Cleaning Throttle Body. Gunk in tubing..

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Frontporch, May 23, 2022.

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  1. Frontporch

    Frontporch Active Member

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    I guess I am coming into this knowing very little about the Prius throttle body. After 100K miles on my used Prius I am looking into cleaning the throttle body for the first time. I had just cleaned up a different Prius without disconnecting the coolant hoses or electrical contacts on the motor.

    I removed the 3 10 mm bolts and made sure nothing got past the throttle body into the intake manifold as I sprayed and wiped down the throttle body flap and bore.

    Now I turned to my primary Prius with 240K miles and no TB service in 100K and possibly never... One thing I noticed that was different on these cars is that the larger hoses ( maybe they pass crankcase gasses through the TB? don't now ) had a significant amount of gunk in there.
    BFAD9008-926A-4FC9-9151-2FF42F7AFC9A.jpeg 95779234-75D9-46CA-9890-11509CEAD217.jpeg

    Looking for suggestions as to what remediation might be in order in this Prius.
     
    #1 Frontporch, May 23, 2022
    Last edited: May 23, 2022
  2. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    That port is the vacuum supply for the PCV valve. The line/hose to the PCV is probably just as bad inside. Probably best to replace that line, and the PCV valve.

    To clean the port out I would remove the throttle body (get a new seal)band work on it so crud doesn't end up in the intake. Might be able to leave the coolant lines attached and rotate the TB and clean things out. Or you might have to disconnect everything.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #2 mr_guy_mann, May 23, 2022
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  3. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Pretty common. The gunkier it is reflects the oil quality the engine has seen.

    Just buy some carb and choke cleaner and hose out those 2 inlets.

    Get some cloth rags like cut up old t shirts in long strips and stuff them down the intake and hose out those inlets. The t shirts will catch the flushed out debris.

    Then after flushing those inlets throw out those strips that caught the inlet debris then stuff some again and hose them down withi carb cleaner
    Again and use those wet strips to scrub the throttle body inlet.

    Lasttime I changed the plugs I found the other ends of those 2 hoses were cracked and probably leaking, They make a super tight turn at there engine ends so had to buy the original hoses at the dealer. Dealer had them which probably means it’s a maintenance issue.

    Then spray some lubricant on the butterfly recoil spring.

    Let the car sit for a while as the fumes get stuck in the fat intake and car may run poorly for a few secs after you start it.

    I bypassed the coolant loop on my TB but would not recommend that to you as it gets very cold and freezing sometimes in NJ.
    But it’s a good mod to increase the throttle body life and increase performance. If you live in the south I recommend it.
     
    #3 edthefox5, May 24, 2022
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  4. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Preferably a couple of drops of a good quality machine oil. Just stay away from water-dispelling spays like WD-40.
     
    #4 dolj, Dec 1, 2023
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