
7) Ok, just like your mom used to tell you, put everything back where it came from. Throttle body, nuts and bolts, throttle cable, wire connections, hose connections (if you didnt do the TB coolant bypass), and intake piping. The torque specs on the two nuts and two bolts holding the TB are 14-18 ft-lbs.
And thats it (unless I have forgotten a extremely important and live saving step, in which case you're screwed
. I cant say for sure if there is any noticable difference, Ive only driven the car for about 10 minutes. But its a fairly cheap mod, so I figure its worth it.
I got my throttle body thermal spacer from Steve at NSN Motorsports for around 30 bucks. Great guy to deal with. Ok, enough with the free plugs, here goes.
1) You need to remove any intake piping that connect to your throttle body, either the stock pieces, or your Injen pipe. Also, when you get the pipes off, stuff something CLEAN (paper towel, etc) into the TB opening so you dont drop bolts or anything in there.
2) You need to remove the wire connections (there are two) and rubber hoses (there are two of these also) that connect to the TB. The two hoses may contain a little engine coolant, so try not to make too much of a mess. At this time, let me plug my other how to, on the throttle body coolant bypass mod. Since you are doing one, you might as well do the other too. Here is the link to that thread:
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101336
3) Now that you have that done, there are two bolts and two nuts that hold the TB to the intake manifold. They are all 12mm if I remember correctly. They are somewhat hard to get to, but just be patient and try different extensions, and you will get them off.
4) Ok last step before removing the TB - you have to get the throttle cable loose. This was the most difficult part for me, but its not that bad. The throttle cable is right against the firewall on the right side of the TB. You need to twist the throttle counter clockwise, then pull on the throttle cable itself, and wiggle the little weight at the end of the cable out of its track. This is sort of hard to describe. One of the pics below shows you the throttle cable mechanism. Honestly, if you had too, you could probably leave the cable attached, and just pull the TB away from the intake manifold enough to get the spacer in there. But I went ahead and took the throttle body off.
5) Ok, you should have the Throttle body totally free and clear now. If you didnt tear the stock gasket, you are about done. I tore mine up, so off to the Mazda dealership for me, and 4 bucks later I had a new one.
6) I Pm'd Steve about the order of this and he said Intake manifold-then TB thermal spacer-then stock gasket-then the TB itself. Im not sure it matters much, but just to be safe.
7) Ok, just like your mom used to tell you, put everything back where it came from. Throttle body, nuts and bolts, throttle cable, wire connections, hose connections (if you didnt do the TB coolant bypass), and intake piping. The torque specs on the two nuts and two bolts holding the TB are 14-18 ft-lbs.
And thats it (unless I have forgotten a extremely important and live saving step, in which case you're screwed
. I cant say for sure if there is any noticable difference, Ive only driven the car for about 10 minutes. But its a fairly cheap mod, so I figure its worth it.
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