Cleaning Throttle Body...

[mhorn0817]

Welp, my fiance took our 04 denali in for an oil change yesturday and the dealer tryed to get her pay 130.00 extra to clean the throttle body because we should have had it done last oil change supposily. so i said absolutely not , i can do that myself, so i was wondering should i take off the throttle body and clean it out or just spray some carb cleaner in there? or were they just feeding me a bunch of crap? also i was wondering what i should check for my 39 month/ 39000 mile check, although the truck has 42000 miles on it, but got a letter in mail from dealer saying its time for the 39/39000 mile warrenty service, so what should i do and check? thanks for all the help in advance

[the hammer]

dude, you could take it off if you want and wipe/clean it that way or just spray some stuff in and around the opening and the wipe it down as best you can with it still on the truck. Take you about 15 minutes.

 

39K on truck: oil and filter, tranny flush (and fill), grease points on the front end (11 zerks total i think), check your brake system out and make sure its working well, replace air filter (or clean you K&N if you have one), check your batter for corrosion on the terminals, that's probably it for the average checkup

 

If you are totally serious: change out brake fluid, power sterring fluid, and blinker fluid (just kidding), replace spark plugs, clean the Mass air flow sensor with electonics cleaner, and clean the engine bay with engine brite, I have 36K and I am going to replace the brake fluid as I live in Florida and it is very humid here (brake fluid likes moisture!)

 

did I forget anything?

[blueflavor]

have you tried seafoam before

[mhorn0817]

yea i thought about just sprayin something and cleaning it up, thanks for the extra info, ill be checking air filter and do the flushs

[mhorn0817]

i have tried seafam in a different vehicle before and didnt like what happens afterwards, fouled my plugs out bout later on and truck would barely ruin.....nice smoke show though

[fixitmann]

If you foam it make sure you do it BEFORE changing the plugs.Do it through throttle body for best results but if your burning good fuel it shouldn't be that bad.

[C & A s Dad]

Mike, the make specific throttle plate cleaners but I really like Seafoam's Deep Creep which is an aerosol. Spray it in the TB throat and use a good tough rag or towel to clean it. Some people use a cheap disposable elect tooth brush to reach in the TB.

 

If you do clean the MAF sensor, I would strongly recommend CRC's MAF sensor cleaner instead of regular Electronics Cleaner. Please do not use carb or brake cleaner on the MAF sensor. The specific chem from CRC is formulated just for the sensative MAF sensor.

[mhorn0817]

now if i use the sea foam creep spray wll that have the same affect as the regular seafoam does? then have to change the plugs aftewrwards? or is it just a spray and wipe?

 

thanks for the advice on the maf cleaning!!!

[Jasonsupafly]

just remove the intake hose where it connects at throttle body to do the cleaning and wiping.. no you wont have to change the plugs after doing this cleaning.. very simple and it works

[kutu]

just remove the intake hose where it connects at throttle body to do the cleaning and wiping.. no you wont have to change the plugs after doing this cleaning.. very simple and it works

 

I use acetone on a piece of lint-free t-shirt. The acetone evaporates quickly and leaves no residue.

[mhorn0817]

great sounds like a plan, appreachiate the help

[fixitmann]

Mike didn't mean to mislead ya earlier in post about changing plugs I was thinking ahead of myself.I clean throttle body and intake at same time with engine running , the carbon deposits from cleaning can foul plugs. My bust.

[omegafiler]

Seafoam is still a good thing to do, primarily on higher mileage vehicles though. If it does foul out your plugs, it just means your engine was really dirty. But after seafoam, you should at least change the oil. And be prepared to replace the plugs, should they die.

[the hammer]

I agree, use the CRC made MAF cleaner I have some and it works well. Also, I have only had seafoam cause my plugs to foul once, ever. I have used that stuff on all y vehicles for years. We actually just put up a poast about it last week somewhere. Do a search and you can find the procedure, if not I can get it from the corvette forum.

[ken1mod]

Gentlemen,

 

I have 130000 miles on my '00 Silvy. I use cheapest gas in town. I have never used any additive I have had zero problems with throttle body. Look at it this way. If it is running smoothly and getting good mileage, my 5.3 gets 18+ in mixed driving, leave it alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. As long as the mileage is this good, I won't change the o2 sensors, but I do watch mileage and performance closely.

 

Of course, this does not include normal good maintenance. I changed my plugs at 100k and they looked very good.

 

Ken