Throttle Body Clean

bgbdwlf2500 · January 25, 2018

So I followed a video on youtube, looked pretty straight forward. Hold the TB blade open (by hand), wipe out the crud, be careful of how much TB cleaner you use. So that's what I did, for the most part I sprayed the cleaner onto a rag and wiped all the gunk out. Started truck, it idled fine so I clocked back in and went back to work. Realized driving the truck home that it wanted to run on its own but chalked it up to the cleaning figured all would be good in a few miles. Well as I discovered all over the internet it seems to be a common issue that this happens with solutions from needing a relearn to needing a new throttle body

So my symptoms are:

Idles in park perfectly

Bump the throttle it'll rev to about 1500, hang for about 3 seconds and then slowly settle back at 600

If you rev it too high in park it'll hang at 2500rpm for I don't know how long, I let it sit there for about a minute last night and then just shut it off. On startup it returns to normal idle.

If you put it in gear and bump the gas it'll run up to about 20 on its own

Downshifts cause the rpms to go up and you can feel the bump when it does it

I unhooked the battery for an hour. Did the 3 min idle, 60 sec off, 3 min idle with no change.

I feel like it may be trying to relearn but I don't know.

I bought the truck at 103k, truck now has almost 128k. I'm guessing that this is the first time it was cleaned in almost 8 years and 128k miles and that's why its having a hard time relearning.

Anybody have any more insight or an actual solution on what will help the computer figure it out quicker? I don't want to pay the dealer diagnostic fee when I could just buy a new TB if needed, and buying a new throttle body would make me feel like even if it runs bad it'll figure it out since I know the throttle body is good.

GhostWriter · January 25, 2018

Well, it might have been better if you had used the gas pedal (key on, engine off) to open the butterfly, for cleaning. Even then, the gunk removed may have resulted in more than one re-learn attempts to get things back in order.

Once you move the butterfly by hand, I've heard it's trickier to get everything dialed back in. That, assuming the servo wasn't damaged after manually intervening.

Keep trying the re-learn routine. It will probably recover.

bgbdwlf2500 · January 25, 2018

22 minutes ago, GhostWriter said:

Well, it might have been better if you had used the gas pedal (key on, engine off) to open the butterfly, for cleaning. Even, then, the gunk removed may have resulted in more than one re-learn attempts to get things back in order.

Once you move the butterfly by hand, I've heard it's trickier to get everything dialed back in. That, assuming the servo wasn't damaged after manually intervening.

Keep trying the re-learn routine. It will probably recover.

Thanks for the input, yes I realized after that I probably shouldn't have moved it by hand. That being said, on the way home I found out that it doesn't take throttle input for it to speed up. At 2 mph it revs itself to 800 rpm from 500. After 5 mph it revs itself to 1000 rpm. And will shift to 2nd and 3rd. I unhooked the battery again today with no change. I will leave it unhooked over night tonight and see what happens. I think if it's not better I will buy a new throttle body

GhostWriter · January 25, 2018

Well, don't be hasty. There are some real experts on here that haven't chimed in, yet.

Logan Lanfear · January 25, 2018

I might run it with the intake off to see what its doing when it idles weird. Have someone sit in the truck while its in drive and move the throttle while you watch under the hood. Be careful

bgbdwlf2500 · January 25, 2018

12 minutes ago, GhostWriter said:

Well, don't be hasty. There are some real experts on here that haven't chimed in, yet.

I'm trying not to but a lot of what I read points to me messing up the throttle body.

11 minutes ago, Logan Lanfear said:

I might run it with the intake off to see what its doing when it idles weird. Have someone sit in the truck while its in drive and move the throttle while you watch under the hood. Be careful

Idling in park is perfectly fine as long as you don't touch the gas. If you rev it up it revs then hangs in a few spots on the way down. Rev it too high and it hangs at 2500 rpm until you cut it off. Like I said a few mins ago, I found out on the way home as long as you hold the brakes while in drive it idles fine, but let off the brake and when it hits 2 mph it revs on its own to 800, let it keep going and hit 5mph then it revs to 1000rpm. When you let off the gas it wants to stay at at least 800 rpm until itits stopped and then normal idle returns, which is causing harsh downshifts

bgbdwlf2500 · January 25, 2018

One thing to add, no codes thrown at all.

carnau · January 26, 2018

12 hours ago, bgbdwlf2500 said:

