98 f150 4.6l with 145,000 miles.. I figured it was time to change it since I bought it used with 100,000 miles and god only knows if it was ever cleaned before. Well I took the lazy mans way and just took off the air intake and opened the TB and sprayed TB cleaner and wiped it out with rags and holy sh*t was there a lot of sludge and carbon build up. I noticed a big difference when the truck is idling, it idles a lot smoother and also seems to have a better throttle response. I wanted to get before and after photos but my brother had my camera and wasn't home. Just figured I'd share my day with everyone lol

 

I was even lazier - I paid the dealer $65 to do a BG intake cleaning job.

 

GLC,
What does the "BG" intake cleaning job from the dealer involve. I was going to clean mine before I go on Vacation in a few weeks, but for $65.00, I would rather have the dealer do it.

 

BG is just one brand of machine - a lot of dealers use a Motorvac. I also doubt it will only be 65 bucks where you are at - the labor rate here is one of the lowest in the country. Some independent shops will also have a machine. In a nutshell, the machine sprays solvent down the intake.

 

Yea well I'm a broke college graduate so I need to save my money, but when I get a job I'll be sure to pay someone next time lol

 

I just stuck mine in a vise quite a few years ago and polished it. It never gets dirty now, -nothing sticks to either TB or Elbow

 

I have learned from the past that removing the TB is your best bet. Some of the solvents used to clean the carbon can sit in lower areas of the intake plenum and eat away or soften gasket materials. Now if the intake is plastic and the solvent isn't rated for it, who knows what may happen?

A little trick I use is an aluminum baking pan(9x9 or 9x13). Just remove the bolts and pull the TB off slide pan pan underneath. Depends on TB orientation.

Jbrew nice polish job!

 

hey Brew whatd you do to polish it? use wax like on the truck? <~~~dont take that as dumb because im thinkin bout doing that.

ever since i pull the 2 PCV's out and they now have lil filters and the EGR is pluged off ive noticed my TB never gets dirty any more.

 

How hard was it to pull the throttle body...I am thinking that the hard part with be the throttle cables and while I have it off what else should I check that it related to it I ask because I am probably going to pull mine since I am getting an egr insufficient flow and have replaced darn near everything

 

the TB cables are very easy to get off. 4 bolts the unplug the TPS unplug the IAC unbolt the EGR valve and bam your TB and elbow is off. while its off you can clean the elbow and also unplug your EGR ports on the TB. it took me 30 mins in total to take it off clean it clean the ports and put it back on.

 

I just cleaned mine up this past weekend as well. 90k miles on it. Didn't remove mine though. Removed the plastic intake, unhooked the mass sensor, started engine, and shot a full can of BG air intake cleaner into it while changing rpms. Seemed like it cleaned it up pretty good. Might be a good idea to remove it though - never thought about going that far with it.

 

I pulled the intake/ knifed it/ a lite port / then polished that as well + port matched the lower



Nevermind that blue circle outlining the PCV elbow port.

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The TB and elbow, I used a sanding wheel = 220 fine / buffing wheel w/ red rouge and or jewlers polish. The wheels can be purchased in diameters that match the TB. I found mine @ the Depot.

 

I would go ahead and do this, but I don't have the tools for it. No metric sockets or torx drivers.

 

I picked up a 150 piece set of tools from Walley world for around $60. All in a plastic hard case. Some times use them more than my snap-ons. Came with 1/4 3/8 1/2 drives, extensions, torx bits/alot of bits, screw drivers, and sae+metric sockets(6 point).

 

Looks like I know what I am going to do tomorrow, I may even get brave and take off the whole intake manifold and give it a good cleaning and
also hopfully find out where some oil is coming from.

and hey jbrew what did you use to/how did you polish your TB and from the looks of it your manifold