Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting throtle body cleaning?

What kind of cleaner should I use? I read/heard somwhere that we "should not spray any kind of cleaner solution as throtle body interior surfaces are coated wth. spec. factory coating!" (!?)
If yes what should I do-engine on or off? What is a good brand?
'96 Contour GL-Zetec wth ATX (70000 kms)
Thank you.

The sticker on the TB is referring to harsh abrasive cleaning of carbon deposits that build up around/behind throttle plate. You can safely use TB or carbureator cleaner (same stuff, just cheaper) and a soft cloth to clean this area. The teflon coating is only partially effective at eliminating carbon buildup anyway. You'll be able to clean the area much better if you remove the TB.

Do not wipe the inside of the throttle body with a "rag" Go to your local auto parts store and buy some felt cloths, they are very soft. Using a old shirt or a terry cloth towel, you can run the risk of wiping off the teflon coating.

The teflon coating does several things, reduces the adhesion of deposits, creates a super slick surface so air flows more easily and provides corrosion resistance.

remove the throttle body and hose it out real good with throttle body cleaner. I don't recommend cleaning with the throttle body installed since there is no sense in flushing all those deposits into the engine and the chemicals in the cleaner produce noxious fumes when they burn.

STP, Gumout, Valvoline Syn Power, just about anything that says "Throttle Body Cleaner"

Here is a little something I did with another CEG member. It was soo long ago. Hope this helps.

You will want to get either GUNK - throttle body cleaner/ or Fords throttle body cleaner. It is only like $2.50 or something.

Tools you will need: Flashlight, TB Cleaner-with the straw, screw driver for the clamps.

MAKE SURE CAR IS OFF RIGHT NOW!!!

You can skip this stage if you like.

First thing, see how bad you throttle body is. Take off the black hose that connects to your throttle body. Then you will open your TB while shining the flash light in there. You will see if your TB is built up with all kinds of gunk!!!

Once you have done this put it back togeather!!!!
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First thing, you will want to take off your stock cone filter. Take that part off. With that off, you have you MAF housing right there.

Then start you car, making shure no parts are in the way. Then connect the little straw to the can of TB cleaner.

Now, before you spray, remember this, make sure you don't spray in directly through the MAF, make sure the straw goes past the senser. YOu don't want that on you senser.

OK, before you spray, rev the motor up. There is a part ( Lack of knowlge of name) which you can activate the throttle from the engine bay right by the TB. The motor will start to die once you start spraying the stuff in. So you will have to throttle it to keep it running.
You want to spray for 10 seconds, then stop for 10 seconds or more letting the motor idle back down, then repeat this again, again, till the can is empty. By this time I am sure you have proble killed you car once maybe twice. While your doing this, you will notice black smoke come out of the exhaust! Don't worry about it, that is the cleaning process.


Make sure you read the can, this always builds some extra security.

Personally I wouldn't recommend running the car while cleaning the throttle body. I think you run too much of a risk of something getting sucked into your engine that just shouldn't be there. I realize you may get the cleaner to flow a little better since the engine is actually pulling in air and all but the risk to me is just too large for the small rewards you may gain.

If you don't have the time or tools to do a full intake cleaning I would recommend just taking off the MAF and inlet tube and just shoot the cleaner right into the throttle body and intake manifolds. Realize though that it would be much better to take the manifolds off and clean them while they are off the car to get them really clean.

Just my $.02

I use Amsoil "power foam". Spray into TB while car is running. Does a hell of a job cleaning TB and primary runners. Then I unbolt the IM and clean secondaires as the foam does little to clean them.

Well either way. One is more involved including removing parts to clean. Then my way I tell you I had soo much gunk. When I opened the fly on the TB and shinned a flash light in there. My self and Greg could not believe what we saw. It was horrible. Just looked like gobs of sea weed back in there. Once we did the cleaning we could actuall see metal

I don't think leaving the filter off on a clear night in the drive way is going to cause any pain. I know daily driving like that will Who knows with my luck something could have happened!!!!

That stuff is AWESOME. I recommend it to anyone, just follow the directions on the can.

I've actually discussed this issue with the intake manifold engineers at Ford. I was told that the special coating, the label warns about, is suppose to prevent the build up. When I told him I hesitated but cleaned it anyway he said "it's obviously not doing it's job so don't worry about removing it when cleaning".