Throttle body cleaning guide

[krisdelta]

Hello folks,

Thought I would take some pics to make it easier for other people to do this simple cleaning task, I have little or no skills with the spanner, so this truly is something anyone can do with the minimal of hassle. I had one crack at this and did a pretty poor job, then got some proper guidance from this handy YouTube vid I found, albeit on a completely different vehicle, the principle is identical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYPSjktvj-o

Step one.
Purchase throttle body cleaner (Halfords and other car places sell this)
Get a toothbrush you don't need to use again (for scrubbing inside throttle body).
Screwdriver (for releasing plastic clips)
Long nose pliers (for releasing plastic clips)
A cloth / strong paper towels (for mopping residual liquid).

Step two.
Ensure the engine is cool, open bonnet and loosen the plastic clip with a screwdriver / pliers as needed.



Step three.
Lift the plastic inlet out of the way (I found there was enough "slack" in the connections to do this, if not you'll need to remove the similar clips on the "Y" section to get it further out of the way



Step four.
Spray the thottle flap liberally with the cleaner and wipe down / brush and remove residual. Then pushing the top of the flap with a finger, opening it - then again liberally spray cleaner below and above open flap. The use the toothbrush to clean all around the inside of the throttle body. I then wiped around to remove the residual liquid from the spray. Leave it to dry out for 10 minutes or so (I used my screwdrivers plastic handle to keep the throttle flap open while it dried). Looks nice and shiny afterwards



Step five.
Replace the plastic ducting, ensuring it's pushed back firmly and well fastened. Count back all your tools and bits to ensure you haven't left anything to cause engine damage.

Step six.
I idled the engine for a few minutes to ensure any residual cleaner was burnt off before driving.

If anyone spots any glaring errors with this, please let me know!

[krisdelta]

Thanks chaps, so not sure there is a way to manually actuate other than how I did, as it's done via what I assume is an electric motor internal to the body, but the flap has a very definate arc of travel when operated manually.

I'll see if I can picture and remove / clean / replace connectors and update the guide.

I've linked this into the Wiki at the top as well.

Cheers

Kris