2003 X-Type, 2.5. When ever I start the car up, it always says "Crusie Not Avail". When I get on the freeway, for example, it stays on until I get up to around 50 mph before it will go off. If I try to step on the gas before then, it acts like it is going to die out! After I get it up around 50, the message goes away and drives like normal. Anyone know hat the problem may be?

 

shula, you should have a check engine light on if you are getting that message. Get the code(s) read and then we can take it from there. What I have seen in the past is either the throttle position sensor starts to go (so the computer doesn't know where the throttlebody is) or the wiring to the throttle motor gets damaged and the computer has a hard time trying to control how open the throttle body is. If you open up the hood of your car and stand by the overflow bottle, you will see the throttle body there. There are 2 plugs on it (one towards you, one on the back side of the throttlebody). You want to focus on the plug nearest you. IF you look at where the wires go into the plug, sometimes you will find these wires will have exposed copper showing. If this is the case, you need to get this fixed and then see what you have at that point.

The other thing you may want to consider doing is getting a can of "throttle body cleaner" (NOT!!!!! carb cleaner). Then with the motor warm but turned off, you can remove the intake hose off of the engine and using your finger, open the throttle and use the carb cleaner to remove anything that is brown inside the throttle body. Pay special attention to the edge of the butterfly valve (the big silver disk that blocks the air flow) as this tends to get a nice layer of tarnish on it and can cause the throttle to stick (leading to your indications). Once all the brown (tarnish) goop is gone, re-install the intake hose.

Depending on how much you use, you may find that the car will be "flooded". Simply press the gas pedal to the floor and hold it there as you start the car (it will not over rev as this is an operator override to prevent the fuel injectors from adding more fuel). Once the car starts to catch, let your foot off of the gas pedal and it should come up to idle. May take a few attempts at starting the car to get this condition cleared.

 

I've not seen this type of hose clamp before. Can someone tell me how to remove? Attached to the throttle body. Thanks!

 

shula, ah yes, I guess I should have mentioned that before you got there. If you look, there is a smooth band with 2 lumps in it. What you need to do is to use a pair of needlenose pliers and squeeze the two lumps together. I then normally use a small flat blade screw driver to lift up on the one band that is going on top of the other. Once you get it lifting up, you can ease up on the needlenose pliers and you will release the clamp. You may find going with say a 4" hose clamp in the future may make your life easier. I guess I have been playing with them long enough, I know how to use common tools to pull them apart.

 

I just had the same problem with my '03. The throttle body cleaner solution worked for me. I had to try it 3 times and took it for a 10 mile spin on the freeway(with several downshifts) to flush out the system.

I could only open the TB gate 1/8" when I had it disassembled, so on attempts 2 & 3, I left the rubber boot on to collect the surplus fluid. Then I reassembled and ran the engine at higher RPM to further distribute the cleaner into the TB.