I did a cleaning of the throttle body bore and butterfly on my 2005 XKR today and was really surprised at how much crud came of the butterfly and the bore walls. The whole process is rather easy to do, just carefully remove the air intake line between the TB and the MAF sensor exposing the throat of the TB. I used TB cleaner applied to a very clean rag and based on advice from others on the FORUM did not spray the TB cleaner directly into the bore. I do have one question though, how do you remove the crud on the curved section of the TB wall down below the butterfly?

Also, while going through the process I used MAF cleaner on the inline sensors at the other end of the air inflow tube. Just spay and shoot the sensors with the cleaner but do not touch the sensors as they can be very easily damaged. Everything went back together fine, engine started and idled nicely.

 

The critical part of the cleaning is the edge of the butterfly valve and the area of the TB throat that it seats to. Cleaning the bottom of the TB really won't accomplish much except that you will know it is clean. One forum member drilled a small hole in the duct to allow one of the cleaner can 'straws' to spray into the throttle body and burned it up with the running engine. Then sealed the little hole. More trouble than it's worth to me.

 

Yes, getting to the edges of the butterfly and the adjacent seat is fairly easy and they clean up rather quickly with the TB cleaner. I would pass on drilling a hole to get at the crud below.

 

If that was Gus, wasn't the hole upstream of the throttle body in the part of the hose that attaches to the throttle body?

Seems to be very efficient once the hole is drilled, and good for easy touchups. A piece of duct tape to seal the hole might be better than a screw though. It's not a very big hole.

 

Hopefully most forum members will realize that adding significant amounts of atomized, highly combustable, and unmetered fluid to the airstream is asking for trouble.

 

It's been done for years since well before fuel injection.

Some people are ham-fisted and shouldn't be allowed near an engine bay under any circumstances. Others develop a feel for what's right and wrong.

 

This is a sure fire way to find out which one you are! LOL

 

And some of us would "love" to be agile and experiencednow - that is why we read and contribute to this wonderful forum - but we know it will never happen.
At least we have some idea of what to say to the professional that will help us with our favorite cats. Thanks all, DaleD

 

It's probably easier for people who are familiar with carburetors. You get to see how much gas a shot of the accelerator pump puts out. It goes down into the intake when adjusting because the the jet is aimed that way. Since it never causes a problem other than flooding from the excess, you get used to it.

Actually, there is another much more volatile substance that has been squirted into engines for years. Ether. In the form of Quickstart. And, if you have no quickstart ... the remaining dribbles from the gas can. Those last dribbles can be the difference between starting the car and killing the battery.

Ether is the stuff that makes meth labs blow up on the evening news.

Sure it can. Pick an easy job. Think through the steps and understand the reason for each step. Decide that each step is easy enough. Start ..., take breaks ... finish. If you need to, write out a checklist to follow.

The next time, pick a job that is a little harder. It's all about familiarity with the steps, the tools, and what the tools can do in your hands.

Buy the best tools you can, a little bit at a time. Good tools are a pleasure to use. Bad tools can take all the fun out of it. You can usually pick up a good basic set of tools on sale. Craftsman used to be good. Haven't looked at them lately. Home Depot carries Husky which seem to be just as good as the old Craftsman. Pick a brand and stick with it. It's nice to have matching tools. Of course, sometimes you can't get the right tool in your brand. Then you have to branch out.

 

I kept getting a check engine light with codes for too rich in both banks.
I cleaned the throttle body on my 2000 XKR with TB spray and several paper towels and the codes and restricted performance has not returned so far. Don't ever spray the TB cleaner on your Mass Air Flow sensor or you will likely be buying an new one.

Ragtop Brent in Big D.

 

There is such a thing called MAF cleaner for the MAF sensor.