1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Throttle body cleaning?

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Eric E, Aug 12, 2023.

  1. Eric E

    Eric E New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2023
    1
    1
    0
    Location:
    NJ and PA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    V
    My old 2007 would not start one very fine summer day (well it would actually start, but immediately stall out). , and I discovered that all I needed to do was spray some cleaner in the throttle body, and shazaam, the problem was fixed! So every summer I'd give it another spray, and never had that issue again.
    My 2017 Prius v 5 has 70,000 miles, I've never sprayed any throttle body cleaner. FIRST: IS IT RECOMMENDED? SECOND: Could it hurt? THIRD: The design is way different than my 2007. Does anyone have a YouTube video for the 2017v ?
     
    bisco likes this.
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    108,658
    49,371
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    welcome!
    it won't hurt, but you're right, it's a very different design and that includes misdesign.
    the gen 3 engine (includes all prius v) has a poor egr setup which clogs the egr valve, cooler and intake manifold ports, as well as dumping the remaining shmutz into the throttle body.
    take a look at this video. you might consider attempting it soon, and changing the oil and filter every 5k, if you aren't already.

    watch

    and this guy is funny:

    search
     
  3. John March

    John March Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2021
    26
    5
    0
    Location:
    Winston Salem NC
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    The throttle body wasn't very hard to get too. I was surprised how clean it was at 140,000 miles. Perhaps someone cleaned it at some point previously. In anycase, my only advice will be if you remove the big throttle body hose - learn how the clamp works such as it clips back fully open. Then you can work the big hose on to the throttle body nice and perfectly all around before releasing the clamp. Failure to have that hose on fully will result in your engine throwing a crap load of codes (technical term) and shutting down (ask me how i know). You would not need to remove the coolant lines from the throttle body to clean it.

    I recommend removing the airbox and large air hose to the throttle body. I remove the airbox to ensure the large air hose is clamped on perfectly and i can see all around it.... your call. I cleaned with carb cleaner and a towel to get all the build up off. Not sure how effective it would be without manually wiping it down.
     
    #3 John March, Aug 28, 2023
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2023
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    55,413
    38,644
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    This is for regular 3rd gen Prius, but I'd think it'd be applicable for Prius v throttle body cleaning:


    ^ He recommends to not spray carb cleaning directly, instead spray it on a cloth or swab, just wipe.

    If you really want to do a thorough job, and clean the "sump" at the bottom of the intake manifold below, I'd recommend to disconnect the throttle body's hold-down bolts/nuts (2 of each), the electrical connector, and lift the throttle body right off. You definitely don't want/need to disconnect the coolant hoses; they have enough slack that it's unnecessary.

    The attached shows torque values for the throttle body hold-down nuts/bolts, both are 7 lb/ft IIRC. A 3/8" or 1/4" drive torque wrench would be appropriate for such a low value.

    If you're ambittious, go further, remove and clean the intake manifold? Pay special attention to the small EGR passages, one per port.

    Also timely to clean the EGR components, see first two links in my signature. (On a phone, turn it landscape to see signature.)