While I had the air cleaner outlet pipe removed I thought I'd give the throttle body a clean up too. Boy was I surprised when I opened up the butterfly valve (picture attached). Is this amount of oily gunk normal or should I be worried? Is there any good ways to clean this mess up without dismantling everything?

 

Little more info: My car has about 112k miles on it. It's been running just fine so no "real reason" to do this.

The air cleaner outlet pipe seems to be pretty clean except the end which attaches to the TB is slightly discolored (light brown). I thought it was some sort of dirt but it doesn't seem to come off at all...

 

I don't know which would be considered normal, but my 2001 XK8 with 56k miles only has a small "ring around the collar" blackness around the butterfly. The valve itself and all other surfaces appear bright and shiny clean. I bought the car 2 years ago from a dealer, they might have cleaned it up then - the rest of engine looked brand new, as if highly detailed.

Steve

 

That does look excessive in the bottom although there is little sign of the usual build-up around the butterfly valve. Did you clean that part before taking the pic?

Your second post says 'it's running fine'. If it ain't broke, leave it alone!

Graham

 

Took the pic after cleaning up the body itself (obviously needs more work) so there's probably some cleaner dissolved stuff in the bottom. Will try to get to it with something... Thanks for the input anyway!

 

I wasn't trying to put you off ........ just be cautious!

The thing to avoid is spraying Throttle Body Cleaner into it and running the engine as this can throw the engine management into a spin.

For a full cleaning job, the TB needs to be removed. To get rid of that gunge without removing the TB, soak paper towel with TB Cleaner and use it to scoop the rubbish out.

Graham

 

No worries! Didn't get put off

So I had a look in JTIS on how to remove the TB. Seems to be fairly easy job but I'd need a new gasket. Couldn't find one at britishparts.co.uk, any other ideas?

Edit: Oops, is it this?: Gasket Throttle Body Adaptor - NNE3021AC | Jaguar XJ8 X308 - XJR, Jaguar XK8 - XKR | Jaguar | British Parts UK

 

When I had my Corvette, every so often I would do a quickie throttle body cleaning. Access was very good since the TB was mounted at the front and pointing forwards. So when I first got the XKR I figured I would do the same type of housekeeping. What first surprised me was the seemingly inefficient mounting of the TB and of course the 90-degree bend of the air tube. I tried cleaning the TB with a rag and some cleaner and was able to get down a bit past the butterfly. But then I peered down the throat and saw the same type of blackened crud at the base of the intake. My car only had about 16,000 miles when I got it but there was still some of that black crud. I never quite did figure out a way of getting anything down there easily but did the best I can using a rag moistened with cleaner. Obviously the best way to thoroughly clean is by removing the TB but, then again, after 14 years and 80,000 miles with the Corvette I never once had the TB removed and things ran just fine.

Doug

 

That's the gasket. Gone up by around £3 in just over a year.

TB removal is a straightforward job.

Graham

 

A rag soaked in cleaner and a pair of long surgical forceps does the job easily.

 

This process worked well for me and others and it is easy no TB removal.

Link JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

If you elect to remove the TB this link might help.

Link JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

Thanks guys! Think I will clean it up with a rag as good as I can for now and put a proper TB removal/clean up to my todo list when I have more than just a gasket to order.

 

Okay doctor, for those that might not have a pair of long surgical forceps lying around, where can you get these (or something similar)?

Doug

 

I was thinking of getting one of those long flexible brushes you use for bottle cleaning and wrapping the cloth around it or something...

 

Doug, you're in LA dude. One of those "medicinal" smokers will have a pair of hemostats you can borrow.

They are also available at many auto parts stores. Harbor Freight also carries them.

 

I got mine for $3 new at some surplus store.

stainless steel, 30 degree offset at the business end, locking jaws, 16 inches long

very handy for all kinds of jobs.

for tb cleaning i fold and roll a paper towel into a cylinder the size of a tampon, shove one jaw down the middle, lock it down, soak in cleaner ... and go to town.

the advantage is the reach, leverage, and being sure the towel is coming back out again

 

Spraying it the way I suggested may surprise you with the results also cleans internal parts of the engine. As for the brush you do not want to use an abrasive brush on the TB.

 

The brushes I found turned out to be excellent tools for this. Wrapped a big cloth around it and sprayed it with the cleaner and I was able to get quite deep inside the intake manifold. Couldn't get that carbon build up in the bottom (is that the EGR port?) loose with this method though. Maybe I'll try again some day. I think I used about 4 or 5 cloths and almost the entire can of cleaner. It was really dirty (see my first post). A lot better now...

 

I have to admit a very embarrassing story that comes to mind whenever I see anything about carburetors or throttle bodies. Way back when I was young and even stupider than I am today, I owned a 1970 Roadrunner and in my 20s would just love to tinker and adjust things constantly. Well there was some butterfly adjustment that required using a drill bit as a measuring device to set the right amount of closure. I think you can see where this is going.

Anyway I did the adjustment (with the engine not running) and naturally the drill bit slipped out of my grasp. I could see it lying at the base of the manifold but did not have anything long enough to get it out. I (wrongly) figured that the bit was not going anywhere so I drove to an auto parts store to get a long magnetic probe to get the bit. As I was driving I suddenly heard a sound and, long story short, the bit was shattered by a valve ending up in a very expensive engine repair. To this day I can't believe how stupid I was.

Moral--be careful when putting things down the throttle body.

Doug

 

Ouch. I've done something similar. I once had a Nissan when I was still living in Finland. The car didn't have an engine block heater which is pretty much a must during the winter so I got one and though I'd save some money and install it myself. The procedure is very easy in theory. Remove one of the core plugs and install the heater in its place. Usually when you tap the plug with a screwdriver and a hammer to one side, it turns 90 degrees and you can pull it out. Well mine didn't turn. It felt like it was stuck (but in reality I managed to push it deeper in the hole). So one of my brilliant ideas was to drill a hole into the plug so I could use some sort of a hook to pull it out. I started drilling but it felt like the drill wasn't going anywhere. I tried harder and whoomp... It went through the plug, through the block, through the cylinder, through the piston... Needless to say how much I "saved" installing the heater myself