Throttle Body: To clean or not to clean?

[typicalmillenial]

I see conflicting opinions on the internet whether you should clean it or leave the "protective coating" in place. What I'm leaning towards is using a lighter cleaner like Seafoam and brushing gently instead of scrubbing everything off. What do you guys think?

And will I have to take it to a dealer to reset something or can I do it with my bluetooth OBDII (using Torque)?

 

[apenland01]

You can clean the TB yourself, but use an actual throttle body cleaner specifically for throttle bodies. It works great and gets the TB nice and clean. Make sure to clean all the side surfaces of the valve and the underneath. Once you finish, reset the PCM using ford tech makuloco's youtube video process. It should work like a charm.

 

[swshawaii]

CRC Throttle Body & Air-Intake Cleaner

Safe for use on coated throttle bodies

http://docs.crcindustries.com/US Sell Sheets/05111.pdf

 

[Drewmcg]

I used seafoam and old toothbrush per South Main Auto's Eric's advice (see his video), and it worked fine. Finished by spraying with some aerosol throttle body cleaner, which targets carbon and get in the crevices.

 

[Number4]

Find any 4.6l and tell me how well that coating works. Not that they have a TSB for under 10k mile cars having oil crud build up.

Remove and clean it.

 

[firefly1246]

I am a huge Seafoam fan and it does make a difference. However, Seafoam is not a very strong cleaner but its benefit is it is combustible so makes it convient as you don't have to dissemble much and can run it while the truck is running and cleaning more. I love running Seafoam in the gas tank.

Throttle body cleaner is very strong (main ingredient is acetone) but you need to take the throttle body off to use it. Also be careful with it as it is much stronger and is not combustible.

Happy cleaning!!

-Scott