Carbon build up through throttle body.....
04-28-09, 03:16 PM
#1
Carbon build up through throttle body.....
Hey everyone,
I recently purchased a 2005 Lexus IS 300 Sportcross with 30K. A couple weeks ago I got 30K service done on it and paid $660 bucks! I know I could have done a lot of the work myself but i just don't have the time. Anyways, the dealership mentioned that they recommend doing an EFI service, because there is carbon build up through the throttle body. This would add another 300 bucks. I don't have the money for that right now.
Do any of you have suggestions what I can do and use to help clean the carbon in my throttle body? Thank you in advance for your help!
I recently purchased a 2005 Lexus IS 300 Sportcross with 30K. A couple weeks ago I got 30K service done on it and paid $660 bucks! I know I could have done a lot of the work myself but i just don't have the time. Anyways, the dealership mentioned that they recommend doing an EFI service, because there is carbon build up through the throttle body. This would add another 300 bucks. I don't have the money for that right now.
Do any of you have suggestions what I can do and use to help clean the carbon in my throttle body? Thank you in advance for your help!
04-28-09, 03:40 PM
#2
cleaning the throttle body and "EFI" service to clean the fuel injectors seem to be 2 different things.
You can try just running a few bottles of the latest and greatest in Fuel Injector Cleaners (amsoil, redline, and gumout are the flavors of the month at BITOG) and see if you notice any difference. This may give you just as good of a result as to whatever is entailed in the mystery "EFI service" for way less.
Cleaning the throttle body is just a hands-on task with some gente TB cleaner and rags, of course you may need to disassemble to get to the right parts to clean. You can check with some independent shops to see how much they might charge to do this or wait until you can bundle it with another service such as sparkplugs.
It could be that your particular dealer just wants to pad their pocketbook, and the recommendation is based by a book and not by something they found in your car.
You can try just running a few bottles of the latest and greatest in Fuel Injector Cleaners (amsoil, redline, and gumout are the flavors of the month at BITOG) and see if you notice any difference. This may give you just as good of a result as to whatever is entailed in the mystery "EFI service" for way less.
Cleaning the throttle body is just a hands-on task with some gente TB cleaner and rags, of course you may need to disassemble to get to the right parts to clean. You can check with some independent shops to see how much they might charge to do this or wait until you can bundle it with another service such as sparkplugs.
It could be that your particular dealer just wants to pad their pocketbook, and the recommendation is based by a book and not by something they found in your car.
04-28-09, 03:55 PM
#3
oh no, any car with 30k miles on it or more has carbon buildup in the throttle body, guarantee it...
probably not hurting anything right now, but it is recommended as a maintenance item - helps prevent sticky throttle and bad idle...
get some carburetor cleaner, pull off the intake tube just before the throttle body, spray, wipe, repeat... you aren't going to get all of it, and neither are they, what you are looking for is the throttle plate, the area around the throttle plate, and as far into the intake as possible...
if they just did spark plugs, I would probably not do the fuel injection cleaning service, as sometimes it can foul plugs... what would be safe though is just a bottle of additive to the fuel tank... probably won't help much, but won't hurt either...
probably not hurting anything right now, but it is recommended as a maintenance item - helps prevent sticky throttle and bad idle...
get some carburetor cleaner, pull off the intake tube just before the throttle body, spray, wipe, repeat... you aren't going to get all of it, and neither are they, what you are looking for is the throttle plate, the area around the throttle plate, and as far into the intake as possible...
if they just did spark plugs, I would probably not do the fuel injection cleaning service, as sometimes it can foul plugs... what would be safe though is just a bottle of additive to the fuel tank... probably won't help much, but won't hurt either...
