Has anyone cleaned the TB on their 05-08 4.2 F150? How are you keeping the TB butterfly open while cleaning, being there is no accelerator cable?

 

You are supposed to remove the TB from the engine to clean it.

 

On my prior F150's I never removed them.
If I do remove it and try to manually open the butterfly, won't I damage the servo motor that operates the opening of the butterfly electronically?

 

I have an 06 with the 4.2 and I found 2 different ways to clean it. 1) have someone in the truck turn the key on and hold the throttle down. Or 2) remove the throttle body and very carefully clean it. And keep in mind not to open and close the butterfly too many times.

 

I've taken mine off to clean a couple times. I gently opened the butterfly each time without any issues.

 

I was told on these "fly by wire" throttle bodies, you are not supposed to EVER manually move the throttle body butterfly. On my 2005, I had the infamous "going down the road and it just dies" condition happen, one of the suggestions I got here was to take it out and clean it. I did it, and it didnt help, and after the fact found that you are not supposed to manually move the butterfly on these things.

I ended up replacing it with one out of a 2007 and it's been fine ever since. It is dirty again and I wanted to clean it, but still working fine, I think I will just leave it.

 

I've cleaned it on and off my 98. When you clean it still on, all that cleaner (and junk) goes into the cylinders, which is not good.

 

Well, that is a double edge sword. When cleaning the TB still on the engine it's better to do so right before an OCI. Also, any debris that is washed into the intake will burn off in the cylinders, which in turn can only help clean the intake valves.