colton

so i had an extremely close call yesterday. and i felt like a complete dumbass for letting it happen. so i took my intake off and cleaned my MAF, and looked at the inside of my throttle body. i thought i over-oiled my filter last time, and was seeing how bad i did. it was pretty dirty, so i figured i might as well clean it too. my friend brought over some TB cleaner, and without thinking i left the red straw part on when he put it on and handed it to me. i have read not to use that, but it completely slipped my mind.

so im cleaning my TB, as im watching the red straw fly off the aerosol can into my engine, an article i read on the internet talking about "never use the red straw while cleaning your throttle body" comes into my mind. ****. so i took of the throttle body, still cant see it. i wasnt sure if it was even possible for me to take the manifold off, so i was pretty sure my truck was gonna end up being towed to a mechanic, and i was about to spend a lot of money. i was talking to my dad about it, and my dad was on the phone with his friend who said "well i just happen to be standing right beside a retired ford mechanic, lets see what he has to say."

the ford mechanic said "yeah youll definitely have to take the manifold off. but you know, back when i worked in the shop, wed always take some flexible wire and put a bunch of grease on the end and fish for it a while. could take quite a while too."

within seconds of fishing for it with grease on a wire, it came right out! ive never been so happy to see a little red straw in my life. wow. ruined my day though, i felt ashamed, i mean how could i really let something like that happen??

bright side though, i did get the MAF and TB cleaned, and i did find a hose of some kind that is pinched completely shut, and a hole has been worn through the middle. i wonder if that had to do with me feeling a slight loss of power or bad mpg at all?

shotgun

Nice catch. Go fishing immediately - you might catch a world record LMB!

aris_unlimited

When I was tinkering with one of my old cars I had a bolt fall down into the oil filler hole. I was freaking out, figured I'd have to do tons of work to get it out of there. Then had the thought, wait I have a magnet lol. Took me like 10 min but it came out. I was so relieved.

colton

yeah i was really wishin that that little red straw was magnetic. lol

rhicks20

Working on a car I had years ago, I had taken the distributer completely out and dropped the bolt that holds it in place down the hole the distributer came out of. Looking into the hole you could see the cam shaft and lots of gears. Grabbed the telescoping magnet and had it out in no time.....got lucky I had that around.

Put a roush kit on my truck recently and I was super paranoid I would drop something down the heads. The only thing that went right on that project was not dropping anything down the heads....lol

colton

dang it just keeps getting worse! i tightened the bolt at the front of the throttle body too tight and it broke off! its too deep to try and get vicegrips on. hope its not too hard to get out tomorrow. Ford probably sells replacement bolts right?

CheriAnn

Thanks for sharing that!!! I hadn't read about not using that red straw, so I will try to remember that!!!

TxOutlaw

I thought of this story yesterday as I cleaned the wife's Expedition TB... No straws...

You should be able to get the bolt from Ford...

TheJMC

Check to see if it is sticking out the other end. If yes vice grip it and thread it through that end.

.

colton

it wasnt, i took the throttle off and there was enough sticking out to get out with vicegrips. got a replacement bolt from napa. its all on and running fine now. IAC, MAF, and throttle body cleaned. and i got the throttle body good, theres some nasty thick stuff on the part thats farther back. also got the vacuum line replaced that i found completely bent shut with holes in it. its running better, thats for sure.