Throttle Body Cleaning ?

Jasonsupafly · October 25, 2005

I have read post on here in the past about taking the intake tube off and cleaning the butterfly and the throttle body...Today I bought a can of air intake cleaner and removed the tube .....I followed the directions on the can...It said spray the butterfly and move it back and forth and spray behind it...It said to use a liberal amout of cleaner.....From just looking at it, it wasnt really dirty from what i could see.....I used a good bit of spray and replaced the intake tube....I waited a few minutes and went to crank my truck up and it didnt want to start...after a time or two of trying to crank it, it finally started but was VERY sluggish...had to give it alot of gas to keep it going...I put in drive and took it for a little ride which i really got on it good.....After i punched it . a SERVICE ENGINE SOON light flashed on and off probably 30 times then when i slowed down it went off.....I came right home and the truck seemed fine....I restarted after it sat a while and it seems to run good....But the question is . did i mess something up by doing this cleaning and why did it not want to start and why did i get a service engine flash several times ? 2001 Z71 5.3....55000 miles...Thanks

97chevy350 · October 26, 2005

Im not completely sure about that, I think it just took a while to burn all of that stuff out of there and you should be in the clear now. As far as cleaning the throttle body, I just take it off the truck and spray the hell out of it with carb and choke cleaner a few times until I get it as clean as I can. Its more work, but you can get your throttle body a lot cleaner and you dont have to worry about that stuff running down into your engine.

Bish · October 26, 2005

The flashing SES light is a misfire and you really shouldn't drive it that way for any significant amount of time. At 30 seconds, you are likely fine though. As 97chevy350 said, just burning off all you just sprayed in there. Normally mine will idle rough and smoke for a minute or two but after that everything is normal. I also remove and clean the Idle Air Control which is in the throttle body. Spraying liberally everywhere I can get. The backside of the blade also gets dirty for me. When really dirty, I will use a rag sprayed with TB cleaner to wipe the heavy deposits away.

Jasonsupafly · October 26, 2005

Thanks for the replys...Bish I didnt dog it for 30 seconds...just got on it good once during the drive to get it up and going and thats when the light flashed on and off about 30 times then it seemed to run fine...How difficult is it to remove the entire throttle body to get it all nice and clean and where is the idle air control that you say you have cleaned ? We had to take my moms 4 wheel drive Tahoe in for a no start problem and they claimed they took the whole throttle body off and cleaned it...A whole 300 and something bucks worth......

97chevy350 · October 26, 2005

The throttle body shouldn't be hard to remove. I have never done one on the 5.3, i have the 5.7 and the throttle body is on the top, but with the 5.3's, they put it on the front, like is on my dads truck. Im sure its not much different. Just disconnect the throttle and cruise control cables, and there should be four bolts in the throttle body, just pop em out. The gasket is rubber and you should be able to reuse it as long as it's in decent shape. Once you get it off, just hold it over or a catch pan or somethin, and spray away. I would spray some carb n choke cleaner in there and let it set for a few mins, repeat this a few times if its really nasty.

97chevy350 · October 26, 2005

Oh yeah, i forgot got about the throttle position sensor, just unplug it, no biggie.

Bish · October 26, 2005

The IAC is in the top right side (staring from the front) and is has 2 small torx bolts securing it along with a small gasket. It can easily be removed while the TB is on the engine.

Also, be carefull and make sure you use a cleaner that is Throttle Body safe. Standard carb and choke cleaner can eat away the coating on the TB assembly.

jhm · October 26, 2005

What about fuel injector cleaning? Besides pouring something in the tank, has anyone used the dealer method thru the fuel rail? What do they normally charge?

97chevy350 · October 26, 2005

I have always just used techron in the tank and he has always done a pretty good job. I dont know about the dealer way through the fuel rails though, i have a 350 with the oldschool injecter module in the manifold.

jhm · October 26, 2005

I have always just used techron in the tank and he has always done a pretty good job. I dont know about the dealer way through the fuel rails though, i have a 350 with the oldschool injecter module in the manifold.

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I called the local dealer. He says they will clean the throttle body, taking it apart and clean the injectors for $130. Seem steep but they gotta pay their guys. I think the Techron and cleaning the TB with solvent and a cloth will do. Just preventive maintenance. Can you over do it with Techron? How often do you add it and how many ounces to a tank?

splat10 · November 3, 2005

I just had my fuel system cleaned at a valvoline (not sure i'll ever do that again...more on that later). Total cost was $59 but that was discounted cause I had a radiator flush at the same time (originally $79). The took off the air duct and clead the TB just like about with some solvent. It was nasty dirty (had an EGR failure a little while ago). The also did the fuel rail cleaning and a tank additive.

My issue now is that I'm hearing a "woooo-ing" above half throttle that I don't think was here before. Kind of like the air is getting more turbulance than it should. I'm pretty sure it's coming from the intake. Normal??? I haven't pulled the duct off yet to make sure they didn't screw it up. Gas milage was supposed to be a little better (i'm at 98K miles) but i think it may have actually gone down (was 15 on my 99 5.3) slightly.

Any thoughts???

I have always just used techron in the tank and he has always done a pretty good job. I dont know about the dealer way through the fuel rails though, i have a 350 with the oldschool injecter module in the manifold.

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I called the local dealer. He says they will clean the throttle body, taking it apart and clean the injectors for $130. Seem steep but they gotta pay their guys. I think the Techron and cleaning the TB with solvent and a cloth will do. Just preventive maintenance. Can you over do it with Techron? How often do you add it and how many ounces to a tank?

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Jasonsupafly · November 3, 2005

You need to make sure they hooked the intake tube back up to the throttle body the right way......I hate those places ....they are only good for changing the oil but have heard some horror stories about that too....

splat10 · November 3, 2005

You need to make sure they hooked the intake tube back up to the throttle body the right way......I hate those places ....they are only good for changing the oil but have heard some horror stories about that too....

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I did that right away. there was nothing visually wrong but I didn't pop off the duct to look inside. You're right about getting them to do service but I have a hard time dropping my truck off at a dealer for a day dince I work so far away from any. This was a job anybody should have been able to do so i thought what the hell.

97chevy350 · November 4, 2005

I have always just used techron in the tank and he has always done a pretty good job. I dont know about the dealer way through the fuel rails though, i have a 350 with the oldschool injecter module in the manifold.

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I put two of them in my tank, it says it treats up to 12 gallons i think so I just double it up to be safe. I run it through every few months or so. There are two different techrons, the name is almost the same and i always get them mixed up. THe more expensive one is the one i use, like 5 bucks a bottle.

99silveradoz71 · November 4, 2005

Well I wiped the tb down a few weeks ago after I felt the pedal getting a bit stiff again. Then yesterday I pulled the PCV valve and let the 5.3 drink up some Seafoam. I let it sit for 20 mins and then fired it up. A little bit of blue smoke, but then she was fine. Nothing like what I expected after hearing descriptions on here, but then I have used Techron or Lucas in my tank since near new as well as mobil 1, so she hasn't really had too tough a life. The pedal definitely felt smoother afterward.