eleven@techsolv

96NA 2+2 Experiencing occasional mid throttle hesitation and a fast idle. What is the easiest way to clean the throttle bodies, intake system, and injectors?

Is there some way to introduce a cleaner into the system ahead or behind the MAF so that it gets sucked into the intakes. Is it really necessary to remove the throttle bodies to clean them (I noticed some blackening on them)? If I take them off is there anything else that I should be doing?

tsefreeflow

Take off the hoses top and bottom and make sure nothing gets in there or flys in there during the cleaning. Get some TB cleaner and a toothbrush to scrub with and a towel. Goto town and get all of the black crud off of them and make sure they are sealing again. But this is mainly for rough idle and not for mid throttle hesitation, but you still can clean them. As for anything else to do, just check and clean all the connectors you can see like the TPS, CAS ect..

eleven@techsolv

If I am going that far, wouldn't it just be easier to remove them? Are there any special "gotchas" in removing the Throttle bodies?

domsgarage

I removed the intake pipes. Put a brick on the accelerator and then spray spray spray. I put a paper towel under the holes to collect all the "Brother Darkness" juices.

Riz Z Speed

little trick for removing throttle intake hoses.
let the car warm up to idle. Rubber (tt)/ plastic (na) hoses are easier to remove when warm.

91zxtt

Removing the throttle bodies is really making a mountain out of a mole-hill. Not necessary at all and a lot more work than just removing the hoses and using an old toothbrush with some throttle body cleaner (I used Valvoline).

300zxBoi

http://twinturbo.net/ttnettech/tb/tb.html

lightspeed

Thanks...these responses are excellent! Any experience with SeaFoam, anyone?

91zxtt

SeaFoam?? Don't women like to use something like that to wash their faces?

lightspeed

yeeeeeeecccchhhhh! That would be SOME kind of woman.

91zxtt

What is SeaFoam?

OrangeZ32

my buddy was telling me about seafoam, and it makes your car smoke like crazy but nothing bad happens. I don't know too much about it though.

DanZ32

Seafoam is a motor treatment similat to Marvel Mystery Oil. There is a lot of talk about it on 300zxClub and maxima.org.

Here is a link from 300zxClub where it has been discussed.

http://www.300zxclub.com/showthread....hlight=seafoam

It is apparently very safe and works wonders. It can be introduced through the oil crakcase, fuel tank and brake booster cable.

lightspeed

Did the intake thing. It smoked like a blown head gasket for a couple of mins. Runs a mite smoother. More comments later.

Riz Z Speed

hmmm... sea foam.

I think i'll actually try this one.

lightspeed

Seems to rev much smoother, especially in the upper range, and the idle, much smoother now, returns to 800RPM 1 in 3 times now. Not exactly a "turbo-in-a-can," but an improvement.

Still have a 2200-2600RMB studder occasionally, but this stuff seems legit. Let me know what you find out.

rampagez

Hey I'm new here, but could you give me more detail on the sea foam, as to where to buy it, how much $, & how to use it? Anything that makes my 2+2 run a little smother or stronger sounds good to me.

DanZ32

List of stores that carry it (according to the Seafoam website)

All Pro
Auto Value
Big A Auto Parts
Bumper to Bumper
CARQUEST Auto Parts
Midway Auto Supply
NAPA Auto Parts
O'Reilly Auto Parts
Parts Plus
Pronto Auto Parts

Not sure about cost in the US. In canada the stuff cost me $10 a can (about $7 USD).

There are 3 products. 1) Motor treatment 2) Deep Ceep (same thing as motor treatment but in a spray) 3) Transmission Tune

If you want to clean the Throttle Bodies the Deep Creep is ideal. Spray into throttle bodies, use a toothbrush or something similar to clean the walls and butterfly valves. Keep a towel under the opening to soak up the black juices you create.