04-29-09, 09:30 AM
#5
the carbon buildup in the intake is typically from the EGR system and PCV system... these two allow exhaust and combustion chamber blowby mixed with a light mist of oil into the intake...
the absolute best way to take care of it is to remove the intake manifold completely, strip any electrical components and connectors off of it and wash it thoroughly in a parts washer... similar process for the throttle body as well... at the same time, you would want to take a toothbrush and carburetor cleaner and clean the intake ports on the lower manifold or head... don't wanna leave any pools of cleaner, so, soak up anything remaining with towels... also, if you do it this way, probably want to change the oil, as carb cleaner is very thin and can easily seep into the combustion chamber and past the rings into the oil... when all is clean, obviously, reassemble, remove the spark plugs, crank a few times to make sure no cleaner was left in the cylinders, then reinstall the plugs, change the oil as mentioned and start her up - recommend resetting the ecu, as idle settings may have changed with the difference in carbon in the intake manifold...
the not so thorough way of doing this is to use carburetor cleaner on rags, toothbrushes, etc, and to get into the intake manifold as far as possible, focusing mainly on the throttle plate and areas around it...
no other spark plug issues here though...
04-29-09, 03:38 PM
#6
oh no, any car with 30k miles on it or more has carbon buildup in the throttle body, guarantee it...
probably not hurting anything right now, but it is recommended as a maintenance item - helps prevent sticky throttle and bad idle...
get some carburetor cleaner, pull off the intake tube just before the throttle body, spray, wipe, repeat... you aren't going to get all of it, and neither are they, what you are looking for is the throttle plate, the area around the throttle plate, and as far into the intake as possible...
if they just did spark plugs, I would probably not do the fuel injection cleaning service, as sometimes it can foul plugs... what would be safe though is just a bottle of additive to the fuel tank... probably won't help much, but won't hurt either...
probably not hurting anything right now, but it is recommended as a maintenance item - helps prevent sticky throttle and bad idle...
get some carburetor cleaner, pull off the intake tube just before the throttle body, spray, wipe, repeat... you aren't going to get all of it, and neither are they, what you are looking for is the throttle plate, the area around the throttle plate, and as far into the intake as possible...
if they just did spark plugs, I would probably not do the fuel injection cleaning service, as sometimes it can foul plugs... what would be safe though is just a bottle of additive to the fuel tank... probably won't help much, but won't hurt either...
Thank you mitsuguy. That was very helpful. I went got some carburetor cleaner and will apply that soon. I also added an additive to the fuel tank last night.
04-29-09, 03:40 PM
#7
cleaning the throttle body and "EFI" service to clean the fuel injectors seem to be 2 different things.
You can try just running a few bottles of the latest and greatest in Fuel Injector Cleaners (amsoil, redline, and gumout are the flavors of the month at BITOG) and see if you notice any difference. This may give you just as good of a result as to whatever is entailed in the mystery "EFI service" for way less.
Cleaning the throttle body is just a hands-on task with some gente TB cleaner and rags, of course you may need to disassemble to get to the right parts to clean. You can check with some independent shops to see how much they might charge to do this or wait until you can bundle it with another service such as sparkplugs.
It could be that your particular dealer just wants to pad their pocketbook, and the recommendation is based by a book and not by something they found in your car.
You can try just running a few bottles of the latest and greatest in Fuel Injector Cleaners (amsoil, redline, and gumout are the flavors of the month at BITOG) and see if you notice any difference. This may give you just as good of a result as to whatever is entailed in the mystery "EFI service" for way less.
Cleaning the throttle body is just a hands-on task with some gente TB cleaner and rags, of course you may need to disassemble to get to the right parts to clean. You can check with some independent shops to see how much they might charge to do this or wait until you can bundle it with another service such as sparkplugs.
It could be that your particular dealer just wants to pad their pocketbook, and the recommendation is based by a book and not by something they found in your car.
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04-29-09, 05:08 PM
#8
What Fuel Additive product did you decide to go with?
Be aware that many products on the shelf may have little or no effect. Even the ones that are the fan favorites that have higher amounts of "active" ingredients may only work well with a shock double-dose or multiple treatments (even though the maker won't explicitly recommend it, most likely for legal reasons).
