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Throttle sticks, kind of annoying!

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cconley

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Throttle body or throttle cable? Something freezes up when its cold outside and the result is the accelerator freezing in the closed position, and it takes a little bit of manipulation in order to drive. Anybody have this problem?

I'm leaning towards a dirty TB, but haven't checked it out under the hood yet.
 
#4 ·
hey had this prob.try this and let me know if it works....what you have to do is try to close the butterfly [with your hand remove the cable] as much as possible repeat this as needed you will notice that it gets easier to open without feeling the sticky felling that you get when you hit the peddal ..remember close it by goin farther than its already close like trying to go the other way.
 
#5 ·
Does your throttle body stick only at idle(sitting at a red light) and when you try to accelerate you have to push on the pedal harder then normal so that when the pedal does move you "jerk" forward and do not have a smooth acceleration?
If so, then your butterfly plate inside your throttle body my be slighty warped. You could try cleaning it, sanding it(gently and make sure you use fine sandpaper and cleanup any mess, don't want any dirt inside the throttle body) lube the pivots and check the cable.
If it turns out that it is the butterfly plate binding(sticking) to the throttle body at the rest position(the position it sits at when the engine is off) then you have 2 choices.

1- buy a new throttle body $$$$$$

or,

This is so simple and easy you will be amazed....

buy a cummins seal part # 36828262. It is a blue square cut oring/sleeve.
buy/get 1 drop of silicone.
You will notice that when the butterfly plate is at rest, a bolt makes contact to a stop at rest. (this is outside the throttlebody by the spring area)
put a drop of silicone inside the oring/sleeve and slide it over the bolt (the end facing the road)
That's it!!
I have done it to my own car (2005 ZXW stock everything) and the idle is perfect and no more sticking throttlebody/jerking accelerations. It is not better, it is perfect!!
Save your money, buy the oring/sleeve (couple bucks) a throttle body from Ford will cost big bucks and most likely stick again after a few years.

Hopes this helps you.
 
#6 ·
If it just started doing it in cold weather, and works fine except sticks in the closed position with a little jerk when it comes off the seat, it is caused by having a plastic throttle body. The fix is to slightly tighten the stop screw on the side of the throttle body, then the butterfly won't be able to jam in the shut position. Mine did it the first year when it got cold and once adjusted, it was OK from then on. You need an extremely small metric allen wrench and have to dig a tiny bit of goo out of the end of the screw to expose the wrench hole. It only gets turned a tiny bit inward so the throttle plate cannot jam closed. The IAC valve will automatically compensate for the extra bleed air, so idle will not be affected.
 
#7 ·
I agree with the digging the goo out trick and I tried to do that on my 2005. Not sure how much "digging" you have to do but I think Ford must have changed thier idle screw because I did not see any screw head after 30 mins. of digging.
Thats why I suggested the cummins sleeve repair, cheap, no scratching(possible wrecking) of the throttle body, and only takes 10 seconds.

Whatever works for you...go for it.
 
#8 ·
The butterfly in the TB is dirty... Get a can of SeaForm Deep Creep. Remove the intake tube from the TB. Open it with your hand and spray the Deep Creep on the butterfly and the TB. Use a clean, lint free rag and clean the butterfly and TB.

The dirt accumulates on the under side of the butterfly and on the TB. When your car is cold this gunk makes the butterfly stick. And that cause the throttle cable appear to stick. Once you car is up to temp, the gunk softens up and lets the butterfly move easier...

This is also why if you start it, and don't get the motor full hot, shut it off then try and start it after it cools, the motor surges and will not idle correctly...

If it gets dirty enough, when ever you start it, it will not idle correctly...

I had it happen on 2001 Focus a couple of times.. So I added cleaning it to my oil change routine.
 
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Discussion starter · #10 ·
I'm going to try simply cleaning it out first, and if that doesn't work then I will try some of the other ideas. To answer some questions...

Yes, stock TB. Aftermarket intake w/ K&N

It sticks in the closed position when it is cold outside, and has nothing to do with the temperature of the engine. If the car has been sitting at idle for some time, it seems the heat soak from the engine "thaws" it and it won't stick again until the car has forward speed, and cold air.

Once the peddle is past the idle position there is NO extra stickage.

I'll update the thread when I have cleaned it up a bit.
 
