should the throttle body be cleaned?

[psychotic]

I was going to clean my throttle body, however on it there is a warning sticker, as well as a warning in my haynes manual saying not to clean it because of a special coating. My explorer has 100,000 miles on it, so i thought it would need cleaning. Should i clean it and not worry about it? Is there something i can recoat it with after i clean it? or should i just leave it alone?

 

[Positive Vibes]

Try a search. I know there have been a few threads on this subject.

 

[GenerationX]

this probably sounds stupid, but it's just that you have to get throttle body cleaner. Gumout, Stp make the stuff and it will keep your coating fromgetting eaten off by what carb cleaner would do to it. Good luck...

 

[psychotic]

yeah i have the other stuff by stp thats actually called throttle body (and intake) cleaner, hopefully it won't ruin anything with the chemicals, thanks!

 

[GenerationX]

no problem. that's what I use and it works pretty good.

 

[LukeDog3D]

Removing the coating is not going to harm anything. As long as your air filter is doing its job, your upper intake and throttle body will be fine.

 

[leenjen]

what is the coating? and what is it for?

 

[psychotic]

the coating is a "sludge resistant coating", i guess it resists sludge?, its there to help keep it clean. I don't think its just about the airfilter... i think there can be oil buildup on the throttle body, and the coating is supposed to resist it.

 

[GenerationX]

I agree with psychotic on this one. If it didn't need a coating it wouldn't be there. The engineers put it there for a reason .

 

[fastcougar]

I guess these are the same engineers that choose the Firestone tires initial inflation ratings and compound composition? Just because an engineer said use it doesn't mean it's needed.

From my understanding, the coating is like teflon and is there to deter sludge buildup. Next time you are looking at your intake, notice that the vavle cover breather dumps into the intake after the MAF. The vapors of oil from this source combined with the EGR soot create a nice sludge that tends to build up on the back of the TB. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

[GenerationX]

anyway, how do you know if it was the engineers that chose the firestones and decided to stick with them for 90+ years? From what I understand is that Bridgestone/firestone had a contract with ford to provide tires. An engineer may not play much of a part in what tires end up on fords.

 

[LukeDog3D]

Who gives a rat's ass?
Remove the coating if you want. Leave the coating if you want. I took mine off 40,000 miles ago, and I don't have a speck of "sludge" inside of my upper intake or on the throttle body.

 

[Robb]

Simma Down Na!

 

[fastcougar]

Originally posted by gearlo40
anyway, how do you know if it was the engineers that chose the firestones and decided to stick with them for 90+ years? From what I understand is that Bridgestone/firestone had a contract with ford to provide tires. An engineer may not play much of a part in what tires end up on fords.

Does it really matter ... fact is that there is a coating on the back of the TB only, not in the UIM and LIM, where there will be more sludge accumlation than on the back of the TB. I would make it a point to pull the UIM, LIM and TB and degrease them all at the same time. You should notice quite an improvement in performance. Besides, I have 112K miles on my Explorer and there is tons of buildup on the back of the TB ... guess that coating really works as it was designed huh

One thing they can't teach you in engineering school is common sense.