Throttle body gasket reusable?

[davidf]

Before I special order and $110 gasket, has anyone reused it safely? Thank you.

Item no. 5.
http://www.acurapartsforless.com/au...manual-engine/engine-cat/throttle-body-1-scat

 

[Old Guy]

I have not had to remove my TB so I have not 'reused it safely' as you note; however, it is a solid rubber piece as opposed to a thin film style gasket and as such does not suffer from the damage that can occur on removal. I did not see any notation in the Honda Service Manual indicating that the part is to be replaced during reassembly of the TB. The bigger issue will be has the rubber hardened due to exposure from engine heat. If the rubber has hardened, you run the risk that it will not reseal on reassembly. Somebody else with a 1991 could have done a TB R&R successfully without replacing this part. However, if your car has been in Texas since day 0, it may have been exposed to significantly higher operating temperatures leading to accelerated deterioration of the rubber. As such, a decision to replace will depend on inspection of the part during the reassembly process.

On the risk side, in OEM form the NSX FI system is MAP based and small air leaks into the intake manifold at this location (aside from being unfiltered) will just manifest themselves as a higher than normal idle speed. The MAP sensor cannot distinguish between air entering through a leak and air entering through the idle circuit. The engine does not run lean because of the unplanned air entering the manifold. If you had a MAF or alpha x N FI system manifold air leaks can be bad news. What that means is that if you don't replace and it does have an air leak, there should not be a disaster. Just the hassle of diagnosing and doing the R&R thing to replace the part.

 

[Jinks]

Throttle bodies are swapped almost daily on ctsc set ups that reuse this gasket with zero issues. There's your simple an plain answer.

 

[davidf]

Thanks guys.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Throttle bodies are swapped almost daily on ctsc set ups that reuse this gasket with zero issues. There's your simple an plain answer.

Ditto!!