Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Maintenance throttle body "special coating"?

I am planning to use the maintenance procedure "cleaning intake manifolds without removing them". Mechanics charge $150 to do it (as part of some procedure that also cleans the injectors, apparently). "Cleaning intake maifolds without removing them" suggests also cleaning the throttle body with aerosol cleaner and a soft brush.

Today, I familiarized myself with the parts + tools, and noticed a sticker on the throttle body under the intake hose (not normally visible): "Do not clean inside throttle body or adjust hard stop screw. Special coating on throttle plate and bore."

Should I NOT clean the throttle body? Was this some aftermarket thing that was put on the car before I owned it? Has anyone else had experience with "special coating?"

The plate and the front inner part didn't look too bad (in terms of buildup)... There was some discoloration, I think.

My car is a 1998 SVT with 70k miles. I bought the car at 50k in 2002 (living close to work = not a lot of miles racked up). I have changed the air filter twice. My mileage is not good, so I am going to change plugs and fuel filter, plus any promising maintenance I can do. I welcome any other suggestions (to improve mileage, that is).

David Frank

Just don't grind down the backside of the throttlebody plate and you'll be fine.

You might want to check your local Checker/autozone/etc... for "Berryman Professional 3-Step Fuel System Maintenance Kit" (http://www.berrymanproducts.com/Default.aspx?tabid=148)

It is:
step 1) TB aerosol cleaner
step 2) Manifold and combustion chamber cleaner, with vacuum lines and adapters
step 3) Fuel additive

I know Valvoline also makes a 3 step product, which none of the autoparts stores around here carry. My brothers shop uses that... but not sure if they charge $150 for it

The special coating is a bunch of BS - it obviously does NOTHING so take the TB off and clean it REAL good with some Berryman or Valvoline Throttle Body Cleaner.

Slight difference of opinion. The teflon coating does reduce the build up (I've cleaned enough of them prior to the teflon coating becoming common to know). The teflon coating also makes it easier to clean. Done with a bit of care you can clean it on the car to 95% to 98% as clean as you can by removing it. I have had mine off twice. The first time to clean it and found that I could do nearly as well with it on. The second time when I had to remove it to change the IIMC box and I cleaned it just because it was off.

I believe that the teflon coating was added so that Ford could quit paying for throttle body cleaning under warranty. For the most part, It did a good enough job that it would get by until it was out of warranty, but it is also my belief that the teflon coating did not eliminate the need.

When you do clean the throttle body, pay special attention to the carbon ring that forms slightly inside the bore from the throttle plate. That sems to make the biggest difference.

the $150 service he is refering to might be the one my old shop did. Well, we went to his buddies garage to use the machine.

hook it up and run it and in about 20 minutes everything inside the engine is spotless, and the car runs great!

he used to do it to V-Maxs all the time, they would come n barely running, we would run it down the street, clean it out, bring it back change the plugs and wires and the thing ran like brand new!

The intake cleaning without removing the manifold is an option for a clean engine.
i.e. to keep it clean after a full removal and scrubing.

If your engine is really bad then the non removal method won't help much.
As for the cleaning by machine it's either Terra Clean or Motorvac. I did the Motorvac and it was pretty good for $100 cdn.
It runs the cleaner as fuel because they disconnect the fuel lines. This will clean injectors through to the Cat.

One word of caution for the non removal method. If you put to much chemical in the car will stall
and you may also hear really bad knocking from the engine. Scared me Straight.
I stopped immediately and went back to the good ole removal cleaning.

I also run Berrymans in the crackcase just before an oil change to clean it out too.

thats what it was..a Motorvac

Dfrank,

It may not be worth it to get it cleaned for 150.00 for not removing the manifold. My car only had 65K on it when I did mine and it was very dirty, beyond the point of cleaning like this. You can see pictures of how to take it all apart here:

How Tos

and here is a pick of the nasty buildup:

LIM

I ended up having to soak it for a while in some oven cleaner followed by a pressure wash to finally break through the buildup. None of the carburator cleaners worked well at all for me.

Good luck!

Wow, this is a good board -- thanks everyone for the responses.

Now I think I may do nothing -- if the non-removal method is unlikely to buy much, I don't think I'm up to removing the intake manifold right now. Although the excellent site by hsoverma makes it seem temptingly easy...

However -- just for informational purposes, is the "dual extrued honed" manifold on the 1999-2000 SVT's (that gave them 5 more HP) the LIM or the UIM (or both?). That would be a reason to take the thing off.

Maybe just check the TB for a ring buildup behind the plate.

David Frank

The 1999+ SVT's arnt Dual Honed its a myth.

Just run the Berrymans through the Vac hoses, its the cheapest way to do it, its easy, and its proven to work. I know i did it on my car and it did WONDERS for it.