The wonders of a clean throttle body...

[TBayToyotaBoy]

Unbelieveable. For the second time in one year, I cleaned-out my throttle body today. "Bunny-hopping" and rough hitching from coasting to throttle: gone. Variable idle speed (higher on warm starts than on cold): gone. Pathetic fuel mileage: gone (well, it's early to tell for sure yet but it sure seems better after 100km or so). Sluggish throttle response: gone.

As happy as I am, I have one question: how in the hell do you keep the engine turning over with the MAF disconnected? All instructions say to spray the solvent into the throttle housing while the engine is idling, but both times I've had to remove the unit and clean it off the car...it kept stalling. I tried reconnecting the MAF and the vacuum lines with the intake rubber removed, but it still wouldn't keep cranking. Any ideas out there?

[WhiteRabbit]

i cant seem to find any TB cleaner in my area....

[theman33b]

you dont take the entire thing off, i have some throttle body cleaner and all i did was undo one of the clamps on the hose to the MAF and put the cleaner right threw the opening in the hose. You cant spray the cleaner at full blast or else the car will stall, you have to have a slow steady spray while the engine is idling thats how you get it clean.

[Fresco Bob]

I just did it while the engine was off.

[atobe]

u clean it while it's off

[qprint]

you clean more as car is running, but dont spray too much that car stalls. More is better. But first spray and brush and wipe off with clean cloth while car is off

[TBayToyotaBoy]

Meh, it's not really a big deal to take it off...I don't bother draining the coolant or anything, just make sure I plug the hoses so it doesn't leak everywhere. TB gaskets are a dime a dozen, so that's no biggie either. Now I actually think I'd rather remove it, because the crap that builds-up around the throttle valve (and seems to cause the throttle to stick) takes a lot of work to get really clean.

Thanks for the advice, theman. I'll try it with the car running, and that way I'll be able to clean the intake plenum as well. I can see the tar-like snotty black $hit that's way down in there!

[Super Kaioken]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

i cant seem to find any TB cleaner in my area....

'i use seafoam deep creep for the TB? is that safe? lol. the carb/choke cleaner i saw at wal mart said not to use on TB =X

[dna59]

I've done this on all my cars and it has made a huge difference on all of them for me.

[xrs22]

I use the TB cleaner on mine once in a while and contact cleaner for my MAF. I usually do it after the rain season is over due to my CAI and whatever crap passes through the filter that shouldn't. I do all that w/ the battery disconnected but i'll try the TB cleaner while it's on.

[terrastrife]

are you all just cleaning the TB or part of the intake plenum as well? =)

[Super Kaioken]

yeah, that's what i'm doing. i'm too afraid to open on the intake plenum side though. so i just spray it through and hope it hits the other side =X

what do you do terra?

[2wickedtoyz]

i took off my manifold and cleaned it the gaskets are metal so i spray copper spray on it before i put it back so the seal is good

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by Super Kaioken

'i use seafoam deep creep for the TB? is that safe? lol. the carb/choke cleaner i saw at wal mart said not to use on TB =X

thats what i read on the can too. says to use their intake and TB cleaner, but i dont see or cant find it!

[BlueFusion6851]

How long does it take to remove the Intake manifold. This sounds like something I can do in my Practical Mechanics class