Throttle Body Carbon Build Up?
 

Hey guys,

Always like to cross check dealership "upsells" with the voice of the people.

Dealership is claiming I need a Throttle Body cleaning and a Fuel injector Cleaning. Car has 30K miles. I've probably driven 500 miles with my new CAI, CBE and EcuTek mods (if that's relevant).

Never had a straight answer from them inspecting it, just the whole, "our Nissan Sales rep visited us now recommends that...."

What do you guys think and what have you found to be the case with your throttle bodies and fuel injectors? What have you found to be a clear indication of a cleaning being necessary?

I religiously use Shell 91 octane. Car seems to drive just fine.


Thanks guys!

I'm thinking your dealer is trying to upsell you.

BUT...

Buy a can of cleaner and clean them yourself if you are worried. It should be pretty easy to clean them. I'm sure there are probably more than enough DIY's on Youtube.

TB's can get dirty and cause low RPM's, I've cleaned mine and I saw a little better idle. Very easy DIY, like 6 screws and a little bit of pulling, and you can use a microfiber cloth with TB cleaner to wipe them down

However you say theirs nothing wrong so theirs nothing wrong.

And this...

DIY Clean your Throttle Bodies - MyG37

I use Seafoam to clean out my fuel injectors and vacuum lines up to intake mani.

1-1.2 oz per liter displacement (so roughly 4 oz) fed in thru your brake booster line while running @ idle and normal operating temperature. Once you put all of it, cut the car off and let sit 10-15 min, then start it up as normal. Drive spiritedly to get rid of the carbon buildup being burned off.

No more than 5 -6 oz for your gas tank. Add while the vehicle is off, wait 10-15 min, then start car normally. Drive around and hit WOT a few times to run thru the injectors for the cleaning.

I do this roughly every other month, along with the TB cleaning, and it runs like NEW. (I'm at 139k miles)

I guarantee you there will be noticeable build up of carbon deposits around the butterfly valve even at 30K miles. Whether those deposits are decreasing performance is another issue; you'll likely first start to notice it in the idle. I did around 35K miles.

If you have the tools, you can clean them yourself. IIRC you'll need torx or allen wrenches for the TB bolts. Also, Walmart has a 3-pk of toothbrushes with stiff nylon, brass, and stainless steel bristles in the paint section that works great for me. That and a can of CRC Throttle Body Cleaner shouldn't run you much more than $10 and an hour or more of labor if you've never done it before. Still very easy :tup:

Good info! Thank you

Good info. Might have to tackle this myself soon. I did notice my rpm is idling a little lower than normal:rolleyes:

I think I've cleaned mine once with a brush...honestly, they were not that bad. Seafoam I used once...but if I was in more stop and go traffic, i'm sure it would be different.