All the air that passes into the motor passes though that plate. The plate DOES NOT regulate airflow it measures airflow. The idle valve bypasses the throttle which is below the airflow plate but it gets its air through the plate. If this was not so then the distributer would not know how much fuel to add.

Remember engine speed is determined by controlling air not fuel. Fuel is just matched to quantity of air. Wrong amount of fuel either too much or too little causes the engine speed to drop.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician