How are people cleaning their throttle bodies?

[drjkel]

I just tried cleaning the throttle body on my '01 Zetec at 62,000mis. It was pretty gunked up. I used paper towels soaked in Gumout throttle-body cleaner (guaranteed not to harm the teflon coating on the throttle body) to get the ridges and crud out of the throttle body where the throttle plate comes to rest at idle. The edges of the throttle plate were also awful. I have a much smoother idle now.

My question is this: there is still a lot of gunk remaining in the throttle body below the throttle plate, and on the bottom of the throttle plate itself, that I can't get at without removing the throttle body from the manifold. Is there a gasket or a reusable o-ring between the throttle body and the manifold? What are other people doing to clean the throttle body? Just spraying cleaner in there does not work on accumulations like I had. Are people successfully removing and replacing the throttle body reusing the manifold-to-throttle body seal?

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[NikiterZTS]

i never heard of people do this.....everyone is scared to damage that coating.....

[drjkel]

Been doing it for years on Taurus throttle bodies with no problem. Just use the right stuff. Besides, the coating is moot when it's covered with a millimeter of crud.

[myFordPerformance.com]

We talking about the stock t/b or aftermarket ?

If it's that dirty, I suspect you need to clean many other parts of your engine bay as well.

Personally, assuming you also still have the stock intake on the car, is remove the airbox assembly and tb and clean them both real good. That will give you some room to work on cleaning other parts of the engine bay as well.

Here's my how-to on removing the t/b: (part of them aftermarket t/b install)
http://www.myfordfocus.com/how-to/65mm.htm

Good luck.

[NikiterZTS]

so Gumout throttle-body cleaner is the way to go?

oh and how often should this be done?

[drjkel]

OK - The answer is it's a gasket not an o-ring. Thank you, Ray. That means no removal without a new gasket on-hand. Stock throttle body by the way. The "sheet metal" screws into only the plastic of the intake manifold make this a higher risk endeavor than one would want.

The rest of the engine is real clean. I see this on the Taurii also. Something about the pressure drop at the throttle plate preferentially deposits crud there.

I have used the Gumout throttle-body cleaner (NOT CARBURETOR CLEANER) with success. *Your results may vary*

[Xetchx]

I know once apon a time when I owned a Honda Accord I took it to a auto shop ( like HI-LO or Jiffy lube) and they had a TB cleaner. was a machine or something they hooked it up to to clean it. Car ran good afterwards.

[myFordPerformance.com]

Can't tell you how many times I had the stock and 65mm t/b on and off and on again and re-used the gasket over and over. You just got to be careful not to tear it.

The screws into the plastic manifold, always a concern. Cross thread them more than once, or go to tight and crack the stock t/b mount and your screwed.

[drjkel]

"The screws into the plastic manifold, always a concern. Cross thread them more than once, or go to tight and crack the stock t/b mount and your screwed." - I see you have lived a long time, sir.

[myFordPerformance.com]

>> I see you have lived a long time, sir

Please. don't remind me :)