Be aware that many products on the shelf may have little or no effect. Even the ones that are the fan favorites that have higher amounts of "active" ingredients may only work well with a shock double-dose or multiple treatments (even though the maker won't explicitly recommend it, most likely for legal reasons).
04-30-09, 08:52 AM
#9
What Fuel Additive product did you decide to go with?
Be aware that many products on the shelf may have little or no effect. Even the ones that are the fan favorites that have higher amounts of "active" ingredients may only work well with a shock double-dose or multiple treatments (even though the maker won't explicitly recommend it, most likely for legal reasons).
Be aware that many products on the shelf may have little or no effect. Even the ones that are the fan favorites that have higher amounts of "active" ingredients may only work well with a shock double-dose or multiple treatments (even though the maker won't explicitly recommend it, most likely for legal reasons).
I bought 2 different kinds:
Chevron W/Techron
STP-Fuel injector cleaner
What kinds do you recommend?
04-30-09, 10:59 AM
#10
I'm not sure of STP.
The Chevron might need high doses then just one bottle, especially if it is "pro-guard" which is a low concentration formula. Either way there is no harm in running what you have through.
On BITOG, the most "popular" (this month anyway) appear to be redline si-1, amsoil PI, and Gumout Regane (there are also several products by gumout, need to be aware of which product is the strongest/best). Lucas UCL and MMO also get quite a bit of activity but those are a bit more for lubrication then cleaning.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...oard=37&page=1
Remember all this depends on if you had any deposits that needed cleaning up in the first place. It maybe even with just the chevron and stp, that is enough to have cleaned away the deposits.
04-30-09, 08:44 PM
#13
Pole Position
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I only use Seafoam every 3 oil changes (usually once every 9 months to a year). Beyond that, though, this thread is about the throttle body, and Seafoam unfortunately doesn't address that issue or address it well.
04-30-09, 09:07 PM
#14
Lexus Champion
Seafoam is NOTHING compared to GM Top Engine Cleaner/Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner if you want to quickly clean up carbon build-up from valves, piston crowns and free up rings. Seafoam is just mineral oil, isopropyl alcohol and stoddard solvent. GM/Mopar's stuff is stoddard solvent, 2-butoxyethanol(butyl cellosolve), ammonia and oleic acid. The key to using this stuff is SLOWLY let the engine suck this through a vacuum line - if you suck it in too fast, you run the risk of hydrolocking the engine.
After that is done, I'd clean the throttle body with carb cleaner - I like Berryman's B12 myself and run a bottle of polyether amine/polyisobutyl amine based fuel system cleaner like Red Line SI-1, Regaine, Techron or V-Power. BG 44K or Toyota's EFI Cleaner is good stuff but much too strong to leave in your tank for a few days - if you do use these, my suggestion is try to use as much gas as you can in 2 days.
Shops use BG, MOC or Wynn's cleaning kits, some will use the special flush apparatus but most techs won't because of the constraints of flat-rate labor and expenses.
After that is done, I'd clean the throttle body with carb cleaner - I like Berryman's B12 myself and run a bottle of polyether amine/polyisobutyl amine based fuel system cleaner like Red Line SI-1, Regaine, Techron or V-Power. BG 44K or Toyota's EFI Cleaner is good stuff but much too strong to leave in your tank for a few days - if you do use these, my suggestion is try to use as much gas as you can in 2 days.
Shops use BG, MOC or Wynn's cleaning kits, some will use the special flush apparatus but most techs won't because of the constraints of flat-rate labor and expenses.
04-30-09, 09:15 PM
#15
The GM stuff is so damn good. I dont know if they are one in the same as the Al Delco, but they were the only thing that were able to clean up GM's fuel injectors. A buddy mechanic of mine said GM vehicles often have problems with injectors clogging and only the GM/Al Delco stuff did the job. Though last I heard, we can't get it in california anymore..or maybe they have reformulated since?