Advice on Throttle body not sealing to Intake manifold -- 2001 GT

[SN95_fanx54]

Hey folks!

So, my beloved 2001 Mustang GT that I've had forever is not behaving itself as of late. A year or so ago i put on an SR Performance Throttle Body from AM. No matter how hard I try and no matter how many gaskets I put in and how careful i try to assemble it, I get a damn leak in between the manifold and the throttle body with that stupid O-ring gasket (PI intake). It's one little spot on the back of the throttle body by the throttle linkage, near the driver's side bolt.

I did look visually for a crack in the intake, but didn't see anything. No visual damage to the intake, and the throttle body doesnt seem to be warped or anything. I suppose I can bring it to my works shop and check for flatness but damn. I did a super slow progressive tightening pattern on the 4 bolts too.

Anyone else ever deal with this? Any tips? Should I try putting the stock TB back on? Maybe a little RTV or is that too taboo? what do you guys think?

Thanks!

 

[SN95_fanx54]

Hey all! So that its documented on the internet, I think I puzzled it together as of now. Here is what happened:

1. The leak was definitely at the rear of the engine where the TB mates to the PI intake manifold. When i removed the TB (AGAIN), the blue O-ring type gasket was folded over.
2. I gave my 10 year old a 15 minute lecture on how a leak there would cause a high idle related to the TB sucking in air after the MAF measures the amount of air before that part in the vacuum circuit. He seems to be getting it a little.
3. 10 year old holds the EGR valve out of the way, I reinstall as evenly as humanly possible in crossing pattern starting at rear driver side screw.
4. I recall a small moment in my 12 hour endeavor of clutch and rear main seal replacement a few weeks ago when i was tilting the engine, the CAI popped off. This could have stressed the TB. Whoops.
5. I check for warpage and damage as much as i could without a granite table and indicators on the TB, found nothing but a small scratch, so that wasn't it.
6. Here's the big kicker... After reinstalling all of it, i realized the SR performance CAI in there with the little mounting bracket really had to be pushed down in order to align the holes... this could have added stress to the TB.
7. I used the Pilot bushing out of the clutch job on my 2012 Nissan Frontier SV 4x4 6-Speed (Friggin awesome truck BTW folks) as a standoff spacer, and all seems really happy now. No audible leaks in the same spot yet, and the idle returned to 800 RPM, down from 1300-1500 or so. Rev Hang is still a bit higher than i want, but WAY less than the 2200 that i was getting beat up with before. Its at about 1500 max but it doesnt accelerate the car instead of engine brake anymore.
8. Power was increased now that the air was all properly measured.... did some 3-pedal and some possible tire spin therapy on the way to get a celebratory 6-pack.

So there...its documented a bit. Will keep an eye on it the next few days with some hard rips to see if the leak comes back. BTW... to help i bought a 1/2" Phenolic spacer off ebay so i could slather that with RTV and not worry about clogging up the PI intake. I will install that and give a subjective review if it made it feel like it added a HP or ft-lb down low or not.

Cheers!
Jon