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darren05,

My TBS has been installed for about 6 months, so that probably explains the build-up I have.

King Tut,

I thought about the Crankcase breather too, it connects at the top of the baffle on the stock intake tube. The reason I discounted it was because the deposits don't show up till the leading edge of the TBS, nothing on the front intake to the TB or the butterfly valve. I also agree this is no cause for a law suit! Chances are, the supplier who provided the O-ring to AirAid sent the wrong one!

All,

I got this e-mail from David @ Premier Truck Accessories. He is in contact with AirAid and will let us know what they intend to do as soon as he hears back from them!

Hello Paul,

I have not heard about this issue at all. I sent your email over to Airaid for them to read, and I am waiting to hear back from them about a possible fix. They have not heard of this happening either.

When I get some time, I will go out and check our frontier as well and see if I can see anything.

I will update you as soon as I hear back from Airaid.

Thanks,

David Edelman
Premier Truck Accessories
623.344.5054
623.344.5052 fax
david@premiertruckaccessories.com
 
Discussion starter · #22 ·
KingTut said:
RDNF said:
So your telling me you SERIOUSLY think they didn't do any testing? As for your first point what if the OEM throttle body gasket happened to fail one day? Would you say that Nissan didn't do any testing on it? Would it not cause the same issues? Besides how would air leaking as in escaping cause an engine to run lean??? The MAF has already read the air flow if it is a little lower it will only run a little richer and I assure you a little throttle body leak will not blow your motor. RTV can be used in the groove or before and after the groove on a flat surface to seal it until you get a new O ring was my point. You guys make it sound like your going to pull it off and the whole O ring will be missing which isn't the case. I'm not defending Airaid, just making sure you guys don't all freak out and try and start some class action law suit or something.
i am sure they did some testing but it wasn't long term enough if the orings are failing is
it? and the simple fact of the matter is that the stock seal has not melted. the TBS has
been on my truck about 6 weeks and the seal airaid provides melted.

its not a leak out as you said. its in a place where it will suck IN air, causing it to run lean
As for the leak its in a bad place, after the MAF, so the computer will have no idea
there is a leak. Running a vehicle lean over a long drive on the highway can damage an
engine easily.

all i did was have it removed from my truck i also made no mention of suing anyone. i even said.

RDNF said:
i expect airaid will send out proper orings to fix the problem as soon as possible.
 
Okay everybody!

I skated out of work a little early today!! :D And decided to take off the TBS. Here are a couple of pictures!

In pic #1 you can see som of the rubber shards I was speaking of in an earlier post.

In pic #2, you can see how badly it has started to melt.

In pic #3, just a close up but you can also see the black residue on the grooves in the TBS.

Also I noticed that there was quite a bit of left over fuel on the spacer which doesn't seem to normal to me. And I was kidding about suing Airaid :lol: !! I just want a new gasket!!
 

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It is definitely melted good, but was it actually leaking? Did you hear it leaking? It could be a one time use o-ring that is supposed to melt a little to form a better seal. As for running lean on the highway, if the leak is so small that you don't notice it while driving, then it won't be enough to lean the car out enough to damage it. Remember you still have o2 sensors that the computer uses to adjust the air fuel ratio if you run too lean or too rich.
 
Wow, yours is a lot worse than mine! Mine almost looks like it's pinched from tightening the TB against the TBS. I sent the following pics to AirAid and David @ Premier Truck Accessories to see what they think. I also had some fuel residue, but it was on the flat side of the TBS (opposite side from the black O-ring). I wonder if in your case the fuel is contributing to the dformation of the O-ring?

Anyway, here are my pics:

#1 is TBS viewed theough TB, you can see the black residue.

#2 is the back of the TB, no residue there!

#3 is the TBS showing residue and deformed O-ring!
 

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Tut,

I believe mine was still forming a tight seal. I could still feel a raised ridge as I ran my finger around the O-ring. I also had some fuel residue, but it was only on the back of the TBS (the side that sealed against the factory O-ring) not on the side of the AirAid O-ring like Strom. I wonder if the fuel was a contributing factor because his sure looks a lot worse than mine does!
 
My gasket was not leaking yet but I think it was only a matter of time.

