| Author | Message | ||
     Ourdee |
Does any one else' Throttle body/Butterfly freeze open or shut when riding in below 20 degree weather? Mine has froze open and tonight it froze shut. If I shut off the bike and let it sit for a minute or two it thaws out and I don't experience it again that ride. | ||
| Rwven |
If the return spring is wet or dirty it can bind up there. I've had mine bind up after a long ride on a dusty road. Spray it down good with Carb Cleaner. I know carbs can ice up in the venturi under the right conditions. Will throttle bodies ice up also? | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
It might be more likely that your cables get sticky. | ||
| Ronmold |
Did you do the breather mod? Wondering if the splooge is helpful to lube that butterfly or maybe the moisture in it is what freezes. | ||
| 7873jake |
Guys, this isn't a real problem. This sounds like someone bragging... "Does any one else's Throttle body/Butterfly freeze open or shut when riding in below 20 degree weather?" Other ways to ask rather innocuous questions: "I never have weeds in my yard. Is that normal? The grass just grows and grows and grows without fertilizer." "Is it normal that my neighbor always shovels my drive and walks for free and without hesitation after a heavy snow?" "Is it normal for my wife to always get hit on every time I take her out of the house?" "Does anyone else's bank give them a free car for maintaining a daily balance of $1,000,000,000 or more? Sheesh! Can't take too many more of these freebies!" "Do all of my children have to be in college studying for their doctorates before the age of 15? Can't I just have one normal kid" "Does anyone else's car get 75mpg?" "Free cable, what a pain in the butt! Who would want that?" "I should have never bought that foreclosed land for pennies an acre. The oil reserves found there have been a real buzz kill when I just want to go for a nature walk. Know what I mean?"  "Its 80 and sunny here today in Fla. Do I want to go for a ride?" RD, just kiddin'. Now back to that frozen throttle body. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
At least one of those sounds like Froggy's problem.  | ||
| Etennuly |
7873, you have not ridden when it is below 20F? I have had it happen only when ice fog is possible. An atmospheric change from cold and dry to moist air. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Never heard of icing on a fuel injected engine. Carbureted engines may be subject to ice formation due to air cooling from venturi effects and cooling from fuel atomization, both of which occur upstream of the throttle valve. Injected engines have neither of these conditions. Additionally, throttle icing generally occurs in above freezing temperatures. I've had no icing problems at all. Even in temperatures below 10F. Below 10F, I've had oil pressure issues. | ||
| 7873jake |
Vern, I've tried but the wife gets mad when I wake up at 4am to be out on the road for the 6.3 minutes that the temp dips below 20 down here in the greater Daytonaburg area of Florida. Then she gets even more mad when I return to the bed and every appendage has 'warmed' up to 37 degrees and I place those hands (and/or feet) on her and say something crass like "warm me up".  I usually get this in return:  I can usually find low 30's upper 20's once or twice a year but, again, only for about 10 mins, then the sun comes up. | ||
| Etennuly |
I'm thinking that the throttle cables have moisture in them. Take them off from the top and douche with WD40. I lived in Tampax for seventeen years. Forty degrees there is like twenty up North because a dry day there is like 75% humidity. A couple of years ago I left here for the Daytona races in March. It was 32F at noon. The highest temp I saw in seven hundred miles to Tampa was 49. I stopped for the night in South Georgia, it was 18F at 9:00 in the evening. Then when we camped in the infield the temps were 38F overnight with a twenty mph wind. That was a cold sob of a trip. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Never heard of icing on a fuel injected engine. Carbureted engines may be subject to ice formation due to air cooling from venturi effects and cooling from fuel atomization, both of which occur upstream of the throttle valve. Injected engines have neither of these conditions. +1 to all that. I think something else is happening, probably what Vern suggested above. | ||
| Motorbike |
We had 9 below zero here a few days ago and my throttle body did not freeze up. Ok, maybe that's because my bike is hibernating in a heated garage all winter. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Ourdee, Maybe it turtled up. | ||
| Froggy |
I had the same issue once, it was a throttle cable freezing up in my case. I didn't do anything about it, I'm guessing the water eventually evaporated out cause it only did it for a few days. | ||
| Uly_man |
While it is laudable to ride at 20F, -6.5C so very below freezing point it does not sound like a good idea for many reasons. The air through the throttle body is accelerated and the temperature could, at this level affect the fluids or even the fuel and cause problems. Even a little water in your throttle cables could have an effect on control. | ||
| Zane |
Seems like the easiest fix would be to move south... Just sayin' | ||
| Froggy |
Water in your throttle cables will cause issues regardless of temperature. Riding at -6°C is no different than 10°C, 20°C, 30°C, or 40°C. I find it quite pleasant below 0, I don't sweat, the bike is happier, fans run less, and it is great cruising down the road without any squids showboating causing accidents. This is the best time of year to ride, the air is so crisp and refreshing, and you don't have to worry about rain. The best part? I can go outside without my skin sizzling like bacon.
