Why you, yes YOU, need to clean your throttle body
 

Here's what an 82,XXX mile throttle body looks like:

Attachment 31669

Not so bad, but, check it out from the back. You know, the side your engine sees...:

Attachment 31670

And the intake port, itself:

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That's less than 100K, folks. I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but I'd say about half of those have been highway miles, cruising around 2K rpm. Thats disgusting. It makes me scared thinking about how the insides of the cylinders and lifters must look. Hopefully they aren't that gunked up.

After cleaning:

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As far as I dared stick my hand and rag in there:

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I didn't want to spray anything down in there, so I dampened a rag with some cleaner and then scrubbed around as best I could. I'm not exactly mobile up under the hood, so that's the best angles I could get. I let it dry out for about 20 minutes while I messed around with some other stuff, and then put it all back together. I promptly threw a CEL when I started it up. Don't forget to double check all your connections. Even though I swore I did, I guess I forgot to plug the IAT sensor back in. Easy fix, thankfully. The hardest part was getting the damn Hemi hat bolted back in correctly.

It is super simple to do: (2) 10mm bolts hold the Hemi hat on (even easier if you already have a CAI), (4) 8mm bolts hold the throttle body on. Don't forget to disconnect the Intake Air Temp sensor when you remove the hat, and the sensor on the throttle body, itself. Reverse the process to put it all back together. Took about 30-40 minutes, including cleaning, and that was because it was my first time doing it. Next time it will probably be about 10 minutes shorter, if not more.

Don't neglect this easy bit of maintenance. It's probably easier than changing your oil.

Hopefully this will keep people updated on the fact this is so necessary. Good post!

I already did mine throttle body clean when it hit 100,000 miles. Right now it has 120,000 miles so it won't be another 80,000 miles to clean it again.

Don't let that nasty run-off get into the motor of the TB.

Nope. Took great care to avoid that.

great update that will give me something to do @ 5am tomorrow that im sure needs done again

I have to admit mine was pretty funky this morning, throttle response is back to where it should be

The second pic is what mine looked like the first time (91K). Since then, not so much. :D

Glad you started this thread. I just performed a 100,000 mile service on my truck and the throttle body looked like that.

Mines looks like that every 80K or so when I clean them. Truth is I notice no difference in performance .

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...-the-tb-2.html

Now y'all just need to ground them...

It's been on my to-do list now that I have places I can easily get the material. I haven't read all 18 pages today, but I remember that there was a cable from Wal-Mart that worked perfectly. I think it was for a riding lawnmower, maybe? Do you recall? I'll read through that thread again later tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for linking it.

Why you, yes YOU, need to clean your throttle body
 

Yeah I think it's the negative cable for riding mower. But it's overkill. A length of 10 or 12 gauge laying around is plenty thick enough to ground the throttle body housing. I just used the thick cable cause I had a couple laying around for connecting 12 volt batteries for 24v trolling motors from my bass tournament days...

#truth

I used 3 strands of solid copper ground wire with gold plated connectors. It doesn't matter too much.

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Dude, get off your duff and run a wire. I just went back through that thread and you put it on your "to-do list" OVER THREE YEARS AGO!!!

:icon_couch:

Ouch. That hurt. :P You are not incorrect, though. I am shamed...

Three years ago I was in Germany, hard to find anything on the economy, and very DIY-hesitant. I went through the thread last night, as well. I recall that whole time period, now, and the sometimes-heated debate over whether it actually made a difference, or not. I was looking for a part number to order the cable from Wally online, as we didn't have any over there.

Now, I am like a child looking to take things apart and put them back together again. I think it just took one or two successful projects to boost the confidence, as well as a buttload of searching and learning here and over at different Jeep forums (owning, wheeling, breaking, and fixing a Jeep a lot probably had a lot to do with this). I've got this on my automotive shopping list I keep in the center console, so next time I'm out I'll grab something that works and give it a shot, rather than just thinking about it.

Same here.

I clean/change the K&N @ the same time and let them air out most of the day in the hot sun.

Did you use Throttle Body Cleaner or Brake Cleaner? I read on some other forum that Brake Cleaner is "safer" because it won't hurt electronic parts or something similar. Opinions?

Use Throttle Body cleaner. Think about it -- the product is specifically made for cleaning the throttle body, plus the label includes verbiage that explains how throttle bodies have a special coating that more harsh cleaners will strip away. Brake cleaner is some nasty stuff made to clean serious gunk off of steel parts. How it can be considered "safer" defies logic.

That's like saying premium unleaded will run cleaner in a diesel engine.

I thought the same thing as well, but was corrected. If you are cleaning up anything in the engine bay, except the TB, use brake cleaner as it is safer on the electronics and runs off/evaporates better. I use brake cleaner on my differential too when it gets checked.


SJ03

Has anyone seen a difference in performance or fuel economy after performing these cleanings? I have 88,000 and have never done mine. Thanks!

a heads up to all that use BREAK CLEAN, i read an article in american iron magizine that if brake clean hits a hot surface (exhaust manifold) it will turn into phosgene gas and if you get a small wiff it will mess badly with your lungs and nervious system permantly, i don't use it, i think its to much $, i use crc tbc & maf cleaner, and for real greasy stuff the old toothbrush and gas method, i don't know if its true just something i read

I have a 2008 with 5.7 L Hemi and have had a "3 Step Fuel Induction Service" done twice, once at 30,000 and once at 60,000. The 3 steps as far as I understand them are cleaning the throttle body, cleaning the combustion chambers, and cleaning the fuel system which would include the injectors. Not sure exactly what is involved with each step at a dealer or shop vs. DIY with the Berryman or Synpower 3 step DIY kits. The dealer did the 1st one and BIG O did the 2nd one. It was about 90 bucks each time. I definitely noticed a pickup in power and a quicker throttle response both times. (More noticeable the 1st time when the dealer did it) However, at the same time this was done, new Champion Copper plugs were also installed both times so that likely also would have had an effect. I think at 90,000 I will do (or have done) the two items a couple weeks apart to better judge how each affects throttle response & power.

My 08 is going to the dealer next Friday for an airbag recall. Ialso recently called Chrysler Corp. and filled a complaint claim for my oilpan. I live in NJ where we get loads of road salt . My oil pan has extremecancer rust. I wash my truck and under carriage off almost after every snowstorm. I doubt they will do anything. Not happy at all with the condition ofthe whole under carriage. Anyone else have rusty oil pans? I am gonna raise asmuch as hell as I can about this with them. I already sent in pics for myclaim. Dealer is prob gonna BS my claim.