#11 ·
You have just described the exact same problem I had with my sticking throttle body. It only happened in cold temps. and the engine temp had nothing to do with the performance of the throttle body. You have a 2004, mine is a 2005. I doubt it is dirty but check it out anyway. If that is not the problem, try the cummins seal, only a couple of bucks from any heavy truck dealer and it was a perfect fix for my car.
Good luck!
 
#12 ·
Step 1) Clean the TB with Cleaner (there is usually a build up of gunk where the butterfly seals)

Step 2) Apply some form of lbricant where the butter fly seats onto the TB itself

This is a super common problem that happens on fuel injected cars as well as carburated vehicels as well.
 
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#13 ·
I also had a problem there the plastic piece of the cruise control cable that connects to the throttle body arm was sticking a little. I took it off, put some grease on it and problem solved. I almost wouldn't recommend this because you don't want it slipping off, but I haven't had a problem yet.
 
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#14 ·
I had the same prob from the top of the butterfly looked perfectly normal and clean from the bottom I found this after replacing the whole throttlebody

my butterfly and the throat under the butterfly was caked in crap when it was cold you would half to stomp on the pedal to break it free sometimes cuz it would either stick like glue or freeze

Image

Image
 
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#16 ·
I highly recommend REMOVING the throttlebody to clean it if you do.. honestly I wouldn't want a can of TB cleaner and that crap seeping down into my intake then get sucked in

People think its ok to spray TB cleaner down into the throttlebody.. to bad they don't realize TB cleaner is a degreasing agent that also breaks down the molecules of the oil which means bye bye to the oil coating on the piston sleeves

also these engines CANNOT run correctly without the intake tube. so please don't run your engine without it (this is to the ones that say oh i will idle the car so the cleaner will be burned off, remember thats carbon (already burned) it will pass through the engine and probably gum up the catalyst (catalytic converter))
 
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#17 ·
Feral said:
I highly recommend REMOVING the throttlebody to clean it if you do.. honestly I wouldn't want a can of TB cleaner and that crap seeping down into my intake then get sucked in

People think its ok to spray TB cleaner down into the throttlebody.. to bad they don't realize TB cleaner is a degreasing agent that also breaks down the molecules of the oil which means bye bye to the oil coating on the piston sleeves

also these engines CANNOT run correctly without the intake tube. so please don't run your engine without it (this is to the ones that say oh i will idle the car so the cleaner will be burned off, remember thats carbon (already burned) it will pass through the engine and probably gum up the catalyst (catalytic converter))
Click to expand...
I agree with removing the TB to clean it. Why did you cut the wires though for your TPS. Wouldn't it have been easier to just unplug it or take two screws out?
 
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#18 ·
That TPS on the Demonstration picture is faulty it was throwing an out of range code.. I took it to ford and nearly sh&^ myself they wanted $600+ to repair it ( replace the throttlebody and TPS which is a known problem) .. so somone on these forums said they will sell me theres (TB/TPS) which has the FAT TPS (new updated style) so I cut the slims harness off to install the fat TPS's connector (the 2 are not compatible)

the old TB was causing the car to Lurch, stall, act funny, stall, take off like a bat out of hell.. all the symptoms I just listed never came back when i replaced the TB/TPS

I keep all the faulty parts in case theres a part on them somone on the forum needs or I need to take pictures... I won't have to remove the parts from my car for proper pictures

heres the new TB and TPS
Image
 
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#19 ·
Cleaning your TB:

1) MUCH better if you can remove it, however if you're like me and barely have enough time to breath between work and sleep- then you probably don't want to take the time.

2) USE A RAG, simply spraying cleaner around the TB isn't going to clean much. You have to get your hands dirty if you want to do a good job. Spray cleaner on the rag, and use it to wipe up all the crud you can. Hold the TB open with your other hand, or brace it with a block of wood.

That solved my cold weather sticking problem. I also installed a breather filter to cut down on carbon buildup in the air plenum.
 
#20 ·
I've read the Ford service manual on my '06. It specifically states "do not attempt to clean the throttle body". It goes on to explain there is a coating of some sort on the throttle body that will be damaged during any cleaning attempt.....which will lead to further sticking problems.

But I'll try gently cleaning mine, before buying a new one. I've cleaned countless throttle bodies on different cars with no ill effects.
 
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