Cleaning the HEMI Throttle Body

[AWE Daniel]

Its been about 15K miles since I cleaned my throttle body so I decided to do it again and see what it looked like.

First off you need to take off the "HEMI Hat", which you do by disconnecting the IAT wiring harness, and then there are two 10mm bolts, one on the front left, and one towards the back right. After that, you can pull it out and fold it over to the side so you can see your throttle body and have clear access to it. (Sorry I didnt take pics for this step, but it is so easy to do you wont need them.)

Next there are four bolts holding the throttle body in, just take a ratchet, or like I did a racheting screw driver with the appropriate socket and loosen those up. They dont have to come off the throttle body, the big orange spacer holds them in, if you are afraid of loosing them you could wiggle them out, but there is no need really. Then just disconnect the wiring harness and pop the throttle body right out.

Now turn it around and see all the carbon buildup on the back? Thats what we will be taking off. This is what mine looked like after 15K miles.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r74/cadillac360/100_0178.jpg

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r74/cadillac360/100_0179.jpg

The front (doesnt look dirty does it?):

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r74/cadillac360/100_0180.jpg


So get yourself so non-chlorinated brake parts cleaner (supertech brand at walmart is what I use). And hose the back side down, most of it will come right off just with this step. Do the same for the front side, and take care not to get any fluid on the wiring connector.

This is what mine looked like after I blasted it, the carbon just melted right off.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r74/cadillac360/100_0181.jpg

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r74/cadillac360/100_0184.jpg

Now you are going to need to open up the valve with you hand, and get a clean rag in there and wipe off any remaining residue, it should be loose enough to come right off, if not, blast it with some more cleaner.

This is what the back of mine looked like when I was finished, squeeky clean.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r74/cadillac360/100_0185.jpg

Now take your rag, soak it in some cleaner, and wipe out as much buildup as you can reach inside the intake just to clean that up a little, and bolt everything back up, make sure the hemi hat is snug back on the throttle body, and plug up the wiring harnesses.

Now since we opened the valve by hand in cleaning it, it probably threw off the Idle sensor, at least it does that to me when I do this. So to calibrate it, all you need to do is have the key in the ignition and turn it to run, and wait 10 seconds. The computer re-learns the position of the plate, and you should be good to go!

[NOTPAID4]

Great write up and pictures Daniel; should be about the same procedure with our 5.7L Hemi Magnums! I gotta do this when I get a minute!

[ORT]

This thread reminded me that it is about time to clean my tb again. Nice write up.

[OklaHemi]

sweet write up, i was surprised at how well mine had stayed clean when i installed the vararam today

[SmokedRam]

Daniel, you should run a can of Berrymans B12 Chemtool through your gas tank every oil change...I bet you wont see it that varnished up again after 15K miles...

[concussion]

a catch can from Billet Technology will stop the oil vapor from returning through the intake manifold.

[AWE Daniel]

Daniel, you should run a can of Berrymans B12 Chemtool through your gas tank every oil change...I bet you wont see it that varnished up again after 15K miles...

Or just get the EGR delete, I mean emissions? in FL? Who cares about em? lolz

[AWE Daniel]

a catch can from Billet Technology will stop the oil vapor from returning through the intake manifold.

Yeah I was thinking about getting one, but there are ones on ebay for about half of that price, same thing too. I did order an emblem from them though.

[SmokedRam]

Or just get the EGR delete, I mean emissions? in FL? Who cares about em? lolz


Yeah, but if I recall correctly, deleting the EGR can raise combustion chamber temps and cause detonation.

I may be wrong though.

[AWE Daniel]

Not from what I have heard, its only on there for emissions, other than that it serves no purpose. Hell the 03 Hemis didnt even have em!

[concussion]

Yeah I was thinking about getting one, but there are ones on ebay for about half of that price, same thing too. I did order an emblem from them though.

The ebay ones are not the same... not even close. Get the BT one. They are a great vendor and have done a lot for our (the LX) platform.

Yeah, but if I recall correctly, deleting the EGR can raise combustion chamber temps and cause detonation.

I may be wrong though.


Not from what I have heard, its only on there for emissions, other than that it serves no purpose. Hell the 03 Hemis didnt even have em!

It's just for emissions. i deleted my EGR, no worries. Turned it off via my tuning. you can't just plug the hole, it's gotta be turned off via the tune.

[AWE Daniel]

Yeah I like them, that is why I bought my emblem from them, but I am prob not ever going to buy a catch can in the first place. And the only thing special about theirs are they come with nice brackets. A whole lotta people make them out of aluminum (billet).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DODGE-BILLET-RACING-OIL-CATCH-CAN-TANK-KIT-GUNMETAL-/360255667096?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3ADodge|Model%3ARam+1500&hash=item53e0e93b98

[03 Rammer]

I did my Dad's GC with a Hemi, about a month ago. Super easy to do. Boy did it need it. Almost looked like it was never done at all the whole time he's had it. Even though he has repair invoices saying he has had it done a few times. It had a very thick layer of crap on it and the door sticked everytime I moved. Cant forget the throttle response improved greatly after I cleaned it.

