Ques for the Gearheads about Throttle Body and Fuel Injection

[gator1939]

At the last visit to the dealer for 30K service the service advisor came out to the waiting area and said I needed (actually the service ticket says "recommended") a Throttle Body Cleaning and Fuel Injection Service. At a cost of about $100-$150 I declined and said that maybe on the 35K service.

Question for you gearheads out there is: would an I-4 (2010 LE) need a TB cleaning at 30K? Or a FI service? There has been no issues so far as performance and in fact I just completed a trip (after the 30K service) from NC to south Florida and back on interstate and back country roads getting any where from 29MPG around town to 33MPG on the interstate at 70MPH. What symptoms would I be seeing if the TB is dirty or the FI system needs service?

In another lifetime (starting with my '49 Ford convertible) I used to work on my own car but when computer chips hit and carbs and distributors went away, I quit.

gator1939

[Big Wheezy]

The dealer is just trying to line their pockets selling extras. I run a fuel injector cleaner through right before each oil change, frankly more out of habit than necessity with modern engines. I also usually clean out the throttle body when I change air filters. Modern cars run plenty clean, I'm sure they didn't take the time to pull the intake hoses off and see that something was wrong, they're just trying to sell mileage based "extra" services that they make massive markup on.

[Donald E. George]

A container of Chevron Techcron or Gum Out complet fuel system cleaner twice a year should keep the injectors and combustion chambers cleanl. I have 50,000 on my 04 Camry V6 using E-10 fuel and see no evidence of build up on the throttle body.