Behind the throttle body there’s an elbow with 2 Idle Air Control ports, or some confounded thing like that. Basically at idle air flows through them. Over time they will become clogged with carbon buildup, similar to fat people’s arteries. Anywho there I was sitting on top of the truck (I’m short and the truck’s tall) with my 4 year old son…dad’s lil helper. Aside from the bazillion questions like ‘what’s this do?’ “air goes through here?” “what’s a fender?”, he was awesome. Actually it was pretty damn cool with the questions as I remember being a curious little **** when I was a kid. Having him up there with me did make the process of removing the TB and elbow a little longer, but we had fun. In true P_D style I did ******* something up though. I dropped the TB and broke the throttle position sensor (TPS). Garage floor 1, TPS 0. It’s always something, besides if you don’t jack something up while ‘fixing’ it, you aren’t doing it right anyhow. Besides, I needed a new TPS ($29.95 @ Auto Zone BTW).

Back to the story, it took 3 cans of carb cleaner, one cordless drill with a shotgun brush chucked up in it, some pipe cleaners, small flat head screwdriver, and one cigarette lighter were the tools required used to complete the operation of cleaning the ports. Long story short, use extreme caution, but that carbon buildup crap burns a purdy green color when soaked with carb cleaner. biggrin.gif Do make sure that it’s completely out before reapplying the carb cleaner, I will not be held responsible for your runners up ship for the Darwin Awards.

Had everything cleaned, got to reinstalling everything and damn near had an extra port available on the TB elbow. Hmmm, WTF goes there? Oh yeah, the gas/fuel line. Kinda need THAT one. smiley_smartass.gif Hooked it back up, replaced the thermostat (preventative maintenance, but I do have a coolant leak somewhere, methinks it’s the heater core though). Fired up the beast and whala, the sum'gun started! No searching for codes or right keys this time. The idle is SMOOOOTH, and the exhaust not seems better too.

 

I love a happy ending.

 

Me too. LOL Also I figured out my my new Milwaulkee 1/2" drive drill came with a handle, it's not just for looks! Oh yeah, I was at the top of a ladder when I figured it out too. Thankfully my guardian angels were on duty. LOL

 

I am going to bolt up a throttle body spacer in the morning, and I have been thinking quite a bit about whether or not to clean it out while everything is all undone...

I have read up and according to wind tunnel testing, the buildup in the tube acts as a sort of spoiler for the air, and cleaning it actually slows the airspeed down.

I can't find the thread now... but it's around here somewhere...

Eh... I'll probably clean it.

 

Good luck with the TB spacer, It should be a pretty easy installation. Here's a hint with the elbow (or whatever the technical term is). The large hose in the back of it can be pulled forward over the lower intake runner, which will give you a better shot at getting it off in one piece. Grasp it firmly at the base and twist the elbow it should break free and then come off easitly. It was the hardest hose to remove on my truck. Also, the 8mm bolt on the back right of the elbow is easier to get to is you remove the bolts from cast iron thing (there I go with technical terms again) on the right side (as you look into the engine bay) of the TB. You don't neet to remove the thingamajiggy, just remove the two 10mm bolts, the bracket for the brake booster vacuum line will be easy to pull off of the stud/ Pull it off, remove the line from the manifold and you can more easily remove that last PITA bolt.

Be prepared to use 2-3+ cans of card cleaner on the ports, you'll most likely need it.

There's a pic of the carbon buildup at the bottom of the first post. http://www.pre-ban.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33667

 

That's a pretty nice "Pony" you got there! I'm a Mustang fan as well.

Sean

 

LOL thanks. but it's not mine. It IS however my inspiration to not give up on my 69 coupe project/basket case, nor my goal of owning a 65/66 2+2 and or a 69 Boss 302. As of right now my family has priority, which is the way it should be. I'll find my old avatar, it was pretty sweet too.