To introduce the motor treatment through the brake booster hose (portion that leads into the intake manifold), you will need a partner to keep the car running at approx 2k RPM. With the car running the hose will act like a vacuum and suck in the liquid. Use approx 1/2 of a can. Turn engine off, leave for for 5-10 minutes. Start you Z up and go for a good drive. There will be a lot of white smoke coming from you exhaust.

http://www.300zxclub.com/attachment....achmentid=7324

Introduce approx 1/2 can into oil crankcase. Change you oil approx 500-1000 miles later.

Introduce approx 1/2 can into gas tank. Top tank up with gas. You're good to go.

I did mine a couple of hours ago and the crud that came out was unbelievable. I couldn't determine much effect on idle but reving is smoother and the engine is definately quieter.

Hope this helps.

91zxtt

Well hell, if Rizz'll try it, then I guess I will too.

lightspeed

Sucked into the intakes from the breaks vacuum assist line, not much results. (Some smoke, though...)

Running a can through my gas tank, NOTICABLE improvements. Better idle downs, smoother idles and acceleration.

My wife using it as an exfoliating scrub... uh, not so nice.

Riz Z Speed

i was actually awaiting/expecting this from someone lol

lightspeed

A veritable plethora of groupies, no?

91zxtt

Yep, since Michael Jordan has retired, now I wanna be like Rizz.

91zxtt

I put this stuff in yesterday. Car seems to run smoother and have a bit better throttle response. Added it to the crankcase as well, so that'll take a bit more time to see if it makes a difference. It's a bit nerve racking to pour it into the brake booster line, but it definitely belched out a bunch of white smoke when I restarted it. I added it to my girlfriend's car as well. I coughed and sputtered much more than mine, and the exhaust smoke was much heavier. I heven't driven the car yet, so we'll see what happens.

CanyonCarver

So today I changed my oil and cleaned my k&n filter. I've noticed a little bit rougher idle coming in the four months that I've had the car. So I figured it was time for some maintainence. I thought about the seafoam application and I was going to buy some and then started looking around the engine bay and got to thinking.

Except for adding the seafoam to the fuel tank, the only other way of applying it was thru the brake booster hose. I've read this here and on two other forums. Now the funny thing - I got to looking at things and then ran and grabbed the manual, looked there, and then realized that if you put the seafoam in thru the brake booster, you're only going the get the seafoam to three of the cylinders. From what I see, the seafoam can't get to the three cylinders on the right side.

I run fuel injector cleaner in the fuel tank on a regular basis. From the studies that I've read, this is a very good idea. It helps to keep the carbon deposits to a minimum on the injector tips/pintles and the rest of the intake tract. (downstrean of the injectors).

So then I got to thinking of the upstream items like the throttle bodies and the iacv. I've read about the toothbrush and cleaner on the inside of the throttle bodies, but to me it should never get to that point of needing a toothbrush.

I then figured I'd do the old carbeurator cleaning routine with the spray can. I used to do this every time I'd change the air filter on older cars. An trust me, you can have an engine with 300,000+ miles on it and the inside of the carb looks like brand new. ie: zero carbon buildup and very minimal varnish.

Here's what I did today; First I found the iacv and the intake hose to it. At first I just disconnected it and then tried to start the car. Ooops, big vaccum leak, no start. Actually it takes two people to do this. One to keep the car running while you disconect the hoses. After getting the help, I sprayed the carb cleaner down the iacv hose. It stumbled and tried to die like I expected. I have no visual results from this because I'm not taking the iacv apart when I don't have to.

Next it was time for the throttle bodies. And dumb me I just disconnected the intake hose at the t/b while keeping the motor revved with one hand. Damn!!!! I needed three hands again. Anyway, so I found out, you can't take those hoses all of the way off. The motor will die no matter what. I was surprised at how relatively clean the t/b's were up to the butterflies.

So with somebody revving the motor, I would move the intake hose around while spraying in the carb cleaner. Where I could see past the butterflies, I could see a bunch of crap getting washed away. I used about 3/4 of a can per t/b.

And the results: I definitely have clean t/bs as far back as I can see past the butterflies. The idle is definitely smoother. It actually idles down closer to the 650 rpm range than before when it never seemed to go below 800 rpm.

This will now be part of my regular maintainence when I clean the air filter, which looks like about once every four months.
Hope this helps....