Throttle Body Cleaner Alternatives

[LancerL]

Can somebody please advice a best alternative to clean throttle body at home.

Rather expensive branded cleaners, can it be clean by using a little amount of Petrol or Kerosene as I have seen most of the mechanics use above to clean Carburetors and other parts of vehicles to remove carbon, oil and dust.

I have gone through some online videos and looks it is not a big deal of cleaning the body and the butterfly plate using a liquid, a used toothbrush and a small microfiber towel.

Your valuable comments and experience are welcome.!!

[nsiva]

I am not an expert on this, but I recently bought a bottle of throttle plate & carb cleaner (3M) from w*w.lk. It is just under Rs. 1000/- per bottle & it should be ok.

I can't recommend any other usual solvents such as petrol as some plastics, sensors, and minute springs are involved there.

[VVTi]

Can somebody please advice a best alternative to clean throttle body at home.

Rather expensive branded cleaners, can it be clean by using a little amount of Petrol or Kerosene as I have seen most of the mechanics use above to clean Carburetors and other parts of vehicles to remove carbon, oil and dust.

I have gone through some online videos and looks it is not a big deal of cleaning the body and the butterfly plate using a liquid, a used toothbrush and a small microfiber towel.

Your valuable comments and experience are welcome.!!

Wurth or 3M is the ideal products. But if you want to get your hands dirty, you can pull off the TB and use petrol and a small brush and clean. But remove all rubber seals and O rings before you do any cleaning with any of these solvents. Having access to compressed air also will be a big plus.

Edited May 18, 2015 by VVTi

[Rumesh88]

Can somebody please advice a best alternative to clean throttle body at home.

Rather expensive branded cleaners, can it be clean by using a little amount of Petrol or Kerosene as I have seen most of the mechanics use above to clean Carburetors and other parts of vehicles to remove carbon, oil and dust.

I have gone through some online videos and looks it is not a big deal of cleaning the body and the butterfly plate using a liquid, a used toothbrush and a small microfiber towel.

Your valuable comments and experience are welcome.!!

As solvents they can be volatile on some of the rubber parts. Unless you do throttle cleaning on a regular basis why not use a recommended product instead of taking a chance. Also a tooth brush would not reach all the places on a throttle body. Hence you need either a compressed solvent or compressed air as VVTi has pointed out above. BTW Kerosene is more volatile than petrol on most automotive parts. Also when it comes to cleansing properties diesel stands above both petrol and kerosene but less harmful than both of them. Only thing is that after cleaning it leaves a film of diesel behind - not very desirable property on a throttle body.

[Davy]

I've learnt my lessons with cleaning throttle bodies and the first thing I can tell you is to remove all sensors from the throttle body before cleaning it. And never spray TB cleaner directly on sensors (TPS and IAC valve). If the sensors are dirty, spray some TB cleaner to a clean piece of cloth and wipe the sensor clean.

Also, if the throttle body has an idle bypass, make sure you don't spray TB cleaner into the cavities that lead into the bypass chamber. As others have said, don't use kerosene as it degrades rubber.

More info here:

http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/9744-cleaning-the-iac-valve-and-a-basic-engine-cleanup/

[nsiva]

One safety note:

Don't use this spray too much on a cold engine's throttle body. If large amount of liquid goes into cylinders and doesn't get vaporised - it can create a dangerous condition called hydro-lock! Hydro word came from water but it applies to all liquids BTW.

Edited May 18, 2015 by nsiva

[LancerL]

Hi All, Thanks for you valuable comments. I have brought B*G Throttle Body & Intake Cleaner and planing to do the job on following weekend.

Product description says that it is not harmful to any sensors inside throttle body, that means can I spray this while engine running or should be sprayed before start.

[Rumesh88]

Hi All, Thanks for you valuable comments. I have brought B*G Throttle Body & Intake Cleaner and planing to do the job on following weekend.

Product description says that it is not harmful to any sensors inside throttle body, that means can I spray this while engine running or should be sprayed before start.

It is not advisable to clean a throttle body while it is still attached to the engine along with the rest of sensors (TPS) and actuators (IACV/EACV). Read Davy's comment above. Best way to clean a throttle body is to remove it from the engine, disassemble the sensors and actuators and clean it on the bench. After all why do you want to send all the gunk, dust etc gathered on the throttle body over the years through the pistons in a couple of seconds?