cleaning the throttle body

so i was looking around here and i came across a thread where someone recommends cleaning the throttle body once a year. is this necessary or just a good idea? what should i use to clean it? think ill see any improvements? and whats the deal with throttle body spacers? i know that they are supposed to rotate the air and that they supposedly help with low end performance and mpgs. anyone have comments on those as well?

 

honestly.......i clean mine about every 15k miles.....may be overkill to some people, but its peace of mind to me. i usually use seafoam deep creep in the spray can with the straw.....gets in there good, use that and a toothbrush to scrub the plate and all the sides and all. after doing this......truck will idle better. also.......about every 15k......i seafoam my motor......run it thru the brake booster line......and that cleans out combustion chambers and all. its probably a good idea to clean the throttle body about every 30k miles, but thats just the way i see it.

 

I agree. If you don't clean it for a long time, the carbon (?) deposits can build up and cause the throttle to stick. I usually check it every other oil change or so. Used to clean them with carb cleaner, but I think I'll try the Seafoam next time.

 

the seafoam deep creep spray works really good man.....it kinda starts dissolving the carbon buildup when you spray it on.

 

For those of us not up to speed on cleaning the throttle body. Easier to understand if I see pics.

 

Sean....actually, i am gonna do a write up next time i do it. its really easy though, and the one on the 4.0 motor is cake. all you really gotta do is remove the air box assy from the throttle body. then, you gotta push the throttle plate open and hold it open with a screwdriver or something............since there are no cables attached to it(drive by wire), and when you open it...spray liberally with the tb cleaner that you choose to use, then scrub every part of it with a toothbrush. put some paper towels under the outside of the throttle body so it doesnt leak on everything. after scrubbing, repeat the spraying and scrubbing part. then what i always do is take a can of the spray crc air intake cleaner and spray it real good and make sure no more black sooty stuff comes out. put the air abx assy back on....then crank truck up. it will take a couple of cranks, but it will fire up. then i usually rev the motor a bit to blow out the resy of the carbon thats sitting. after you are done...you'll notice how much better the truck sounds and idle is improved also.

hope this works till i do a write up!!

 

Thanks for the info. But I'll wait to see pics, before tackling this project. I don't want to screw anything up. +1 for you.

 

so you actually clean it while still attached to the intake then? thought you would take it off like you would a carburetor...

 

you can take it off.....but you'll need new gaskets for it that way. i have always left mine on and cleaned them...never have had a problem doing it this way either.