Quick Throttle Body Cleaning Question

[aarman4]

Hey guys, before the seafoam treatment it was recommended to do a throttle body cleaning, so I will.

My Question:

LEXLS says to replace the intake manifold gasket when I do this. Have all of you had worn out or torn gaskets? I would love to replace it obviously, but where I am I have to wait more than a week to get my parts (like the gasket). Like I said, is replacing it more of a "your there so do it" thing, or is it usually damaged to the point that it SHOULD be replaced?

Thanks guys!

[eatingupblacktop]

I would never reuse any gasket. Even if it's not torn or damaged during removal, they deteriorate with time and heat. You're already there, so save yourself having to go back in to just replace the gasket. Also make sure all surfaces are shiny clean before putting in new gasket otherwise you'll be looking for leaks.

[aarman4]

thanks Eating up, I understand where you are coming from, but I was wondering of the members who have performed this taask what condition there gasket was in. I have no worries about reusing a gasket that is conditionally still fine. My preference is obviously to replace with all things considered equal, but in my case, they are not equal right now, it is more of a time thing. If you did yours, what was the condition of your old gasket? Was it brittle, in pieces, gone??? Thats more of what i want to know.

[nc211]

You most definetly want to replace it, because chances are when you remove the throttle body to gain access to clean it, that little paper gasket will rip, it's pretty much guaranteed to happen. Blake918 advised me of this, so I bought two of them just in case, and was very thankful that I did. The last thing you want to do is get in there, have that thing tear, and be stuck without one. On some parts, the online guys are great, but on the little stuff like this, just pony up the extra $10 bucks and buy one from the dealership. You spend that much on shipping anyway with the online guys. Mine was brittle, stuck to the intake, and tore the instant I removed the throttle body.

Additionally, if you have a dremel tool, I'd invest the $25 for the 18 inch flex cable, and buy a couple little polishing bits. The metal ones will eat that residue off of there like nobody's buisness. The flex cable lets you actually get inside of the throttle body housing, in the corners and such, and you'll get that sucker shiny clean! And notice the difference too once it's all done! Don't forget to do the butterfly valve edges, that's where you'll really smooth out the idle and low torque pep!

If you wait for the proper parts, and acquire a few little tools, you'll be super happy you did!

Oops, my bad, I didn't see where you're located, probably not very easy to scoot down to the dealership. I'd order one though man, I really would. I think you'll be sorry if you go into this without one handy.

[aarman4]

yeah, I think the advice of both of you is well taken, I will have to wait until spring though when I next have a chance to do the job, and yes, I have to [pay shipping from my dealer just as much as I would on the internet, but I will have another order to make with them for the spring plugs and wires job anyways, so it will be then when it is done.

Thanks guys!

NC211 - can you link me to a pic of which polishing bits you are talking about? I do have a dremel, and if I am going in that far, I would't mind hitting it with that too.

[nc211]

Sure amigo, no problem. I have a Sears all-in-one cutting tool, but it's pretty much the same thing. I found these on dremel's website. They are the stainless steel brushes 530 and 531. My cutting tool is bigger than the dremels, which doesn't lend itself very well to tight spaces, so I use the flex shaft quite a bit, which makes it soooo easy to get into tight spaces with. Get 3 or 4 of these little bits, and you should be good to go. Use your shop vac to suck out the dust and debrie left behind inside of the throttle body. Once you do this, then run your seafoam through the intake, that throttle body will be shiny clean my man, and you'll definetly notice a little more punch to the engine, but you'll really notice a nice smooth idle, and a touchier gas peddle. You'll also notice that it takes less gas to keep the car moving along. After I did this to mine, at 80mph on the open road, I barely had to touch the gas peddle. She just purred.

[dcfish]

Sure amigo, no problem. I have a Sears all-in-one cutting tool, but it's pretty much the same thing. I found these on dremel's website. They are the stainless steel brushes 530 and 531. My cutting tool is bigger than the dremels, which doesn't lend itself very well to tight spaces, so I use the flex shaft quite a bit, which makes it soooo easy to get into tight spaces with. Get 3 or 4 of these little bits, and you should be good to go. Use your shop vac to suck out the dust and debrie left behind inside of the throttle body. Once you do this, then run your seafoam through the intake, that throttle body will be shiny clean my man, and you'll definetly notice a little more punch to the engine, but you'll really notice a nice smooth idle, and a touchier gas peddle. You'll also notice that it takes less gas to keep the car moving along. After I did this to mine, at 80mph on the open road, I barely had to touch the gas peddle. She just purred.

Nc, Great advice

[nc211]

Thanks DC! That little dremel stuff is my 2nd favorite tool, next to the pnumatic air hammer. aarman4, there is another bit, I think it's the 530 series that I can't seem to upload the picture of. Go to dremel's website and look at their attachments. It's a stainless steel brush, that is very useful for the corners of the throttle housing. It's either the 530 or 531, one of which is already posted in my response above, just can't rememebr which one....

