How To: Throttle body cleaning 2005+ V6

Lol then drive your truck and burn off the excess TB cleaner

 

Details

 

Mine ran funny after the cleaning, but that was because I used a lot of cleaner and having the battery unplugged for more than ~30 mins reset the computer, so it had to relearn its fuel intake stuff/re-calibrate itself

 

Did you remove your TB or did you leave it on?

 

I followed the OP, cleaned all I could with it attached, then removed it and cleaned the rest. I'm pretty sure it hadn't been done since it was bought in 2005 and I did it like a year ago so yea

 

thank you. Doing this on the weekend. I have been noticing a little rough idle recently

 

You got me thinking after reading your thread. When I clean the TB on my wife's Rav4 it says to turn the key on but not running and have someone press the gas pedal down or what I do is wedge a wooden rod between the seat and the pedal. So my point is whey can't that be don on the Tacoma's? Just course .

 

Great write up! I'm liking the box lid arrows! Engines a little dusty. (an old hot rid tip: clean engine with a 50/50 mixture of ammonia and mr clean and a strong water stream, not necessarly a car wash, but that can also work if you are careful) leaves no residue and is safe on sensors. I've been using it for over 30 yrs on cars!

 

Sweet! All went well. Followed OP, but I removed the entire TB, and Disconnected/Removed MAF entirely to get a thorough clean. I have a Volant CAI, and dismantled that piece my piece, to clean and removed dirt in the CAI box. Took my time, as I never done this or anything close to this in depth. After I got it all cleaned, it looked squeaky clean afterwards. Reassembled all parts, and she started right up. A little high on the RPMs but about 10min at idle, my truck sounds great. Drove around town to get some ice cream, and sounds, and feels a bit more responsive. Pretty happy with the results. Thank you for the write up.

 

Thanks Genexer for the write up. I did my daughter's 04 4R this weekend with this write up. After changing plugs with Chris4x4 write up, I proceeded with yours with yours. I took the MAF out (carefully) to clean it and the TB off. First tune up for her 4R (purchased used) with 120,000 and it was dirty behind the TB. And really black in the tube behind it.
You have to love these Toyotas. The o-ring on the TB makes it easy to take apart and reassemble. Easy to work on when you have write ups like this and the other contributors. And we know it is done the right way.
Now to my Tacoma this weekend.
Thanks again.

 

I think for anyone worried about MPG's, this is a great project. I pulled my TB off, and cleaned it thoroughly, ran a fuel system treatment through the gastank, and cleaned my MAF sensor. When my truck was new, I would get about 150km from the first 1/4 tank of gas. Lately I've been down to 120km per 1/4 tank, even though I regularly run fuel system treatment and clean the MAF sensor. My TB was blackened around where the blades sit at rest, and a little deeper, as well as around the blades, esp. on the back side. I pulled the TB off, and gave it a good cleaning, took me 1/2 hour, and put it back on. Ran the truck until the computer relearned the system, then filled up. On this tank, I'm back to 150km per 1/4 tank. It's not much, but every MPG counts, and I'm going on a roadtrip soon, so every step helps. This is a great write-up, and one I recommend everyone with a few years on the truck to do. Well worth the effort.

 

Whats the purpose of disconnecting the battery? I unplugged my MAF and removed it, then cleaned it, reinstalled it and had no issue. Just curious if unplugging the battery was a requirement to force the computer to relearn a clean MAF. I did this cleaning 2 weeks ago, no issues to date.

 

Cleaned the TB at 100k miles. WOW.

Before:

After:

 

I was told by someone that I shouldn't force the butterfly open as it could permanently damage the Throttle Body. Can anyone confirm this? Did you guys leave it shut and just apply the cleaner on both sides & scrub with the toothbrush?

 

Followed the directions in this thread 30 k miles ago and no issues.

 

That's the proper way to clean, disconnect power, unplug sensor, remove the sensor, and finally clean, at least according the instructions on the can of CRC MAF Cleaner I used...

 

I have found many articles on how to "properly" clean a MAF sensor which do not require disconecting the battery, however they all reference disconnecting the electrical connection on the MAF sensor itself before cleaning. I suspect the reason for disconnecting the battery is just an extra precaution in case the weekend mechanic forgets to unplug the MAF sensor or that thing is stuck like glue.

After replacing my plugs and cleaning the MAF I increased my MPG from 20 to 22 (based on one tank of gas, not very accurate) which isn't bad considering I did this at the just under 60K point in time. An examination of the TB showed it was still very clean so I didn't scrub that down at all but I figure in another few years when I hit 90K that I will clean it.

 

You're right. It's about disconnecting the sensor. I suspect this had more to do with safety then resetting the ECU. The cleaner is extremely flammable. They probably don't want any electrically charged components during application of product.

Separate subject, I just read the MSDS too. I think I made a mistake by not wearing gloves. The hemical n-hexane, can be absorbed thru the skin.

 

You are not the only one!

 

Before



After