cleaning throttle body

[chrismillion]

there is a sticker that say"DO NOT CLEAN THROTTLE BODY"
on the lip of the TB. my car has 184,000 miles on it what should i do and why do ford say don't clean your TB?



95GT vert

 

[JJ95GTID]

I think Ford put that sticker on there to so people wouldn't use carb cleaner on the throttle body. Thing is that there are two electrical devices attached to the throttle body. The IAC (Idle Air Control) and TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) can be damaged if you spray directly in or on the TB. I spray the cleaner onto a rag or wipe and then use the wetted rag to wipe out the black residue from the inside of the TB. Or, you can remove the TB. Then remove the IAC and TPS. With those off you can spray the TB directly.

 

[Quick5pnt0]

Sorry, but everyone and his brother sprays carb and/or throttle body cleaner in their iac without any problems whatsoever. Ford claimed there was a coating that would be removed if you didnt use their throttle body cleaner but its been proven time and time again that good old carb cleaner does not harm the throttle body. Maybe it was an attempt by ford to get you to buy their product, maybe it was an attempt by ford to stop everyone from cleaning the throttlebody so the car would at some point idle bad and you'd bring it to the dealer for repair, or maybe ford found a certain type of carb cleaner that would hurt this "coating". All i know is i've been cleaning throttlebody's for 8+ years now with nothing special....just carb cleaner and have had no problems.
Just spray the carb cleaner in the throttle body, and take the iac off and spray that out too if you are having idle problems. It wont hurt it.

 

[HISSIN50]

again i agree with Mike. i think products with toluene (sp?) are supposed to take the coating off the TB. however, i bet someone beat you to it.

i keep some 'TB cleaner' around - as i recall, it does not have toluene in it.

 

[squall9393]

The throttle body cleaner i picked up from Auto Zone says safe for O2 sensors. Maybe Ford was preventing people from using a product like just plain soap and water on there intake components and then getting residue that would gum up the walls or potentially be harmful to the O2s.

Jarrod

 

[cjman15]

i used carb cleaner on my t-body...

 

[stunner6910]

so basically the steps to cleaning it are as follows:
1. remove from intake
2. remove IAC and TPS
3. spray the crap out of each
4. let dry and reinstall

KEEP IN MIND, I'M NOT STATING THIS, I'M ASKING IF THESE ARE THE STEPS TO CLEANING THE TB!!!! I was gonna do it this weekend so I just want to make sure.

 

[HISSIN50]

that would be the right way to do it. personally, i take the inlet tube off the TB (take the rubber inlet off). i open the butterfly and spray it out. get the axis and back side, if you can. the IAC comes off independantly, and can be cleaned. with some cars (Mitsubishi 3L motors come to mind), you can get a ton of black crud out.

this would save a bit of time. if you do remove the "intake" (i assume you mean the plenum, aka upper intake), i would clean the EGR also. get new gaskets if you remove the plenum or TB, etc.

good luck.

 

[mo_dingo]

I cleaned my IAC valve with carb cleaner and guess what happened????

[size=+2]IT BROKE!![/size]

I had to spend $70 to get a new one. So I wouldn't recommend it. I don't know what you should use in it's place though. The haynes manual says to use carb cleaner also.

Maybe WD40? idk

There is a coating inside the TB that is supposed to prevent buildup. If you spray carb cleaner inside it, it will remove the coating. That is why the sticker is there.
Scott

 

[HISSIN50]

Scott, how did you do that (with the IAC)? random stuff like that does happen.
i dont know how your guys' IAC's hold up, but the fox guys are always, and i mean always cleaning them.
those guys also use cotton swabs on MAF wires too (not the best thing in the world). like i said, random stuff.

Chris and Stunner, if you compare the ingredients on a carb cleaner can vs an intake and TB cleaner can, you will see some stuff missing in the latter (theoretically to preserve the coating).

good luck.

 

[maypo59]

I took off my IAC and sprayed the livin crap out of it with good 'ol carb cleaner.. no problems, On a side note, I don't have, couldnt find the "security torx" to remove my MAF, so I just took the whole thing off, looked down it the way the air goes in, and sprayed about half a can of "contact cleaner" into it, directly onto the two wires.. worked like a charm. (I was having some idle issues) all better.