Throttle body damage?

au350hp · 01-01-2018, 01:51 PM

Is it possible that a carby cleaner/throttle body cleaner in a spray can could damage the Throttle Body?

**solarite_guy** · 01-01-2018, 01:57 PM

Yes, if it is not specifically a TB cleaner.

It is my understanding there are some thin protective coatings that can be damaged by the wrong chemicals. If this happens, the butterfly has the possibility of sticking a little when closed. It is noticeable when you open the throttle from idle.

I have experienced this situation. I can not be 100% positive that a cleaning agent caused the problems (not my vehicles) but a new TB fixed the problems.

**GO FURTHER** · 01-01-2018, 03:23 PM

There is more chance of damaging the throttle body if you open the butterfly by hand when cleaning the body.
Modern cars like Falcons have an electrical signal sent to the throttle body to move it, and moving it by hand can screw up the adjustment and effect the idle.

Olbucko · 01-01-2018, 07:23 PM

Some carby cleaners can damage the MAP sensor, which can be a real pain to change in BA BF Falcons and SX SY Territory's.
In Falcons and Territory's moving the butterfly by hand does not seem to cause any problems as long as you disconnect the power from it first.

au350hp · 01-01-2018, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solarite_guy

Yes, if it is not specifically a TB cleaner.

It is my understanding there are some thin protective coatings that can be damaged by the wrong chemicals. If this happens, the butterfly has the possibility of sticking a little when closed. It is noticeable when you open the throttle from idle.

I have experienced this situation. I can not be 100% positive that a cleaning agent caused the problems (not my vehicles) but a new TB fixed the problems.

It is a n/a subaru 2.5i 4cyl. I believe carby cleaner was sprayed into the opening behind the air filter. My wife was given the car by her dad when he upgraded. I changed the plugs the other day & the amount of oil on one side when I pulled the plugs...anyway, your description is accurate. When taking off, it sounds like its flooding or starving and until it's above 30km/h it bogs down. Been a Japanese car, do people think the TB will be expensive, even if its a Gen 3 Liberty 2001 model? I might start ringing the wreckers next week.

Olbucko · 02-01-2018, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roostercam

It is a n/a subaru 2.5i 4cyl. I believe carby cleaner was sprayed into the opening behind the air filter. My wife was given the car by her dad when he upgraded. I changed the plugs the other day & the amount of oil on one side when I pulled the plugs...anyway, your description is accurate. When taking off, it sounds like its flooding or starving and until it's above 30km/h it bogs down. Been a Japanese car, do people think the TB will be expensive, even if its a Gen 3 Liberty 2001 model? I might start ringing the wreckers next week.

I had a 2.5 litre Subaru that had a problem like you describe immediately after a major service. When cold it ran OK, but as soon as it started to warm up, it ran like a dog, flat out at about 60 kph, turned out that the new timing belt had been fitted incorrectly.

**Mechan1k** · 11-01-2018, 12:54 AM

If you need to clean the intakes system out .... Subaru have one of the best/safest cleaners around to do this .... it's the Subaru Upper Engine Cleaner (SA459).

GTLEGEND · 11-01-2018, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

If you need to clean the intakes system out .... Subaru have one of the best/safest cleaners around to do this .... it's the Subaru Upper Engine Cleaner (SA459).

I believe the Motorcraft cleaner is the exact same stuff but with different branding of course. R16 is the part number..