HokemBokem Posted September 28, 2004 Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 So my car is in the shop right now and the guy was tryin to charge me an extra 200 dollars to clean the throttle body bc he said its dirty and robbing my gas mileage. My dad told him not to clean it bc it was so expensive so I was wondering what is a good way to clean it myself??? Will some sea foam do the job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay3800 Posted September 28, 2004 Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 SeaFoam will work OK, but it would be better to use a dedicated TB cleaner. I use Gumout Throttle Body Cleaner For Fuel Injected Engines. Works very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conley3.1 Posted September 28, 2004 Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 If I were you, I'd just take off the upper manifold and TB, and clean them by hand, yourself. That's what I did to my car when it wasn't starting, and it immediately started up. $200 is ridiculous... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GutlessSupreme Posted September 28, 2004 Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 $200 :shock: ?! never go back there again!!! http://www.v6z24.com/howto/throttlebody look under more or their howto articles.. lots of good stuff for us noobs. it's all pretty much based around the 3.1 but cleaning methods the same as any engine.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay3800 Posted September 28, 2004 Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 http://www.v6z24.com/howto/throttlebody That is one way to do it. An easier (and probably just as effective way) is to leave the TB on the engine, start it up, and spray the TB cleaner directly into the TB. You will have to open the throttle by hand to keep it running as you spray the cleaner in. Behind the throttle plate (butterfly valve), mine went from dirty black to shiny clean after about 5 minutes of on and off spraying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokemBokem Posted September 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 So i need to take the stock air intake off then I spray some sea foam or other cleaner in the throttle body while opening it up, and closing it? I can do this without taking the whole throttle body off right? And also there are two types of sea foam one with a spray top and one thats just a bottle, is the stuff with the cap the same as the one with spray bottle because the auto zone by my house just has the stuff with cap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay3800 Posted September 28, 2004 Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 So i need to take the stock air intake off then I spray some sea foam or other cleaner in the throttle body while opening it up, and closing it? I can do this without taking the whole throttle body off right? Correct. You do have to remove the intake tube from the TB, obviously. The car will tend to stall big time when you begin spraying. Have your hand on the throttle and be ready to open it up quite a bit to keep it running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93CutlassSupreme Posted September 28, 2004 Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 will spraying tb cleaner be hard on any sensors or seals or gaskets? just wondering about that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay3800 Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 will spraying tb cleaner be hard on any sensors or seals or gaskets? just wondering about that.... I wondered the same thing. The TB cleaner I have says it won't. I cleaned mine for the first time close to a year ago and have not had any failures since. I would say it is safe to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokemBokem Posted September 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 If you keep the throttle body open and spray cleaner in there wont it loosen all that crap up and suck it into your engine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay3800 Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 Yeah, it burns it all up I guess. While the engine burns the cleaner and other gunk, there will be a decent amount of smoke coming out your exhaust. Someone, recommended using a fuel system cleaner after doing the TB cleaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokemBokem Posted September 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 doesent the fuel system cleaner go right into your gas tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay3800 Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 Yes, it runs through your fuel lines, fuel filter, injector rails, injectors, and combustion chambers.....cleaning all of the above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93CutlassSupreme Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 doesent the fuel system cleaner go right into your gas tank? ......yeah pick up a bottle and read the back it isn't that hard. really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokemBokem Posted September 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 But is it bad after cleaning the throttle body to suck all that gunk down in the engine? Because the mechanic said that its really dirty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl3196 Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 Get some gm top engine clean. They make a bottle and a spray kind. Use the bottle in a vac. line and then use the spray to clean the throttle body. Should be very clean after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoroCorona Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 Alright, Your mechanic is trying to rip you off. He wants 200 dollars to do a job that would take 15-20 minutes even if he was gonna remove the TB. Also, the only way you would damage the engine is if the TB was so dirty that the crap came off in chunks and got caught in valves and shit, and even that is unlikely. Get yourself a can of TB/Carb Cleaner, I use Berryman myself. Before Starting the motor, check to see just how dirty the TB is. If its especially crusty, open up the TB and spray it down prior to starting the motor. That was the cleaner gets a second to work its way into the grime before getting sucked away. Start the motor. Now if you did the above step, the car might start and then sputter and die. Either try to save it by opening up full, or simply restart when it dies. It should only do that once or twice at the most. Then while adjusting the throttle to keep the car running, give the TB short bursts of cleaner. Once your satisfied with the cleanlyness of the TB, toss in a bottle of Fuel System Cleaner. Then if your really paranoid about how dirty the combustion chamber is, Seafoam or use the water methods for cleaning the combustion chamber. You can get instuctions on doing that in the Powertrain Forum, in the Just Tried Seafoam thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 With the car TURNED OFF use at least half the can on/in the TB. When you spray it in you can also use a toothbrush or something to scrub a little more out. Keep a rag under the TB opening because it will run DOWN and out, most doesn't actually go up into the plenum. After you clean it best you can with the engine off, turn it on and spray it while keeping your hand on the throttle (as stated above). While you are doing your TB you should also clean your IAC sensor. It is attached to the TB and a couple wires to go it. A small torx bit takes it off, pull it out and spray it real good so that there is no gunk in the spring. This alone will help your car run much smoother. And don't worry about stuff getting sucked into the engine. I've done it a couple times to my rich-running 2.8 and its never done any damage to it. Only think I've heard is that spraying too much into the engine can be bad for the O2 sensors and cat converter... but I think you'd have to really spray it to hell for that to happen.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp90se Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 its not hard 2 pull the throttle body at all, when u get it off, do the TB bypass and take the coolant part of the TB off for easyer reinstalling. if ya want 2 do a lot more good, pull the plenum (upper intake) off, use sum kerocine, carb cleaner, brake cleaner, etc etc. while its off u can paint/bling-bling it that way the crap doesnt go into the motor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conley3.1 Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 But is it bad after cleaning the throttle body to suck all that gunk down in the engine? Because the mechanic said that its really dirty No, that won't harm the engine. The extremely high temperatures generated will burn pretty much anything that goes in there haha. Get that shit clean! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokemBokem Posted September 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 Allright i just got back from checker and i got this http://www.valvoline.com/pages/products/product_detail.asp?product=52 and some fuel injector cleaner for less than 5 bucks! So when i get my car back from the shop tommorow im going to clean the hell out of that throttle body Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp90se Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 theres 2 from valvoline, 1 is the fuel injector cleaner which does just that, and does a damn decent job. the other is a fuel system treatment which lubricates the injectors and top end, stick with the fuel cleaner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokemBokem Posted September 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 i have the throttle body cleaner like the one in the link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth Posted September 30, 2004 Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 hey guys I cleaned mine last night because I read this, and my cars gettign really bad milage and its a ideling a little rough somtimes, anyways I took the tb and cleaned it it was pretty black. now its alot smoother, thnaks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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