2006 XLT Throttle Body Cleaning

[willgatlin]

Hello Everyone,

I'm glad I found this forum, I'm hoping maybe a few of you could help me out with some questions.

I've owned my 06 XLT for a few years now and it's a decent SUV, seems to run very well. It has it's quirks and the transmission is just annoying the way it shifts and it's "delay" but overall it runs well. As of right now I just crested 80k miles on the clock and it's in great shape, no accidents, no damage at all.

I decided it might be nearing the time to clean the throttle body or at least take a look and see how dirty it was.
I pulled off the intake to the TB and as I imagined just behind the butterfly valve the whole thing was layered with think gunky black mess. I didn't attempt to do anything invasive other than just tooling around in there with a shop rag and wiping out as much of it as I could.

I was wondering.. Whats the best method of cleaning the TB in one of these things? I've read a lot of issues relating to TB malfunctions and touchy sensors in these things so I don't want to go clean crazy and create a problem when there isn't one.
I know on some older vehicles (my 95 jeep for example) you can just spray carb cleaner or even dump seafoam right in there and it cleans it right up. However with newer vehicles and being that there are no physical cables and everything is electronic sensors I don't want to get liquid where it shouldn't be and fry something.

I'm interested in getting the throttle body itself cleaned up so I can keep everything in good shape, but I'm also wondering about how to clean after the throttle body? I can only imagine if the TB is that dirty then there must be more of that gunk traveling farther down into the top of the engine.


I'd appreciate any suggestions you all can offer.

Thanks!

 

[Lukas2009]

It's not much work removing and cleaning the throttle body.

Here you can see the dirt.

Cleaned!

 

[Town]

Gas from a quality supplier includes a cleaning agent that is very effective at keeping your engine clean of carbon and gum deposts. You should not need to clean anything. Low quality gas may not contain any cleaners or a reduced amount of cleaners.

Ford does not always approve cleaning of the throttle body due to possible damage to the "special coating" in that area. Check to see if there is a warning against cleaning affixed to the throttle body.

Most people who clean the throttle assembly do so using a specially designed product for throttle body cleaning. I would not use carb cleaner. Check with your Ford dealer to see if they have a Motorcraft product.

The electronic throttle keeps the throttle plate open just a little, so spraying a suitable cleaner at the edges of the throttle plate should allow enough fluid to clean the plate and the throttle body and the intake runners. Don't stall the engine with too much spray.

If you have the 4.6 V8 there is a valve system in the intake manifold to improve low end power. I don't know much about this system yet and how it may respond to your cleaning process.

Since there is no maintenance requirement for cleaning the throttle body and you are not experiencing any problems, why would you want to clean it? I doubt that you would notice any improvement after the cleaning based upon my limited experience with carbs and fuel injected engines. And then after a couple of hundred miles it looks the same as before the cleaning anyway.

Good luck.

 

[willgatlin]

You guys are awesome, pictures and everything, sweeeeet!

Compared to the jeep forum I'm on (I joined for advice on my 95 jeep) this place rocks.

Like I said I just wiped it out as best I could with a shop rag and I actually got it looking pretty clean. I did notice (just from wiping it out) that I got a slightly improved throttle response, but minimal.

I didn't see anything on it that specifically said not to clean the throttle body but I may have overlooked it. I will check again this weekend and see if I notice any stickers or writing that indicates that.
I've heard about the "coating" thing but from what I've read it seems to be showing up more on Rangers versus Explorers, not entirely sure why.

I was thinking about calling ford or at least speaking to a mechanic that has cleaned this year explorer throttle body. I have a feeling if I speak with Ford directly they will just tell me not to mess with it and wont suggest tampering with the throttle body in any way.

As far as the "good quality gas" I completely understand your point. However, good quality gas will only clean (and keep clean) to an extent, and will only clean inside the intake, it wont do anything for the throttle body. Point being no matter how "clean" the fuel or how many additives they stick in there, carbon will always exist and it will always gum things up, it just depends on how badly that occurs. Gas is a carbon fuel so.....

I guess I should seek to my point here; my reason for wanting to clean:

My 06 Explorer is a V6, approximately 80k miles. Due to the job I have, I drive a company vehicle everyday. I rarely drive my explorer and unfortunately it just sits, sometimes weeks at a time. If I drive it I only go short trips, it only hits the freeway every few months and even then its only for 30 minutes or so.
I've heard horror stories about cars sitting and gaskets going to hell, tires getting destroyed, etc. Basically I've heard that a sitting car can be damaged just a bad as if you drove it 200k miles due to the rubbers breaking down and fluids going bad etc.

I'd like to get it cleaned up internally so its just as clean inside as it looks outside. This may be a topic for a different thread but I thought I'd dwindle down to the reasons behind why I want the TB cleaned.

Thanks for the help guys

 

[Lukas2009]

On my throttle body there isn't any notice about cleaning.
In the car's manual and in the workshop manual I also couldn't find anything about cleaning or a special "coating".

