Cleaning throttle body

This is sort of a follow up to an earlier question regarding my
parent's 94 Chyrsler minivan stalling problem.

If I wanted to clean the throttle body on this vehicle (removed from
the engine), what's the proper way to clean it?

I figure cleaning the throttle body itself with kerosene is OK but
what about the sensor mounted in it? I always thought it was a MAP
sensor but someone called it a motor.

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 12:35:57 -0500, James >
wrote:

>This is sort of a follow up to an earlier question regarding my
>parent's 94 Chyrsler minivan stalling problem.
>
>If I wanted to clean the throttle body on this vehicle (removed from
>the engine), what's the proper way to clean it?
>
>I figure cleaning the throttle body itself with kerosene is OK but
>what about the sensor mounted in it? I always thought it was a MAP
>sensor but someone called it a motor.
this is an old story. just get some carb cleaner and spray it inside.
use a toothbrush and rag. clean it as good as you can. when the
idle drops again, it's time to clean again.
....thehick

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005, James wrote:

> If I wanted to clean the throttle body on this vehicle (removed from the
> engine), what's the proper way to clean it?

Use a good quality carburetor cleaning fluid. My preference is Berryman
B12 ChemTool. Scrub the inner surfaces of the throttle body, making sure
to get all the brown stain off all the surfaces on both sides of the
throttle plate (manually open the throttle to reach) and off the plate
itself.

> I figure cleaning the throttle body itself with kerosene is OK

Kerosene won't do a good enough job of dissolving the gunk.

> what about the sensor mounted in it? I always thought it was a MAP
> sensor but someone called it a motor.

The MAP sensor is elsewhere. There is one sensor and one actuator on the
throttle body. The sensor is the Throttle Position Sensor, which must not
be dosed with carburetor cleaner. The actuator is the Automatic Idle Speed
motor (known generically as an Idle Air Controller), which must be removed
so that its pintle and the mating passages in the throttle body can be
cleaned.

A selection of small brushes and pipecleaners (not the barbed kind!) is
very helpful for this work. Do not use a toothbrush as someone else
suggested, for the carburetor cleaner will dissolve the plastic used in
the handle and bristles, coating the throttle body and pintle with plastic
gunk that does just as good a job at clogging things as the original dirt
you're trying to remove.

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 15:03:35 -0500, "Daniel J. Stern"
> wrote:
<snip>
>A selection of small brushes and pipecleaners (not the barbed kind!) is
>very helpful for this work. Do not use a toothbrush as someone else
>suggested, for the carburetor cleaner will dissolve the plastic used in
>the handle and bristles, coating the throttle body and pintle with plastic
>gunk that does just as good a job at clogging things as the original dirt
>you're trying to remove.
you may be right, but i used a toothbrush for years in my acclaim
once i figured out why it was stalling.
....thehick