Help! — Throttle Body, clean or repair? 2012 Ram 1500

[Sneu16]

Hi All,

My check engine light came on yesterday.

Had the codes checked. Main code was P0121.. Printout had the following recommendation, “replace throttle body and reprogram PCM”.

I was going to clean the throttle body first (figured there was built up fuel and debri making the butterfly valve stick). Bought a replacement from autozone just in case. (Over $200, wtf).

Talked to my mechanic before popping the hood this morning. He told me don’t bother cleaning it and that it’s too far gone if the light is on. Also said that the foot pedal/sensor should be replaced with the throttle body. Trouble finding that part locally and cost from him will be $250 after the markup.

Three questions:
1.) is there any value added in cleaning the throttle body or should I just replace it?

2.) do I really need to change out the pedal/sensor also?

3.) is it necessary to reprogram the PCM/ECM?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Jeepwalker]

Looks like they range from $250-$350 on the internet for a Mopar one. That's not too bad, but a can of throttle body cleaner is less than 10 bucks around here. If it were my truck, here's what I would do:

1) Get a can of throttle-body cleaner and a solvent-safe plastic brush (like a toothbrush but 2x larger) from the parts store. They have the brushes too. Don't use brass or metal brushes.

2) Unhook the battery cables from the battery and tie the cable ends together with string or tape (ensure they're NOT touching any battery posts). This will drain the TIPM and other modules while you clean the throttle body.

3) Remove the rubber air intake boots and spray TB cleaner inside your truck's throttle body and the blade. Wait a few seconds and give the dirty areas more blast. Do it a few times. The idea is to kind of keep 'soaking' the deposits to soften them up.

4) Then brush the throttle blade and the bore. Don't forget to get the underside of the throttle blade. Squirt more cleaner on as necessary. Don't be stingy with it. If you have harder deposits, you can take a piece of wood and rub them off. Wood won't scratch or gouge the TB surface. When you're finished there shouldn't be ANY desposits whatsoever.

5) Once you've cleaned it out and it's free of deposits, insert a piece of wood to hold the tb blade open ...to allow the solvent in the intake manifold to evaporate. While you're waiting, check your truck's PCV valve, the PCV hoses, etc ...and make sure any vacuum hoses (and their rubber ends) are in good condition. The rubber gets hard and brittle and can crack. Check the belt and maybe the air filter too.

6) Because you live in MI, I would probably unhook and inspect the connector to the throttle body. Inspect both ends for corrosion, clean if necessary. And then re-hook. Be careful not to break the connector in the process.

7) Once finished, put everything back together, hook the battery cables back up and start the truck. Take for a test drive. See if the light (message) comes back on.

Good luck!

 

[Sneu16]

@Jeepwalker thanks for the write up.

A brief update:

Picked up a can of cleaner, took off the throttle body and cleaned it.

It’s back together now and the check engine light hasn’t come back on yet. I feel like it still might so I’ll get around to resetting the code and see how it rides the days following.

For now, it drives fine. Just went a couple miles down the road with it.

Before photos are attached. Didn’t take after photos. Plate and bore look back to new.

 

[Jeepwalker]

You did a great job. Let us know after driving it a few days or a week, if that resolved the problem. If so, you saved a bunch of money.

 

[oldguy2]

I used to work for MOPAR and it was a common practice to remove a throttle body, remove the sensors and use a Scotch Brite pad and carb cleaner to clean the throttle body.

 

[Wirerat]

You did a great job. Let us know after driving it a few days or a week, if that resolved the problem. If so, you saved a bunch of money.

 

[Hemi832]

Mine also needed cleaned, but no code. Cleaned it and the pedal response is better, no huge drop in idle when I stop at a light.

 

[Livinalittle]

Well done.

This may be a controversial subject, but installing a catch can will help prevent your TB from gumming up.