Cleaning the throttle body...

[JackalS4]

Plan on getting this done soon, I haven't even seen my throttle plate since I bought the car!

So are there any special tricks? Can you press the plate back and forth with the car off, clean it out with a rag/TB cleaner without it running strange when restarting?

Also, i've heard to turn the key forward one short of starting the car for a bit, to help ECU pick up any throttle position differences etc...any truth? Any need to disconnect battery terminals for ECU reset or anything weird like that?

Reason I have all these questions is because I did a simple TB clean on a friend's Cobalt SS (drive by wire)...everything went perfectly but when taking the car out it was stuck revving at 2,500 RPMs until the dealer specifically reset the ECU. Wanted to know if a 2001.5 S4 has any such quirks, not too keen on any complications since my car is running rather nicely (maybe I shouldn't touch it)!

Cheers!

[JackalS4]

Interesting...while looking around I found this article which states to NOT move the "motor driven" throttle plate because it's drive assembly can be easily damaged:

(Throttle body boot replacement article)
http://www.audiworld.com/tech/eng19.shtml



Thoughts/opinions/experiences?

[superdug_17]

All that article does is talk about the TBB it doesn't mention anything about cleaning your TB or moving any parts around. I'm a little confused, maybe someone can enlighten me as well.

[JackalS4]

All that article does is talk about the TBB it doesn't mention anything about cleaning your TB or moving any parts around. I'm a little confused, maybe someone can enlighten me as well.

That was my point, I couldn't find anything related except for that article - which eluded to moving the throttle plate as being a bad idea (one thing I was trying to find an answer to).

I'm not even sure if moving the plate with your hand a bit would actually upset the car/TB motor/idle etc or not as the article states...but that was the main part of my original question.

If no one is certain, i'll probably just clean the surface without moving the plate around to be safe.

[A62TURBO]

Im in the same boat. I have cleaned plenty of TB's before but never DBW. I was thinking of removing the motor that controls the flap so I can fully clean the TB without having to worry about the electronics. Has anyone removed the throttle body from one of these cars?? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[JaredVL]

Remove it completely from the manifold (four bolts) and unplug. You can move the plate to the open position without doing any harm.

I prefer simple green and a old tooth brush, there are also a few ports through it that get gunked up. Soak all that real good and blast out with air if needed.

Enjoy your smoother idle.

[A62TURBO]

Thanx I will probably do it this weekend, Ill let you guys know the results.

[JackalS4]

Remove it completely from the manifold (four bolts) and unplug. You can move the plate to the open position without doing any harm.

I prefer simple green and a old tooth brush, there are also a few ports through it that get gunked up. Soak all that real good and blast out with air if needed.

Enjoy your smoother idle.

Nice nice...

So is removing the throttle body necessary/advised for a decent clean?

And when you say you can move the plate open without doing any harm, is that only once the sensor (or entire TB?) is removed? Or as it sits?

Thanks for the info!

[quickaudi]

yes, necessary to clean the other side

I've moved the plate and it was still plugged in with no issues

[JackalS4]

yes, necessary to clean the other side

I've moved the plate and it was still plugged in with no issues

Awesome, that's what I was thinking...thanks!

[quickaudi]

no prob