So I followed a video on youtube, looked pretty straight forward. Hold the TB blade open (by hand), wipe out the crud, be careful of how much TB cleaner you use. So that's what I did, for the most part I sprayed the cleaner onto a rag and wiped all the gunk out. Started truck, it idled fine so I clocked back in and went back to work. Realized driving the truck home that it wanted to run on its own but chalked it up to the cleaning figured all would be good in a few miles. Well as I discovered all over the internet it seems to be a common issue that this happens with solutions from needing a relearn to needing a new throttle body

So my symptoms are:

Idles in park perfectly

Bump the throttle it'll rev to about 1500, hang for about 3 seconds and then slowly settle back at 600

If you rev it too high in park it'll hang at 2500rpm for I don't know how long, I let it sit there for about a minute last night and then just shut it off. On startup it returns to normal idle.

If you put it in gear and bump the gas it'll run up to about 20 on its own

Downshifts cause the rpms to go up and you can feel the bump when it does it

I unhooked the battery for an hour. Did the 3 min idle, 60 sec off, 3 min idle with no change.

I feel like it may be trying to relearn but I don't know.

I bought the truck at 103k, truck now has almost 128k. I'm guessing that this is the first time it was cleaned in almost 8 years and 128k miles and that's why its having a hard time relearning.

Anybody have any more insight or an actual solution on what will help the computer figure it out quicker? I don't want to pay the dealer diagnostic fee when I could just buy a new TB if needed, and buying a new throttle body would make me feel like even if it runs bad it'll figure it out since I know the throttle body is good.

Ok so this happens... A LOT.

You don't have to buy a new throttle body. You need to get the computer reprogrammed. There is no way around it. You put a new throttle body on it and it is going to do the exact same thing.

Trust me... I see it at least 2 or 3 times a month. Quickest way to fix it... ECM reprogram.

Carry it to your local dealership and have it reprogrammed. Will be working fine when it is done.

If you have time, drive it over here to me and I will reprogram it for you for free.

GhostWriter · January 26, 2018

Wow. Sure wish I lived in South Carolina.

bgbdwlf2500 · January 26, 2018

11 hours ago, carnau said:

Ok so this happens... A LOT.

You don't have to buy a new throttle body. You need to get the computer reprogrammed. There is no way around it. You put a new throttle body on it and it is going to do the exact same thing.

Trust me... I see it at least 2 or 3 times a month. Quickest way to fix it... ECM reprogram.

Carry it to your local dealership and have it reprogrammed. Will be working fine when it is done.

If you have time, drive it over here to me and I will reprogram it for you for free.

I have a local guy that left a GM dealer and started his own shop, I will check with him today. If not I have no problem meeting up with you. If you pm me an address I can see how long it would take me to get there.

Also, I'm starting to think picking up a tech 2 would be a good idea. I'm a gm guy don't see me buying anything else so I think at this point it may be worth it to have one.

Anybody have any suggestions on what I need to be included and where to pick one up? ive searched amazon and the internet and see plenty of them. Just want to make sure it has all the features needed. I'm only really looking to spend 250 right now, If I have to go higher I will just have to wait a little bit

carnau · January 26, 2018

Tech 2's have dropped so much in the last few years it is crazy. I remember I spent almost 4k on mine 15 years ago lol.

Unfortunately a tech 2 will not fix this problem. The actual ECM has to be SPS programmed. I have heard people just drive on them till they get fixed... Which I am sure is great for the brakes! Haha.

I have also heard taking the battery cables loose for an extended time will fix it. I have never had any luck with that either though.

The address would be 153 North Williamsburg Cty Hwy. Kingstreee S.C. 29556

I don't mind putting it on here, lol. It's a business address. I'll PM you a cell phone number though if you decide to come.

bgbdwlf2500 · January 26, 2018

49 minutes ago, carnau said:

Tech 2's have dropped so much in the last few years it is crazy. I remember I spent almost 4k on mine 15 years ago lol.

Unfortunately a tech 2 will not fix this problem. The actual ECM has to be SPS programmed. I have heard people just drive on them till they get fixed... Which I am sure is great for the brakes! Haha.

I have also heard taking the battery cables loose for an extended time will fix it. I have never had any luck with that either though.

The address would be 153 North Williamsburg Cty Hwy. Kingstreee S.C. 29556

I don't mind putting it on here, lol. It's a business address. I'll PM you a cell phone number though if you decide to come.

Yeah not good on the brakes and also the transmission from the downshifts I'm sure. I could probably deal with it if it wasn't for the downshifts. I am taking it to the mechanic here around 2 hopefully, if he wants to charge a lot you may see me tomorrow