ZuMBLe

iTrader: (1)

I have a 97SE with 60k on the car now. For the past 15k or so I've been having starting problems. I used to turn the key to ACC to let the fuel system prime before starting. That would help a bit. I kept doing that for a while. But lately the car has been wanting to stall even after I do that. The car would crank, fire up, rev, then the RPMs would drop and the car would start to stall. I'd have to tap the gas to keep it going.

I cleaned the throttle body two nights ago and the car starts up like a champ again! It fired up with a quick turn of the key yesterday morning. It fired up without a problem this morning too. No waiting for the fuel system to prime, no reving. Just turn the key and it fires up and idles stable. One thing I did notice is that my idle RPMs while at a stop light (automagic) are about 100rpms lower than normal. It sits around 600rpms instead of 700-750. I'm not too worried about that. The car drives fine and idles just fine in neutral.

In closing, if your car is having problems starting, clean the throttle body and see if that corrects the problem. It only took 30 min or so.

ZuM

jbreit

I just read in the haynes manual the other day...."the throttle body has a special coating to reduce build up and should not need to be cleaned. It should not be cleaned with carburetor cleaner or other solvents." or soemthing close to that.

This was news to me, but my throttle body was so carboned up it wasn't funny....and I did use some carb cleaner on a rag and tooth brush, like I have done so many times in the past....it helped some in my case.

Asian_N02

i read that too, but its a great solution to fixing a starter problem...

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

Don't use carb cleaner, you can use "throttle body cleaner" these are not abrasive and protect the coatings.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Don't know about the coatings. I polished my inner/outer TB so I KNOW I must have taken off any coating that was on there. Haven't noticed any more build up than normal.

MDubya

whats up with that mine does the same thing.. mine started after i reset the ecu , it happened right after i reset it...why, why, why?
I just cleaned the intake and did the TB last summer whats up..

ZuMBLe

iTrader: (1)

I'm not too worried about the coating. The coating didn't even seem to work! There was definitely carbon build up inside the throttle body and the throttle plate. I think I'd rather just clean more often than to leave "the protective coating" intact.

Car started like a champ again this morning.

nesquiknate

i did this and now i have no more problems with my max. it only has 71k miles i was worried about it dying every morning. thanx