Why clean your throttle body?

Photonfanatic

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Is it really necessary to take your throttle body off, and clean it all up? Throttle body cleaner is one of the more common chemicals sold at the auto parts store. But why? Are they somehow particularly dirty somewhere? I guess I haven't really seen very many dirty throttle bodies. Mine has a tiny sliver of oil that lingers around at the bottom of the entry circle, but that's going to be there no matter what you do. Yet I see all these youtube videos where people are showing how to take a throttle body off, clean it up, and put it back on.

Granted theirs may have had a little more dirt and grunge but is cleaning a small amount of filth out of the throttle body itself, somehow going to help? Is airflow being impeded in some way? It certainly doesn't look like it. I've never seen one that was so dirty, that it needed to be taken off of there, and given the royal treatment. Can't you just stick a rag in there with some TB cleaner on there, and be done with it? Why do so many people fully disassemble all that stuff?
 

speedkills

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Before and afters of mine...











Had a stumbling idle and stalling problem. Cleaned my tb and replaced IAC and PVC valve and it runs like a champ now.
 

the5.ohh

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Before and afters of mine...











Had a stumbling idle and stalling problem. Cleaned my tb and replaced IAC and PVC valve and it runs like a champ now.

Wow what a difference. Tell me you stalled in reverse or drive? I have that issue. Already replaced the iac
 

speedkills

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Stalled whenever the car was idling, basically whenever I took my foot off the gas. Once I replaced the IAC and cleaned it up my problem went away.
 
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Photonfanatic

Photonfanatic

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Had to be a bad IAC then. That thin film of oil coating the inside couldn't have been causing the problem. Its just not large enough to obstruct the air or anything like that. I guess if the oil got on the valve or something, and got dirt in it and gummed up, then yeah we could have a problem. But then, that's just cleaning or changing that particular valve, not removing and totally cleaning the throttle body. So I still don't see why...
 

MustangChris

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ford, supposedly, put "anti-gunk" coating on the inside of the TB. you're not "supposed" to clean your OEM TB...


BUT. I havent heard of cleaning them giving anyone trouble. the only perks to cleaning them that I can see is minimizing air-turbulence during transit into the upper intake (some may state this isnt a "bad" thing) and pulling that crud (over time) into the intake system....

....


either way, no improvements will be seen if you clean it, and it'll just make you feel better that its shiny... I know i cleaned the piss out of my accufab unit before i installed it.
 
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Photonfanatic

Photonfanatic

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That's kind of what I was thinking. It just makes people feel better. Even though really it shouldn't, cause you're not really doing anything. Except for making it shiny, which does of course have its own merits.
 

Mustanger

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My F150 had a sticky butterfly and it was impossible to take off from a start without lurching...it took a lot of pedal effort to break it loose & then you would jump off the line...extremely annoying....cleaned it & smooth as silk now.
 

Paul

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Throttle body cleaner is right next to the super awesome gas tank additives that give you extra horsepowers and torks, right? :)
 

duh09

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I usually clean up my throttle body anytime it gets pulled off simply because of the dust and whatnot that accumulates on it outside of the car. I share a shop with my dad who's a wood worker and I sure don't want to put a throttle body with wood shavings all over it back in the car haha.
 

MustangChris

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My F150 had a sticky butterfly and it was impossible to take off from a start without lurching...it took a lot of pedal effort to break it loose & then you would jump off the line...extremely annoying....cleaned it & smooth as silk now.

sent mine into acuufab and they rebuilt it. smooth as butter now too - had the same problem.

Throttle body cleaner is right next to the super awesome gas tank additives that give you extra horsepowers and torks, right? :)

lol. exxxxxxactly.

I usually clean up my throttle body anytime it gets pulled off simply because of the dust and whatnot that accumulates on it outside of the car. I share a shop with my dad who's a wood worker and I sure don't want to put a throttle body with wood shavings all over it back in the car haha.

ah. a good reason to clean it....
 

speedkills

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Had to be a bad IAC then. That thin film of oil coating the inside couldn't have been causing the problem. Its just not large enough to obstruct the air or anything like that. I guess if the oil got on the valve or something, and got dirt in it and gummed up, then yeah we could have a problem. But then, that's just cleaning or changing that particular valve, not removing and totally cleaning the throttle body. So I still don't see why...

You are probably right. I cleaned it mostly because I hope it will help keep my new iac cleaner longer. I have no idea if it will haha but removing it to clean and and putting it back on isnt hard so I figured why not?
 

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