6 COMMON MISTAKES WHEN CLEANING A THROTTLE BODY -

Cleaning a throttle body on your car is considered a routine and simple job, especially if you know your way around cars.

But if you make the mistakes we’re going to show you that simple job may turn into a complicated and even worse, an expensive repair.

This article will hopefully help in avoiding that.

Besides articles, you can also watch our YouTube channel where you can find not only this topic but various other car and driving-related videos.

Before we start it would be good to mention two other articles regarding cleaning the throttle body.

In one article you can see how to clean a throttle body without removing it from the engine.

Perhaps even better, in the other article, you can see how to thoroughly clean it when it’s totally removed from the engine.

MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN CLEANING A THROTTLE BODY

1. LEAVING THE INTAKE MANIFOLD OPEN

The first and most important thing is to always securely plug the opening to the air intake. This is when you’re completely removing the throttle body.

If you’re cleaning the throttle body while it’s on the engine, make sure you do not get anything even near it that can accidentally slide or fall through an open butterfly valve. Nuts, bolts, and washers are number one to avoid.

Know that any kind of mistake on this part may easily lead to having to take off the intake manifold which is a complicated job.

Even worse, in some nightmare cases, the whole engine head has to be removed.

Have this in mind ALWAYS when doing this job.

2. FORCING THE BUTTERFLY VALVE

The next mistake you should avoid when cleaning a throttle body is using force to open the butterfly valve.

People usually do this to remove as much gunk as possible when cleaning the throttle body while it’s on the engine.

Forcefully opening the butterfly valve can cause damage to the electromechanical mechanism located on the side of it.

This mechanism is essentially a set of plastic cogs and electronic contacts that move the butterfly valve. When they are damaged or broken, the throttle body is practically useless and you’ll probably have to buy a new one.

So, when cleaning the throttle body slowly and carefully open the butterfly valve and never open it fully but only as much as you need to clean it.

Regarding this, throttle bodies connected with a simple cable, not an electric connection are much more practical.

3. USING THE IMPROPER CLEANING SPRAY

If possible, use the cleaning spray made specially for cleaning the throttle body.

In most cases, it is the same as a carburetor cleaner.

This is important to know because lots of people use popular alternatives like brake cleaner or WD40.

These will not necessarily cause any damage. But some of them may be more aggressive or greasy and may cause even more problems.

4. SOAKING THE THROTTLE BODY WITH THE SPRAY

When mentioning sprays also watch where you spray when cleaning.

When the throttle body is removed you have good access to all sides of it for cleaning. Because of this, lots of people then soak the whole throttle body with spray which is a mistake and can damage it.

Mainly avoid the spraying electric mechanism and where the little axle of the butterfly valve enters the mechanism.

The cleaner spray can leak into the electric mechanism through these places and often times damage it.

5. OVERTIGHTENING THE THROTTLE BODY TO THE INTAKE

When returning the throttle body after cleaning, make sure not to overtighten the bolts or nuts holding it.

On most modern cars, the intake manifold is plastic and so are the threads or bolts holding the throttle body.

Using excessive force may damage these threads leading to you not being able to tighten the throttle body properly.

This may easily mean you’ll have to replace a new intake manifold which is both expensive and complicated to do.

6. NOT DOING A RELEARNING PROCEDURE

The final mistake on this list when cleaning a throttle body is not doing a relearning procedure after it is returned to the engine.

We’ve made a specific YouTube video on this topic. In it we explain various ways that this can be done, click here if you want to watch it.

Not doing a relearning procedure can cause the engine to idle roughly, have sluggish acceleration and pedal response, have a higher fuel consumption, poor engine performance, and else.

All of this is because the throttle body is not properly recalibrated after cleaning or replacement.

CONCLUSION

Luckily, all of these mistakes are very easy to avoid. Just always pay some attention to what you’re doing and you’ll be OK.

Most of these mistakes are made when the job is done without taking some safety precautions, without thinking through what you’re doing, and not knowing the consequences.

All in all, it’s just like with the majority of car repairs. If possible, enjoy yourself while making a repair but never be completely “off-guard”