cleaned throttle body, now high idle...what happened?

Joey D · 11 Jun 2011, 05:39 pm

A few days ago, I cleaned out my throttle body ('94 Toyota Paseo) to take care of a stalling/stuttering/sputtering problem. I did not take it out of the car, I simply opened the butterfly, and used seafoam and a towel to clean as far as I could reach. Cleaned it (a TON of carbon) and now it works pretty good. Only problem is that now my idle seems way too high. It was at about 1400 RPM, but I did the 'ol jumper the E1 and TE1 diagnostic, and twist the idle screw, but that only lowered it to about 1200 RPM, and the screw will not go any further.

The car is drivable, only when I stick it in reverse, it grinds really bad....so I pop it in 3rd gear first, then reverse and it is fine (probably because the reverse gear doesn't have a synchro?) This never happened before, and I know it is only happening because the idle is too high.

What can the problem be?

Dave · 11 Jun 2011, 06:24 pm

check to see that all the vacuum hoses are on

RyD · 11 Jun 2011, 06:39 pm

This is just speculative, but maybe since you cleaned the throttle body out, there is less restriction of air flow. If you didn't clean the Mass Air Flow Sensor, just the throttle body, this could throw off the computer. Try getting some MAF sensor cleaner, or electronic cleaner, and spray it on your MAF.

You should find the MAF on your air intake housing, or filter box.

The instructions of the cleaner say not to physically touch the "eye" of the sensor because you could break it, and they are $$ to replace. All you gotta do is spray it and the residue will dissolve leaving it clean.

I don't know, just a guess. Worth a try.

cleaned throttle body, now high idle...what happened?

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