Paul, yours really isn't that bad but just a matter of time. I do drive my truck pretty hard so I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Unfortunatly I'm getting ready to go out of town, so I will try to get the pictures to David@Premier later.
 
I sent pics to David Lutter at AirAid as well, he helped my when I had a problem with my CAI. His e-mail address is dml@airaid.com, include him on the e-mail you send David @ Premier!
 
Ha, they'll be flooded with e-mails now and think they have a real epidemic going on! At least it should get their attention!
 
I really wouldnt worry much about an air leak behind the throttle body. That's really no different than a vacuum leak. Your truck wont lean out and go boom, but it will have a lot of problems holding idle.

I would worry more about the o-ring material getting sucked into the motor if it came off in chunks. It doesnt look like that is happening though.

So yeah Im with Tut on this one. It sounds much worse than it is. Just stay calm and let Airaid fix the situation :) If you really can't wait I would guess that a second factory o-ring will do the trick, or just use some RTV as suggested.

If youre smelling fuel around the o-ring that can definitely lead to o-ring failure if they used the wrong material. They may have spec'd a silicone o-ring which is rated to 400F but is extremely sensitive to fuel, vs. a viton o-ring that is good to 400F and is immune to fuel.


- Greg -
 
Mine looks the same as yours does 05_NISMO ... I wonder what the outcome will be in all of this. :?:
 
I checked mine first thing this morning after reading this post last night. Mine looked exactly the way it came in the box, nothing wrong with it. It makes me really wonder what is up whith everybody elses or mine for that matter. I have had mine installed since Feb. but I will still follow this thread to see how it works out for everybody, keep us updated. I will also check mine periodically to see if mine starts to do it.

Will
 
UPDATE!

I just got off the phone with Sam at AirAid, and in my case, what appears in the picture is perfectly normal.

Now, it's pretty obvious from the pic posted by StromNISMO that his is in much worse shape, so there may be more of an issue there.

As Sam explained it to me (and he works in Engineering for AirAid) the gasket they chose and the depth of the groove were tested and choosen to ensure an air-tight seal. What is seen in my picthure is the gasket material being pinched as the Spacer is sealing against the TB, which is exactly what it's supposed to do.

The residue is also normal. This is a carbon build-up from vapors being drawn through the crankcase breather. Sam said it cases no harm or loss of performance.

So, having said all that, he's still sending me a replacement O-ring so I have the peace of mind knowing it's new and will seal as intended when I re-install the TBS.

Once again, AirAid's Customer Service has been very helpful, and I'm satisfied with the results. Now, if anyone else has an O-ring that looks like StormNISMO's, I'd definately be giving AirAid a call or shoot tham an e-mail with a pic, because I'd definately want that replaced before I reinstalled it in my truck!

Hope this helps some and maybe goes toward dispelling some of the panic about the PowerAid TBS!
 
I am thinkign maybe the way it was installed that is causing the O-ring to not seat properly thus having the residue spoken for?

I may still consider this after I get an exhaust and CAI. 8)

and thanks Paul for the reassurance! :wink:

it also might help to check it once in awhile
 
well 05_NISMO ... if AirAid says yours looks normal and is suppose to do that ... then that's good enough for me right now considering mine looked exactly the same as yours did.
 
NISMO_R6,

I don't think mine was leaking! The O-ring was a little deformed, but according to SAM at AirAid, it did exactly waht it was supposed to do. I suspect the back residue wasn't related to the O-ring when I removed the TBS last night and there was nothing connecting the O-ring to the residue, the gap between then was clean. The reason the residue accumilates on the TBS is because the ridge catches it. The TB is smooth, so normally that blow-by from the crankcase breather would just pass through the TB into the engine where it burned and shot out the exhaust!
 
thanks Paul for being on top of this.

as long as Airaid's customer service is topnotch, so far it has been, then there shouldn't be a huge problem.

but I would still check the O-ring once in awhile just to make sure... it's the "doubt" that sucks.
 
Greg,

If you reread my post I did after talking with AirAid, you'll see I said in my case it was carbon build up! StormNISMO definately has something else going on with his! His O-ring looks shreded! I know he sent them pics too, but not sure what he was told.

Here's a close-up of my TBS, I marked the pinched O-ring and Carbon Build-up for clarification...
 

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