Good write up Daniel :)

[DrewRam]

Ok I got it off and damn is it dirty! Only problem I am having is trying to get the damn wire harness off it so i can clean it. Any suggestions? I pulled the little red tab back and this thing won't come off! I am afraid I am gonna break it

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[garner]

I wonder what mine looks like since I have a little over 15,000 miles on my truck

[DrewRam]

I got 45k on mine and it looks like it's never been done!

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[AWE Daniel]

Ok I got it off and damn is it dirty! Only problem I am having is trying to get the damn wire harness off it so i can clean it. Any suggestions? I pulled the little red tab back and this thing won't come off! I am afraid I am gonna break it

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Get yourself a small flathead screwdriver and carefully pry that red tab out.

[AWE Daniel]

I got 45k on mine and it looks like it's never been done!

via DroidX (Tapatalk)

If you havent gotten it off yet you wont see the dirt, its on the inside part.

[AWE Daniel]

I wonder what mine looks like since I have a little over 15,000 miles on my truck

I do mine every 15K or so, so yours will prob look close to the same. This is the reason why some people put catch-cans on the motors, so all that junk doesnt go back into the intake.

[garner]

I do mine every 15K or so, so yours will prob look close to the same. This is the reason why some people put catch-cans on the motors, so all that junk doesnt go back into the intake.

Thinking about taking mine off to see and my mom's off her pt cruiser cause I don't think it's been done in 100,000 miles unless it was done at service and the dealership didn't tell us

[DrewRam]

If you havent gotten it off yet you wont see the dirt, its on the inside part.

I had it off I just couldn't get the harness off. I was able to get it tho. Putting it back together now I will post some pics

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[DrewRam]

Great write up by the way! I ended up pulling the whole hemi hat and airbox top off to make it easier to work on.

Before:
http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/yy74/DrewFDavis/2011-08-14_14-57-20_825.jpg

After:
http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/yy74/DrewFDavis/2011-08-14_15-05-42_926.jpg

The after pic I took of the dirty side didn't come out good but it looks as clean as this!
Now I just gotta tackle the plugs and it will be like I whole new truck.

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[4XLGator]

Nice work, Drew!

[SmokedRam]

looking great...!!!

[AWE Daniel]

Much better! I'll prob do mine again soon

[03MopaRamman]

Daniel, Good write-up for those wanting to learn the basic maintenance stuff.
I always use my 1/4" Dr. Inch Pounds Torque Wrench when tightening those TB , coils, or valve cover bolts.

My 03 stayed real clean on its own as I only cleaned it once in the first 7 year s after reading it on the forums, and it was in no way oil gunked up like in your guys pictures. Maybe fuel type and additives used have something to do with it!

[Redtruck-VA]

Seem like everyone is working on their TB's today. I'll have to say mine wasn't dirty at all, but cleaned it anyway. Took my stock TB and experiemented a little. here is what it looks like under the cover.

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/4794/img2011081400007.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/img2011081400007.jpg/)

[AWE Daniel]

Daniel, Good write-up for those wanting to learn the basic maintenance stuff.
I always use my 1/4" Dr. Inch Pounds Torque Wrench when tightening those TB , coils, or valve cover bolts.

My 03 stayed real clean on its own as I only cleaned it once in the first 7 year s after reading it on the forums, and it was in no way oil gunked up like in your guys pictures. Maybe fuel type and additives used have something to do with it!

I never use any additives or anything, and I changed my EGR and PCV the first time I cleaned it thinking maybe one of those was stuck or something but it always looks like that, but it comes off real easy. Plus im Close to 100K miles.

[SmokedRam]

ETHANOL!!!! Ethanol is notorious for gumming and varnishing fuel system parts...

[AWE Daniel]

Im sure that doesnt help either lol

[UnderCover]

Interesting... I'm assuming this would be just about the same on my charger, right? I've got 31K on mine, and I've never touched it, so I may have a project to tackle tomorrow

[AWE Daniel]

Interesting... I'm assuming this would be just about the same on my charger, right? I've got 31K on mine, and I've never touched it, so I may have a project to tackle tomorrow

Should be just removal and installation will be different, everything else should be the same.

[johnnysart]

TB came out so clean you can eat off it. Come on over and clean mine and I'll buy lunch.

[04hemi]

Just did mine today. Truck just broke 72k owend it since 64k doesn't look like its ever been done. Thanks for the write up!

[johnmcd348]

Is there a gasket that needs to be replaced when you remove the TB or is it a machined fit?

[AWE Daniel]

There is an orange rubber gasket but you reuse it