I think it is one of those things that just builds with time and ya gotta deal with it. Could be wrong though.

SuDZ

 

No, there is a much easier way than using the pedal to open the valve in the throttle body. Use your hand to turn the pulley that the throttle cable is hooked up to. Its attached to the part your cleaning. Dont even worry about the pedal in the car, the pedal pulls a wire which in turn opens the throttle valve. Come on guys, use some common sense!

 

Well all I know is that before i cleaned it, my car would sometimes not shift when I was at a red light or stop sign when I wanted it to advance, it would hesitate wheter this solved it or not I don't know. But since I did this cleaning it has never happend once. It used ot do it rather often. I cleaned both side of the butterfly. I sprayed it with the butter fly closed, and scrubbed with a toothbrush. I also sprayed a bunch of it in a small container which I then diped my brush in, for when I was scrubbing beyond the butterfly. Man was it ever dirty, I don't think it had ever been cleaned, not once. Anyways, I also drenched a rag with the cleaner and scrubbed away. The whole thing was clean as can be. And what a difference it made, the car just wants to take off now on it's own!!! I also changed the PVC valve....no comment (what a pain in the A$$)

El Cid

 

Yep, I just held the pully all the way back with one hand, and used the other hand to spray and scrub.

As far as the cleaning stuff and carbon buildup flowing back in to your throttle body... don't worry about it, it's perfectly safe. You'll notice some smoke coming out of your exhaust pipe for a minute or two... as if it was burning oil, that's nothing to worry about.

I changed my PCV valve and cleaned mine out thoroughly and didn't really notice much difference. The car now idles higher when cold for some reason. That might also have to do with me tightening the throttle cable at the same time, but I doubt it.

Oh well... I'd be a very happy camper if I could get this damn rubber-band chassis to tighten up a little more, and figure out what's causing this damned low-throttle low-rpm hesitation. I've already got the FSTB, but it's still horrible. I'll be getting the WSP subframe connectors real soon, hoping that will eliminate the rest of it.

 

no , i meant to keep it from running into it , while youre cleaning it ... like the dirt that comes off , sorry , i guess i should have phrased that differently.

 

Whoops. Sorry my misunderstadning.

SuDZ

 

Not a problem

 

unless you get the Valvoline TB cleaner, the other brands use the red plastic tube (which can fly off at any moment into your upper intake plenum). I use one hand to hold the red tube and the other to spray. Sure, you can keep the throttle open with the cable but I'd rather have full use of both hands. Common sense? Common sense tells me get someone to sit in the car and hit the acc. pedal

Don't bother jacking it up. Let the cleaner run through the plenum and clean out of pistons and valves as it runs through. Plenty of carbon buildup in those areas so you're doing yourself a favor by cleaning the TBs, plenum, valves, and pistons.

 

so just let it run through all that and not worry about it ?

p.s. getting my CAI off is gonna be a real pain in the A$$ i can tell , i tried getting it loose yesterday ,and the black rubber hoses are really on there , and if i got it off , i dont know if i could get it back on ... any suggestions ?

 

Hot water on hoses? Heat would make it expand some and maybe slide off easier.

Just an idea.

SuDZ

 

anything is worth a shot

 

use a hair dryer or heat gun and heat the hoses. It makes it more pliable

 

you have all the answers , you are a wise great man

 

I just cleaned my TB yesterday. This is EASY. The only challenging part is identifying what has to be removed if you haven't been under your hood before. This trully can only take 20 minutes when you know what you doing.

PG

 

Feel a difference?

SuDZ

 

Cleaned mine Saturday. I used Valvoline SynPower Carb& Choke, Throttle body cleaner. $3 at Kmart. Make sure the stuff you get is correct, some of them mention Not for Fuel injection.

It was easy and mine was really dirty, maybe because I have a CAI with a big filter? Well I noticed that it idles nice and smooth now and it seems when I put the gas I get a better response.
Before I would hit the gas and there would be a slight delay before I got the power, now it's right away.


Sudz: To remove the CAI, I loosened the brackets and then put a screw driver under the rubber sections and just worked it around. But to get the actual tubes apart I rotated certain sections so that the angle would be easier to pull them apart.

Once you get the TB exposed, just pull back on the throttle cable and the butterfly valve will open and you can easily clean it. Make sure to get the Top of the TB cause the bottom will get cleaned easier cause the spray keeps washing across it.

