Is it ok to use throttle body cleaner without doing any damage to it? (4.0L) I read somewhere with certain cars/trucks it can actually harm it but now I can't find that info. I looked in mine yesterday when I was detailing the engine and it looked pretty gummed up. Thanks.

 

I just used some carb. cleaner and a rag on mine and it cleaned up great...

 

carb. cleaner and a toothbrush is what i use on my vehicles. i would clean the IAC as well while you are at it.

 

Im talking about cleaning the inside of it. Spraying the cleaner in in while its running to get all the gunk out. I have done this on other cars before but I wanna know if its ok to do on my truck.

 

so am i. i have never done it while it is running though.

 

Doing this while its running is the best way to do it. Youll get out more gunk this way deep inside that you cant really see. Youll see it burn off through the exhaust. Not quite like seafoam though.

 

Hopefully my experience can help out.

I have a 06 FX4 w/4.0L. Bought it new.
After cleaning my TB with "fuel injection throttle body cleaner" and a soft tooth brush (several times in 35k miles) my idle became slightly higher (hardly noticeable) and it the truck would not seem to come down to idle when coming to a stop! The truck would drive by itself at 25mph if I didn't come to a full stop. Very annoying to say the least.

Here is what I've found out from Bob here at R-F and here is what I did to "fix" it.

I very gently sanded down the throttle stop until I had a 0.005" gap all the way around the perimeter of the blade.
Then I dis-connected the battery, turned on the headlights, turned on the ignition, and waited a few minutes. Turn them off and re-connect.
Then put the truck through it's idle learning sequence. (fully warm, idle in P ac-off, in Drive ac-off, Park ac-on, Drive ac-on for at least a minute in each)

Once I did all that my idle is now perfect again and I have no run on when coming to a stop.

Rich

 

Having to clean your throttle body that often shows just how much dirt & oil that K&N is passing!!


f.y.i. ....if you disconnect the battery with your lights on, it only takes a second to discharge the filter capacitors in the PCM on the unswitched 12V line, you don't have to wait minutes. The lights provide a current path for the capacitors. You can also disconnect the negative battery cable, and just touch it to the positive battery terminal, and that will do the same thing.

 

I did my 4.0 throttle body a few months back. 190,000 miles left it just a bit gunky. I removed the whole throttle body and cleaned it out with about half a can of throttle body cleaner. Shot it through all the ports and cleaned all the gunk off the throttle plate. Runs much smoother now. It's not hard to take off and put back on either. Just a few bolts, a sensor and a vacuum line.

 

So i was reading up.. and i just cleaned my throttle body and sprayed the can in and all that jazz. and well here is what i have found..


When i start my truck it is quieter and smoother than before i cleaned it. its a complete change and it runs alot better to.. and this was done at 92k for me..

 

I found out that as well and also my throttle body still gets nasty and I'm not even running a K&N. Oh gee! It must not be the K&N filter.

 

Yeah i dont think K&N does it but that stuff totally works..

but didnt want a whole new thread haha.

 

Well I only said that because a certain someone keeps blaming K&N filters for dirty throttle bodies.

 

hahah yes so i read..

but i am just happy to see it really worked.

 

The K&N is one source of the gum, the other source comes from excessive blow-by in the crankcase., which can be caused by the PCV not working properly, or
piston ring/cylinder wall problems.

 

The 98 2.5 throttle body is teflon coated (Dont know about later 4.0's) and some say cleaners will cause it to flake off. I use CRC Intake cleaner that says it is safe for teflon coated TB on my 2.5 and have not had any problems. Do it about 2 times a year for 8 years now. When the throttle starts sticking and it won't idle I know its time to clean it.

 

There was no change in the amount of crap on the throttle body from when I did run a K&N. If you oil it properly it will work just fine.

Never knew that. I don't think my 03 had teflon. I didn't see any flaking.

 

Why did you stop running the K&N?????? The dirt your engine ingested while
running it has probably worn the rings and cylinder walls, now you are getting a lot of blow-by!

 

Actually no I stopped running it because the intake design sucked. So when I roll over 200K miles are you still going to say my rings where worn due to my K&N? Give it up.

Again. My friends GTO has a K&N and the throttle body never gets dirty ever since he added an oil catch can. 12.5 at 108 last weekend at Famoso Speedway. 150 miles to get there, more than 30 passes that day since it was a track rental and another 150 miles back and it still runs like a champ.

 

If your "friend's" GTO needed an oil catch can,
he has some serious engine problems!!

 

If I remember correctly, his friends GTO is force fed, thus requiring the catch can.

 

My bad, it's a GM product, so that will make a difference too!!

 

Umm no. If that's the case then my truck has serious engine problems since my throttle body is full of nasty crap all the time.

The bottom line is that a K&N filter will not cause excessive gunk build up on the throttle body if it's oiled properly.

No it's NA right now. The car just has a 3000 stall converter, catless midpipes, headers, magnaflow mufflers, K&N intake, a tune and a line lock. He added it just to keep the throttle body clean. It's not like he drains a quart every day from the catch can. The LS motors are known for excessive blow by especially when engine braking on manual equipped cars.

 

My bad, I was thinking of another thread about catch cans, and forced induction, and thought you had mentioned that GTO, but maybe I was thinking of a different blown LS.

 

alright I'm doing this tomorrow and I was thinking. i have a K&N intake system the rubber circles that go on to the MAF and the throttle body won't come off. When I cleaned the MAF sensor the rubber piece would not come off so I just left it on should i just keep it on the TB when I clean it or is there something I can use to get it off?

Oh and the small rubber hose that connects to the throttle body looks pretty cracked. I was wondering where I might be able to find a back up just incase I rip it when I take it off.