- 2007 LS
- 2.2 liter EcoTec engine
- automatic transmission

Title.

So I got the rear o2 sensor wiring repaired, but while I was there with the hood open and engine cover off I figured I would clean up the throttle body since the weather was nice out

I went and got my brother and had him sit in the driver's seat, key "ON", and stepping on the gas to open the throttle plate. In the meantime, I sprayed TB cleaner on a clean cloth and got in there with my fingers to wipe off the black buildup in the throttle bore. But having big fingers as a tall guy it seemed I was only able to wipe down about 75% of the surface area of "arc" or half-circle (if that makes sense)... with the remaining 25% tucked in close to the plate hinge still having some caked-up black buildup on it. My fingers couldn't quite get enough space to get that remaining buildup close to the hinge cleaned off, so I just left it as is - figuring I cleaned off most of the carbon/buildup

Put everything back together and started it up, let it idle for about 5 minutes so it would readjust itself. Then went driving for about 30 minutes with a mix of various conditions such as stop-and-go and driving at higher speeds/50+ MPH. Came back and checked for any active throttle body or idle codes, none.

But that black buildup still being caked on thick near the "hinge" areas didn't sit well with me, I would like to get it all cleaned off so I was wondering if there are any concerns with spraying down the hinge area with a decent amount of TB cleaner. I see mixed opinions on this when Googling, some places say it's fine but then other places say some of the TB cleaner liquid can "seep in" thru the hinge area and possibly contaminate the inside components of the throttle body. I figure if I soak the caked up areas good enough with TB cleaner, I can get in there with something small like some Q-tips to wipe off the remaining buildup once it's been softened up

Thoughts?

 

I just use the little plastic nozzle attachment and spray at the surface, I don’t touch the plate.

 

It is made for the job. Yes, do it.
Be careful, don't use any force to move the butterfly. The nylon gears are in grease that hardens up over the years; easy to strip.

 

WOW!! What a difference lol

Before cleaning I remember I would turn on the AC and the entire car seemed to physically "shake" or "vibrate" (as in, you could literally feel a physical vibration from inside the cabin) - it seemed like the AC was robbing the engine of power or something. I even started to suspect my AC compressor was going bad or about to seize up, which would be an expensive repair obviously $$$$$$

After cleaning though? I turn on the AC and the idle stays nice and smooth, the car doesn't really "vibrate" anymore

And this before-and-after simply from cleaning up some black buildup along the inner bore of the throttle body. Crazy

 

Awesome, thank you for sharing your experience with throttle body cleaning.

 

Glad it worked out. I did mine twice. 2011 2 2. First time heading warnings to NOT touch the butterfly, I just sprayed it a few times from the intake side, with a few minutes to soak between. Never occurred to me to open the throttle. Resulted in improvement, but underwhelming. So I took the TB off. Pretty easy. This time, again with zero touch, it was sparkling clean, and, voilą, she ran like new.