It was worth the 25min and $3.

 

Yeah whatever works. I was just giving him an idea.

SuDZ

 

The most obvious difference is that my rmps are steady at 800 in Neutral. I'm sure it wasn't that smooth in neutral before...

 

does cleaning work just as effective on autos vs. manual transmission? is this a recommended maintainance by nissan, for example, 30K, 60K? or clean as needed type maintenance.

 

could somebody give a step by step, or a link because the links posted before didn't go through, thank you

 

1) take off airbox or intake or whatever you have
2) have a friend inside step on the gas
3) spray a load of throttle body cleaner all over the butterfly (little door kinda thingy that opens and closes)and the throttle body
4) wipe clean with rag
5) put airbox or whatever back on
6) enjoy

did i get that right guys ?

 

Have a look here: www.motorvate.ca

Click in "Engine", and then "Throttle Body Prep" It is all fully documentated with many pics.

Good Luck!

 

www.motorvate.ca

 

just cleaned mine today. I dont think I felt any low end power gain but I noticed the rpms are higher at idle and seems to feel more stable. I floored it a few times from 50 mph and felt like it pulls harder but its probably in my head or maybe it was colder outside than usual anyways it was worth my half hour.

 

the carbon buildup is due to the PCV system and not the incoming air that is not cleaned by the air intake.

 

So should we change the PCV valve at the same time?

 

If it has been on there a while why not. Saves time later.

SuDZ

 

what exactly is the pcv valve? and what does it look like?

 

Here it is for a 4th gen

http://integra.vtec.net/geeser/megamax/60k_service.html

 

Just did mine. With the CAI, it's probably easier to get at the TB than the stock air filter setup. Anyways, lots of carbon, vigourously cleaning with a toothbrush and TB cleaner soaked paper towels. All the while I was thinking "how much difference can it make?" Well, it did.

The 1st time I started the car after the TB clean, my idle JUMPED to 2000 rpm. Normally when I've been starting, the car would 'start' at 1500 rpm. Then, you notice it all around. Throttle tip in is much more responsive, and throttle action across the board is much more linear. The car kinda feels more powerful, too. Like I got back 5% more power. I was surprised. I'm doing this every 50K miles or so from now on.

DW

 

I cleaned my body, pick up has improved, I used regular gas and a rag, no problem.

 

just replace the PCV valve and hoses. They're cheap .. why clean a $10 part lol

 

Some people put themselves on a very tight budget or they are just cheap.

SuDZ

 

OUCH! That must hurt! Usually I clean my body in the shower


Sorry, couldn't resist

DW

 

where do you get the pcv valve, how hard is it to switch ?

 

Pcv valve can be gotten from auto parts store probably or Nissan Dealer. It is not the switching that is hard it is the finding. check out www.maximadriver.com for a writeup in the how2 section.

SuDZ

 

I just cleaned my TB as well using CRC's TB cleaner. I had a dippin gidle but it fixed it. I only have 40k miles but i couldnt imagine all the carbon that came out.

I must say, the car runs smoother & my idle went back up and car is great.

The only thing that could have caused all this carbon is b/c i do a lot of local driving & NOS creates a good amount of carbon build-up as well (I found that hard to believe but its true).

 

The PCV valve is here;

http://integra.vtec.net/geeser/megam...v_location.jpg

With this picure you don't see what it looks like, just where it is. It is tiny. Best thing to do is buy one from the dealer so you will at least know what you're looking for. It's a minor pain to change, gotta move the throttle cable and some stuff out of the way to get at it. Once there, it's easy as pie.

 

Thanks

 

PCV valve is available at larger auto parts stores. Some of the smaller ones and the auto section of department stores like Walmart do not carry the ones for our Maxima. Cost is about $3.

As can be seen from pics at the above sites, it is very accessible. You don't have to take anything off. Just unclamp the rubber tubing leading up to the PCV valve, bend the tubing to free up one end, and then jiggle the PCV valve until it pops out of the rubber grommet. For replacement, I found it easiest to install the PCV valve first, then reinstall the tubing, with the PCV valve end first. YOu will have to bend the tubing at it's midpoint to make it fit over the other end. In total about a 20 minute procedure.