ICE throttle plate cleaning

Make sure the cleaner does not get on the MAF sensor in the middle.

 

it's possible, though DH has never seen this happen.

i mean, if you shoot it straight at the wire, you could conceivably do some damage.

just recall that everything you shoot in there, the engine has to burn... use the minimum amount necessary.

 

The MAF wires are pretty well buried at the base of that little
plastic bit that protrudes into the throat. The plastic seems to
duct a portion of air over toward the base at the side where the
wires are and then back into the stream. Even a q-tip is too big to
go in there. Still, loading the wires down with random solvents
can't be good.
.
If the straightforward throttle cleaning as detailed doesn't work,
it may also help to get a little lube onto the butterfly pivots
afterward. When I did mine, I disconnected enough stuff to unbolt
and raise the throttle body and turn it over, which I could do
*without* disconnecting the coolant hoses, and then wiped out from
underneath. I also had the motor housing off to expose the little
gear-train and make sure it had enough well-distributed grease.
The pivots are then about half an inch into the hole, very easy to
get at. I think I used a touch of regular ol' 90-weight on them.
.
Keeping the oil level under control seems to have kept things fairly
pristine in there all round...
.
_H*

 

One more reason to use 3 US quarts of oil at each change :_>

Why was the air filter orientation reversed starting in 2004?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bwilson4web @ Oct 27 2007, 07:39 PM) [snapback]531344[/snapback]</div>

Of course. Any residue will alter the sensor's readings. Side note: those who actually want to clean a MAF sensor on purpose can buy special low-residue (they claim no-residue) MAF spray cleaner, but if there's a problem, I prefer to start with a new sensor.

 

Would it be necessary to clean the throttle body on my 2007 Prius? I live close to downtown LA, so I think the coolest it gets here is maybe 40 in the early mornings, but usually around 50. I purchased the car last December, so maybe it's too early to clean it? Except for the complimentary oil changes my dealer gives me, I prefer to do all the other maintenance work myself.

Paul

 

I went to advanced auto parts in search of something similar to clean the throttle body found on this site Cleaning Prius Throttle.

I couldn't find any little pipe cleaner things, and the people at the store looked at me like I was crazy. They said you just spray the cleaner down there.

Anyways, could someone help me find where I could get the tool necessary to clean the throttle body, either by a part number of advanced auto/auto zone or a better name. Amazon/ebay also works.

Thanks!

Herb Partsch

 

Outside of a tobacconist's shop it can be hard to find "pipe cleaners"...

Except at a craft store; Michael's, whatever.

They are a necessity for those who provide "authentic hands-on
creative experiences" for the pre-school set...
no fasteners, no glue, no mess, no tools, too big to swallow.

Wonderful. :cheer2:

 

haha but seriously where can i get the tool?

 

As he wrote: at a tobacconist's or a craft store. Really big cities might have a scientific supply shop selling them as test tube brushes.

 

Amazon.com has many pipe cleaners:
Amazon.com: pipe cleaners


What happens to the engine that gets all the gunk and cleaner washing down into it? Would the valves get stuck with gunk after the throttle cleaning?

 

It burns up. E10 cleans the valves.

 

1. First, try spraying the throttle body cleaner onto the throttle body interior and throttle plate (without contaminating the mass air flow sensor.) See if the force of the spray is sufficient to clean off the dirt. If yes, then you are done.

2. If no, then I would use a used (but clean) toothbrush to scrub off the throttle body interior and throttle plate. Note that you can rotate the throttle plate by hand, turning the spring-loaded shaft when the car is IG-OFF.

3. My personal practice is to remove the air cleaner filter housing first, as that gets the MAF sensor out of the way and make access to the throttle body and throttle plate much easier. Like 2009Prius, I also don't like the idea of the engine having to burn up all of the throttle body cleaner and dirt. So I use rubbing alcohol on Q-tips to scrub the throttle body interior and throttle plate. I will also snake a paper towel down into the intake manifold to absorb any liquid that might be down there. Hence, no liquid enters the intake manifold that has to be combusted.

 

Maybe the Prius does have an issue with deposits on the TB, at least my '04 did

However, my '07 FJ also has issues with deposits on the backside of the TB. Having talked to other FJ owners, and visited with a couple while down at the CTIA convention in Vegas back in March I've started to piece the puzzle together

1. Operation in a cold climate dramatically increases the buildup of deposits on the TB. Perhaps has to do with how Toyota uses the VVT to "simulate" an EGR valve, perhaps has to do with much more oily vapour going through the PCV

2. At least in the case of the FJ, it's easy to remove the TB from the intake. There is just enough slack in the coolant hoses to allow one to liberally douse the backside of the TB with TB cleaner, and get that gunk of the blade and bore

3. The Prius is much less affected by TB and MAF deposits, until they become really bad. The FJ appears sensitive to TB and especially MAF deposits. First thing you notice is the fuel economy plummets. Then the auto trans begins to shift weird. That's a sign to at least clean the MAF

It was a bit of a pain in the rump to clean the Prius TB, the MAF was ok. At least the FJ is easy enough to clean, I now routinely clean the MAF every 3 months - takes all of 2 minutes - and the TB every Spring

It's really important to only use the proper MAF cleaner on the MAF: it's easy to damage the two hot wires inside





It's also important not to flood the intake with TB cleaner. You will have a very hard and rough start

 

cleaned it today, thought it went well but then....

EDit: okay slight problem, it seems as though now when the engine is running it is running slightly rough. It is reeving up then down, and repeating this cycle. When it is doing this revving cycle the throttle plate is moving some back and forth, or it appears to be moving. (the part I turned to get the plate to swing back and forth.)

Any ideas? I'm a hour and a half away from home, going home tomorrow and hoping everything is okay.