Throttle body clean & re-assemble, have some Qs

[David]

Hey guys,

I removed and cleaned my throttle body then re-assembled, though it doesn’t feel as smooth/strong when springing back, though I guess in a way it’s been like that for a while. The car is 15yrs old & just trying to improve some loss in performance I’ve had over the years.

It seems the throttle plate doesn’t close properly or as smooth when it gets a few mm from fully closing. When twisting (opening/closing) the plate, there is some light resistance, is this normal?
I tried spraying some throttle cleaner in the joints to see if is clears some muck buildup, but nothing. Also, is it possible the return spring could have weakened over the years making it not as strong? if so, any way of improving the spring-back effect ?

I have yet to start it up and see if there’s any difference in performance, thought I’d ask here before I put everything back together.

Here’s a pic I took. Doesn’t show much in the way of what I’m talking about but I can post up a couple tomorrow.

Thanks again,

Topic

[Lorrin Barth]

I’ve encountered this before and in trying to fix it, it quickly becomes a can of worms. What I usually find is that the throttle shaft has become loose in the bushings and this allows the throttle plate to close off of center. To take it apart you have to remove the throttle plate from the shaft. This allows you to see the worn parts. If a fix is available you then have to put the throttle plate back on the shaft. Have a screw come loose later and be swallowed by the engine and you chance losing the engine.

So, what may be a good suggestion is replacement of the throttle body.

[David]

Hey Barneyb, thanks for the reply.

Throttle body’s all good :). Worked out the throttle plate wasn’t closing properly
(leaving it a little open causing high idling)
as the return spring wasn’t installed back correctly (wasn’t strong enough to fully close throttle plate)
wound the spring tighter & much better :), so all running good now.

thanks again,

[Author]

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