Is it possible to clean the throttle body with the car running?
I pulled off the CAI and MAF to get access. When I start the car
it will only run for a few seconds and then it will die.

 

THe reason y the car dies is that there is no air passing through the MAF there for the comp drops the fuel pressure and kills the car. Going to hard to keep it running and clean it that way. Look around for another method. I have just got borred and removed the TB fully and did it that way.

 

The easiest way to clean the throttle is to hold the throttle open and spray it with carb cleaner. Now get an old tooth brush and scrub the bore and blades. When done quickly spray it agian to rinse it off.

Put the intake duct back on and start the engine. It will crank a few extra time because of the carb cleaner, but the engine will suck it through just fine. If the throttle body was extra dirty repeat the process or you might consitter pulling it off to clean it further.

 

Easiest way is to just remove it and clean it.

 

If he cleans it this way(w/o removing) and it goes into the manifolds, you guys say it will crank more b4 it starts, thats true. But won't that gunk leave deposits in the manifold, valve pins or in the cylinder or pistons??? I know it will get burned up, but the deposits will simply shift to another location right??

 

bump bump bump

 

I would remove the TB and clean it properly. You need to do the bores, the blades, including the backs of the blades, clean under the top cover where the oil builds up, and then clean the IAC passages in the bottom plate. With the TB off, you could try and get some of the gunk that builds up in the intake manifold behind the TB.

Your car should run fine without the MAF - just be sure to pull the connector off. Lacking the MAF, the PCM will default to speed-density. The PCM doesn't "drop the fuel pressure and kill the car". But I wouldn't try spraying it with the engine running.

 

To confirm my understand, in the following diagram http://shbox.com/1/throttle_body2.jpg

to clean the iac, I unscrew it and clean whatever i see inside? The bore is the hole on the bottom between the plates?

Thanks

 

Dont clean it while its on, i tried and it shot a 10 foot flame out the intake. Very dangerous.

 

based on my understanding of the diagram, you wouldnt be able to clean the iac while its on. That is the main point of cleaning the throttle body??

 

IF you do it on the car, do NOT use carb cleaner!!! Use air intake and throttle body cleaner. Std carb cleaner will destroy the IAC, and start eroding the seals that are in the TB. It was designed for carbs (hence the name) and that was done 30 years ago. Seriously, if it needs cleaned, take the time and do it right. Remove the TB and bench clean it. Again, NO carb cleaner. HTH

-Paul

 

After you clean the TB, dab some oil on the butterfly rod where it enters the housing. My rpms would "hang" after cleaning my TB;the oil solved the problem.

 

is the botterfly rod that cylinderical thing that goes through the throttle body blades, i.e. the thing which rotates to open and close the blades?

 

Carb cleaner works fine. The IAC is simpley a sealed electonic controlled valve and will not be damaged by carb cleaner. There are no seals in a LT-1 throttle body except for the IAC valve seal and the Carb cleaner cannot get to it while the TB is assembled.

Do remove the TB to clean it. The deposits on the back of the blades are sometimes very hard and would be damaging to the engine if they get in the wrong places.

-Shannon

 

Sorry to hijack but is there any reason that the tb plates have gaskets? I was wondering last time, do they need to seal anything?