HOW TO: Throttlebody cleaning

[flyboy367]

ok so most of us are driving around 10 year old machines with a bunch of miles. some of us like going very fast some like performance/milage and some like both. here is a writeup on how to do a real (not dealer cop out) cleaning of your throttlebody. this is done on my 95 se.

Disclaimer: i have been working on cars for 15 years, everything from carb'd put puts, efi, and racecars. I am not responsible for what you do to your car. this is meant to be an informative look to some stuff thats often overlooked or half assed. with that being said here we go.

Materials needed:throttlebody cleanergray form-a-gasket (sensor safe or a nissan tb gasket)maf cleanersome ragsa flathead screwdriver12mm socketpliersabout 2-3 hours (max)

materials i used. carb cleaner is not sensor safe and should be avoided.

step one, open the hood (im not adding a pic if you cant do this you shouldn't even attempt this work.)

now you will see the maf and tb (im sure we all have different air intakes this is mine)

using your flatheadtake off all your tubeing. disconnect the connections on the maf and tb (easy push in release)now you have the throttle and cruise cables.this is easy, just hold open the throttle, push the cable forward and pop out the little connections.next take off the 4 12mm bolts.once the bolts are out you will notice 3 hoses to the bottom of the tb. the small one is a vaccume line. the other 2 with clamps are coolant lines for the cold idle control (more on this to follow) disconnect them, you will spill a few ounces of coolant just man up and wipe it off.

now you have a good mess in front of you. this is oil buildup from the pcv. blame the hippies for your car recirrculating oil fumes for better emmissions.and the intake

nows the messy parton the maf FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE CLEANER CAN!!!you are shooting it here.now set aside and let dry, move on to the tb. the smart guys at nissan (at least my year) made the tps sensor the only one on the tb so nothing needs to get removed to clean it. i did notice that it has ajustable positions and i'll do a followup on tps positioning for better performance once i find my ohm meter.

so spray the crap on the tb with the cleaner and wipe off. make sure to open the tb and get inside it real good. there will be more to follow on tb upgrades to stay tuned.ok so set the sucker aside for a few to dry up. the intake manifold has some sensors in it so i stuffed a rag deep in the sprayed the crap out of it and wiped it clean (dont forget to remove the rag) now is a good time to check over your fuel filter or change the oil. I like to use a filtermag on my oil filters, it really grabs junk out. just stick it on. i have used these onmy commuter car, my 640hp camaro road track car and my 1500hp nova track car.

ok now its time to reassemble. my tb gasket was in good shape so i just reused it, otherwise use a good amount of the form-a-gasket around the tb and stick it on. dont forget to reconnect the coolant lines and vaccume line or......(see below) also make sure you put the maf on the right way. it has an arrow to help you not screw it up. if your using the form-a-gasket let it sit for about an hour after bolting everything up to set. perfect time to grab a beer or do something for(to) the wife for being outside playin with the car.

now your ready to restart. after starting the car DONT TOUCH ANYTHING!! just let it idle for a min or 2. the computer needs to reset to the faster moving air. let it sit while you clean up your tools, then take it for a spin and enjoy.

tb mod part one.

ok so soon to follow will be a writeup on porting your throttlebody to a venturi style for more performance. this is a precurser and an old trick since efi graced some engines in the mid 80's.

you remember those coolant hoses you took off to remove the throttlebody? well thier job is to heat the tb up in cold weather to stableize the idle. much like a choke on a carb. now honestly how long does it take for the coolant to heat up and be useful, lets face it your probably driving already. so here is what we do. get yourself a pipe coupler. dumbass me threw out the package before writing down the size but its easy to figure out. now take the hoses and connect them.make sure your all tight and on to step two. i learned this after a few min of driving. the system will operate on its own without the coolant just the heat of the car. found out when i was stopped in nutral and my car idled at 3800rpm. so to remedy this you need to take off this rotating spring. looks like a mini tb connection at the bottom of the tb.there is a nut on the end. just remove it, take off the part and i reattached the nut.now you will notice your car idles a little lower to save on gas but also has i'd say about 2-4mm more of throw without the spring attachment hitting the tb spring. i drove around for an hour with no issues enjoying crisp responce and smoked a new mach1 to end my day. hope this helps out, soon to come will be throttlebody porting, header install, and perhaps intake manifold modification.

[audtatious]

[allensteiner]

man, that is a very nice write up...someone give him a custom title! i like your attention to detail

[lightsout]

very nice very nice indeed!!!like he said...good job paying attention to detail!

btw...1 of your images didn't work :-/...or maybe its just my computer.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Great writeup.

I'd like to hear more about your Nova track car.

[flyboy367]

perhaps another day, im still ticked about getting rid of it. still waiting on my tools for the porting thread but as soon as i get them it will be happening. i dont have a baseline yet for the car with speed and time but i know the 1/2 mile from the traffic light to my turn off i can hit 140 no problem. im wondering with the addition of headers, exhaust and the tb what i can do. also gonna need new meat soon. the prev owner installed one way directional tires the wrong way.glad you all like the writeup. if a mod would like to sticky it please feel free.

[NutriaforBreakfast]

Great! My throttle plate on my 95 looked just like it and theidle was crummy till I cleaned it and the IACV

You might as well clean the IACV too.

[flyboy367]

true true, im also looking into making a short ram intake. basically picture the tb upper plenim and runners directly over the lower plenum. im just trying to figure out if same size or making them all equal lenth would be better.