2002 2.7L Sebring LX: In an effort to understand and clean the Throttle Body, I removed it from the manifold. I decided to remove the IAC and TPS units. One screw head on the IAC broke off very easily and one screw on the TPS stripped the hole on it's way out. I was being careful, but it was scary how easy it was to end up in the weeds. I also noticed both sets of screws have a slightly triangular profile shape. Can anyone tell me the following:
Can I retap the holes on the throttle body for the TPS and IAC mounts?
Can I resize the holes on the TPS and IAC to fit the new screws?
If I do this, can I use regular circular profile screws to replace the stock triangular ones?
or
Do I just need to get a replacement TB? The current one was in pretty good shape and not badly gunked up or anything. Man I hate regret.
Does anyone have a link for a good vendor for a replacement TB?

Why do the screws have a triangluar profile? Is this a common thing. I've never seen it before.

 

Can I retap the holes on the throttle body for the TPS and IAC mounts?
Can I resize the holes on the TPS and IAC to fit the new screws?
If I do this, can I use regular circular profile screws to replace the stock triangular ones?

Not knowing your skill level and available tools, I'd say why don't you go ahead and try it? What have you got to lose at this point?

Do I just need to get a replacement TB?

If plan A fails, there's your plan B. You can get one at chryslerparts.net, $107 and change plus shipping.

Let us know how it all works out.

 

slightly triangular profile shape

they are called torques bits

 

After some googling it looks like those screws are called a "tri-lobe screw". A form of self tapping or thread forming screw. I thought that shape reminded me of a metal tap. Yes, these ones which attach the TPS and IAC to the throttle body did have torx heads, but the shaft is shaped differently from a regular round shaft screw. See this image at the link

Tri-lobe Thread S-point Screw Photo, Detailed about Tri-lobe Thread S-point Screw Picture on Alibaba.com.

Notice the tips are slightly triangular shape, not round, and also the length of the shaft is slightly triangular with 3 lobes that do the thread forming/cutting as they are screwed in. Seems odd to me, but one article I read mentioned that these are designed to be difficult to "back out" so maybe they don't want these puppys vibrating loose over the lifetime of the TB. In any case, be aware, beware and be careful when removing them from the throttle body.

 

I had a friend remove the broken screw, and thankfully that was successful. No need to resize, and the threads are good on both affected mounts. Now I can get back to focusing on the repairs. Now that I've encountered the tri-lobe screw, I'm noticing here at work that they are being used in the computer field as well. Be careful of these ones. The only reason I can think of why they use them is for quick assembly. I am inclined to use a regular screw with threadlock when I reassemble. Beware when removing any screw. Especially if it's mounted into aluminum. I don't know if there's a way to identify it if it's already in place, but from now on, I'm just going to be very careful with any screw removal/install.