[aarman4]

nc, thanks man, I am actually excited about getting my fingers grimey, LOL, not today though, the windchill is at a mighty -48C (-54 F)....my caliper rebuild kits are scheduled to show up on thursday, hope it gets warmer by then ;)

[jcrome04]

I read the how-to for this on a 1st gen at lexls.com, but I have a 97 LS. Is the process exactly the same?? Is the gasket exactly the same? I know it's the same engine but was wondering if there was a different set-up. I can't just look cause my car is in the shop for another week :( I am wanting to do this when I get it back.

And also I've been wanting to do the Seafoam. How exactly do you do it? Are there any DIY's for it?

[nc211]

I read the how-to for this on a 1st gen at lexls.com, but I have a 97 LS. Is the process exactly the same?? Is the gasket exactly the same? I know it's the same engine but was wondering if there was a different set-up. I can't just look cause my car is in the shop for another week :( I am wanting to do this when I get it back.

And also I've been wanting to do the Seafoam. How exactly do you do it? Are there any DIY's for it?

yeah, it's pretty close to the same. If there are any differences, just take a second to evaluate it and it should be fine. Mine was a 95', same as your 97', and it was not that difficult. Do a search using my name and keywords of throttle body and you should see a few threads of when I did it, with pictures. Also, run a search for Seafoam to learn more than you ever wanted to know about that... It's been talked about so much, you can't miss it.

EDIT: Although my pictures seem to have vanished, here are a couple topics on the matter...

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...e+body+cleaning

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...e+body+cleaning

[jcrome04]

thanks a lot! I appreciate it!

[jcrome04]

So I haven't really ound a good how-to post, just lots of info on the seafoam.

So sounds like I:

1. Let some get sucked through the brake booster

2. Let the car die and sit for 10min

3. Start it back up

4. Rev low RPMs for a couple minutes

5. Rev mid RPMs for a couple minutes

6. Rev high RPMs for a bit or until white smoke clears???

(is that close?)

Sounds like some people had codes thrown too afterwards.. some cleared just by disconnecting the battery and resetting the ECU, and some not.

I just don't want anything to screw up my car. If someone can get me a good step by step I'll take pictures so we can finally have a GOOD Seafoam DIY

[nc211]

Pop the brake booster line from the brake fluid reserve tank, put it into about a cup of seafoam, have someone start the car, and then shut it off after the seafoam is pulled in "while be very quick, maybe 2, 3 seconds". Let the car sit for about 20 minutes. Then start it "it will cough, chuckle, and kick, but it will start", once it's started, rev that sucker like you stole it. It'll smoke out the neighborhood. You won't screw it up man, it's very simple. My only advice is to make sure the car is warmed up first, take it for a 20 minute drive to get everything warmed up and lubricated. I say this, because you don't want to rev up a cold engine while clearing the seafoam. If you throw a code, it's probably related to the spark plugs. Seafoam has been known to foul a plug or two. Which adds the final stage to your engine performance overhaul...new plugs! I don't guarantee that it'll foul a plug, but it could. It didn't for some, did for others. It didn't for me, but I replaced my plugs anyway afterwards. I did it again about 20k miles later, and didn't effect the plugs one bit.

Another little trick with seafoam....a cup in the oil right before you change it, will clean out the oil system and smooth out the idle even more. Pour in a cup, let the car idle for 20 minutes, then drain out the old. Sacrifice an extra quart of good oil to flush out the corners of the pan "you'd be amazed how much dirty oil hides in those corners", and you're good to go! I do this on all of my cars, even my wife's new Mazda with 16k miles. Did it at 10k, and boy was that oil black as midnight coming out.

[jcrome04]

AWESOME DUDE!!!! Thanks SO much!!! Now I just need to wait for my car to get out of the shop sometime next week!!

I'll take lots of pics then try and make a "How-To" out of it...for n00bs of Seafoam like me hahahaha

And which one is the brake booster line?? Should I expect to have brake fluid leak out of it?? Or, just remove it, and replace it when the Seafoam is done being sucked in?

I apologize again as my car is, and has been, in the shop so I can't just go take a peek at it!

Plus now that I think about it I need to do the same with the fog light re-wire mod... :whistles:

[blake918]

This is the brake booster vacuum line that will suck in the seafoam:

No brake fluid is going to come out. Unplug it and plug it back in after the seafoam goes in.

[jcrome04]

Awesome blake thanks a lot I really appreciate it.

[nc211]

Blake, we've converted another... before we know it, he'll be all grown up and asking about flex-couplings! Hahaha...

[jcrome04]

hahaha flex-couplings????