Just had a couple recalls done on my wifes car and the dealer recommended a throttle body cleaning because of some carbon build up. Of course I said no because its something I can do myself, but it got me thinking. So I pulled off my intake hose on the truck (18K miles) and there was definitely some carbon build up. I soaked a rag in cleaner and wiped it out the best I could. I looked at my Lincoln MKX (28K miles) and it was built up with carbon pretty good. I also wiped that out. Have you guys done this and how do you do it? The proper way is probably to remove it and clean it. I really wanted to just soak it with the can but I was not sure if ingesting all that cleaner into the intake is something I should do. The truck has been idling kind of rough lately which is why I even attempted to clean it in the first place.

 

fordtechmakuloco has a good video on the procedure for TB cleaning.

MPD165

 

Pulled from truck and spray clean with correct cleaner,reinstall.

 

So you have done it? At how many miles?

 

My truck has 63K on it, I have done it 2 times. I think the first was around 38K and the second around 60K. Its so simple to do,so I keep it clean.

 

Did you replace the gasket when you pulled it off and do you have to calibrate it when you reinstall? I think I will pull it off every 30K. Curious why my idle has gotten rough. I do have a JLT catch can....wondering if I have a slight vacuum leak. Its amazing how much oil that thing catches.

 

No new gasket, probably should. No recalibration, I dont mess with the float. I had read before that messing with it could throw it off. Am I doing it right,probably not but because I use a combination of tier one and two gas, I feel that what I am doing is not hurting it.

 

What's the correct cleaner?

 

One that is marked for cleaning throttle body's. Dont use brake cleaner or anything NOT specifically made for cleaning a throttle body.

 

always replace the gasket, always do the recalibration process afterwards.