Upon some advice from a friend of mine I decided to try and clean up my throttle body because I was told it is common for them to be dirty and hurt performance. Well sure enough I spray some tb cleaner in there and a stream of black comes pouring back at me. So I cleaned up what I could see really good. I flipped the butterflies open and there's a bunch more of the black stuff. I decided to pull the TB and give it a good once over. It is sparkling inside now. But now while I was there I pulled the plenum and the entire inside is caked with crap. I cleaned off the MAT and sprayed the tb cleaner in there but it's still pretty thick. Is this a big problem? And is there a better cleaner/solvent to be using on this kind of stuff?


Also the 8 blots that hold this thing in place are all mis-matched (2 torx head, 5 are 10mm, and 1 is 12 mm). What kind of bolts am I looking for to replace these with?

 

the TB and plnum will get carbon deposits on them over time. there will be no way to keep the plenum looking brand new. if you want to get it as clean as you can the you will have to take it off and use a lot of elbow grease use brushes and anything you can find that might get the crud out. while its off, grind down the two casting walls just behind the holes in the front of it( if you havent already). as for the TB make sure you take the IAC and TPS off before you clean it. i use Q tips to clean mine. take the it apart and get in ever nook and crainy of it. be care of the 3 gaskets on it.

as for the bolts.. once the plenum is off, look at the threaded holes on th eplenum and determine if any of them have been tapped for a bigger bolt. i beleive the bolts ae 8MM. try heading to a local parts store or a plac ethat specializes in bolts and get the proper one. bring the plenum and old bolts with you. make sure you get the right length bolt. if they dont have the right one then get it longer and cut off what you dont need. put a nut on it first then cut it. if all else fail, head to the deal er and see if you can still get factory bolts

 

If you want to get the carbon off use castrol super clean. It come right off. Use it at full strength. Make sure you take the parts to the carwash to rinse the super clean off.

 

when i was first putting my motor together i sand blasted the whole intake it took me a day or two.after i had that done i spent the next week cleaning the intake.

 

Thanks I don't have a few days or a sandblaster so a whole bunch of engine gunk, a pile of towels, and a package of un-used toothbrushes will have to be my cure. But basically I wanted to make sure it wasn't supposed to look like I could eat off it

As far as taking the tps and the iac off before I clean I took the TPS off. but the iac... that's the black thing on the bottom with the square electrical connection? I didn't take that off.. but I made sure to wipe off any of the tb cleaner that got on it as best I could..


thanks again guys. btw vacuum leaks suck.