 

[feetwet]

The V8 is not Throttle Body Injection (TBI), so fuel would not make a difference in keeping this clean... more likely good air filters like Wix. (not performance gizmo filters)

I'm guessing the V6 isn't TBI either?

 

[willgatlin]

The V6 is not a TBI system, that's why I was confused when the idea of "good" gas came up. Like I said, I understand the theory behind it however "good" gas will only make more a difference when it comes to the intake itself, injectors, etc. The TB only allows air to pass by sensors and of course the butterfly valve so the dirt/gunk that gets in there is only due to dirty air and blow by gasses from the top of the engine.
Currently I'm using a Spectre air filter, same thing as a factory fit K&N without the K&N price and label.

 

[feetwet]

If you go with K&N like filter you get the better flow but more particles get into the engine. The others you get less flow but less particles in the engine.#

 

[willgatlin]

Escape?....

I didn't know that but it makes sense!

By the way this may not be forum appropriate but I've been considering downsizing to the Ford Escape, 4x4 or awd. Without starting a firestorm in this forum does anyone have an opinion about the escape?

 

[Ford Explorer9]

I didn't know that but it makes sense!

By the way this may not be forum appropriate but I've been considering downsizing to the Ford Escape, 4x4 or awd. Without starting a firestorm in this forum does anyone have an opinion about the escape?

They are just a smaller Explorer to me. If you don't use the cargo space of your Explorer a lot you probably won't have a problem. I'm no expert by any means though. I just looked at one when I was trying to find a vehicle for myself. That market is however pretty much nailed by foreign automakers, I would take a look at other manufacturers before settling on the Ford Escape.

 

[willgatlin]

Thanks for the advice. I recently looked at a few ford escape models. It's funny to see that they use the same exact engine as the ford focus! I suppose that's where the "good" gas mileage comes from.
I rarely use the full cargo ability of my explorer, but mine has the optional 3rd row seating installed. I've filled my explorer with people on long trips but when you pull up the 3rd row seat, your cargo space is virtually gone.

I've been looking at escape 2009 xlt and newer. It looks like ford upgraded their engines to V6 in 2009 and newer, instead of the standard I4 they used for a long time. It's just a consideration at this point, I love my explorer but it may be time to pass the explorer love on to someone else.

 

[Flag Gibby]

Older thread, but you can use MAF sensor cleaner on the throttle body without any issues.

 

[swshawaii]

Older thread, but you can use MAF sensor cleaner on the throttle body without any issues.

Quick drying electronic contact cleaner is not much different from MAF cleaner.
Can't see it cutting hard carbon buildup very well. Use the right "tool" for the job.

 

[Flag Gibby]

As far as your "right tool" statement goes solvents are solvents, some are more polar than others and do a better job of dissolving compounds, but there are more safety steps involved in using them. The difference between the two is that the MAF cleaner is plastic safe (mainly contains hexanes and parafin hydrocarbons) and still dissolves carbon buildup, but like you said the throttle body cleaner will dissolve carbon buildup faster; however, it will dissolve some plastics and paint (mainly has acetone, heptanes, and toluene in it). With this little bit of knowledge you could use just straight up acetone on the throttle body if you are very careful not to get it on any of the plastic components, but I always play it safe and just use the plastic safe cleaner on both parts so I don't have to worry about the possibility since I dont' bother to completely remove the throttle body.
Besides sometimes it comes down to buying lunch and a can of cleaner or the cans of cleaner and no lunch.

 

[swshawaii]

Flag Gibby, thanks for the excellent info. As you stated, the key ingredient in the CRC TB cleaner contains 75-85% ACETONE by weight. IIRC, the label is stamped "Safe for Teflon coated throttle bodies". CRC also claims "Proven to Gain 4-10 Horsepower at the Wheels" on
their MAF cleaner label. Must have been a really dirty MAF sensor and the cheapest performance mod ever. LOL (Zip tie mod is a farce IMO)

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...LZvYEo&usg=AFQjCNF606t3cdCTSFeNGaaKNhEaqu4LxQ

 

[Flag Gibby]

Flag Gibby, thanks for the excellent info. As you stated, the key ingredient in the CRC TB cleaner contains 75-85% ACETONE by weight. IIRC, the label is stamped "Safe for Teflon coated throttle bodies". CRC also claims "Proven to Gain 4-10 Horsepower at the Wheels" on
their MAF cleaner label. Must have been a really dirty MAF sensor and the cheapest performance mod ever. LOL (Zip tie mod is a farce IMO)

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...LZvYEo&usg=AFQjCNF606t3cdCTSFeNGaaKNhEaqu4LxQ

Yeah, the engine probably had well over 100k on it and had never been cleaned. Manufacturers will take the results of one scenario and call it proven as long as it sells more of the product. Kind of like selling ocean front property in Arizona.