I know I will never make that mistake! | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Oil does not flow much at low temps until it warms up. Probably bypasses the oil filter until it thins enough after being worked by the engine. My Prius actually is spec'd for 0W20 Syn oil year round. Winter temps might not do the ULY too much good. That being said, I still ride once in awhile so long as the roads are not iced up. The older I get the less I tolerate the cold. It blows. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Switching oil to 5w40 took care of the issue. With 10w40, the oil light would flicker and I'd need to let the bike idle for about five minutes. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I've never had a TB freeze, but I also run stock breathers. And having met the guy, I think it's pretty safe to say RD is not a braggart. Little...odd, but not a braggart.  | ||
| Ourdee |
First freeze, it would not close to less than 3500 rpms. This time it would not open to more than 3500 rpms. Yes, breather bypass has been done. Joe, Are you coming to homecoming? | ||
| Zac4mac |
That got a grin joe... spot on. RD, rode to work last week, 16 dF at my house. No problems at all, nice and warm in my Scorpion Exo suit. Homecoming... hmmmm Zack | ||
| Mark_weiss |
What year is your Ulysses? Is it the throttle itself that is freezing (you cannot twist the grip) or is it sticking at some high idle speed? | ||
| Towpro |
EG, I bet your Toy uses 0w20 to increase fuel economy. It might not affect MPG on your 1 car that much, but when you add the total increase up across all the cars Toy makes, it helps them raise the fuel economy numbers across the whole fleet, which allows them to produce a couple more trucks (where the big money is) and still meet the corporate fuel economy standards imposed on them by the USA. | ||
| Ourdee |
It is like someone drilled a hole in the throttle body, put a pin through it and stopped the butterfly from moving past that point just off idle. On the way down the first time. On the way up last time. Last time I let the bike idle for a couple of minutes prior to riding. First time I fired it up and just took off. Last time was stuck from the get go. First time was after 2 miles. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
I would open the air box and check to see that both of the screws retaining the throttle butterfly are still in place. | ||
| Longhaulpaul |
YES. Twice in the past week my throttle stuck the entire ride to work. (30 miles) I had to force it closed to coast or slow down. Both days were below 10 degrees. However, I found one of my cables had pulled out of the ferrel, re adjusting seemed to fix it, but ice storm this morning and a leaking fork seal had me take the wifes car today. I'll Check again next week. | ||
| Cyclonedon |
I've had that freeze on my 4-wheeler before, but hasn't ever happened on my motorcycle. I wasn't able to ever stop that problem, so I traded the 4-wheeler. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I'd definitely check cables, make sure they're properly lubed and don't have ice inside the sleeves. Any sticking-problems with the clutch cable at all? My first reaction, though, is "this is yet another reason I won't do a breather mod"... | ||
| Froggy |
My bike was stock when it happened to me. |
