Throttle Body

Used & Rebuilt Throttle Body

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Throttle Body

What Is a Throttle Body?

In typical fuel injected engines used in automobiles, the throttle body is part of the air intake system that controls the amount of air that flows into the engine’s combustion chamber. It is usually located in between the intake manifold and the air filter and it contains a delicate throttle system which contains a key component of spark ignition called the air flow. As part of the automation process, airflow helps regulate the air-fuel mixture required to ignite the engine.Throttle body also has a housing unit that contains a throttle plate or butterfly valve that rotates on a shaft. When the accelerator is pushed down, the throttle plate will open and allow air into the engine. When the gas pedal is released, the throttle plate will close, effectively choking off air flow into the combustion chamber. Thus, this process allows the throttle body to effectively control the speed of the engine and through it, the speed of the vehicle.

Symptoms of a faulty throttle body

The throttle body is a crucial piece of air intake system in all modern vehicles. At any point of time, for the engine to operate at its optimal condition, allowing the correct amount of air to enter is very important. If the throttle body is messy, malfunctioning or clogged up, it will stop the flow of air into the engine, which will in turn causes issues with the performance and will also send unburnt fuel to pass through the exhaust system.

The following are the seven symptoms that are generally observed in case of a failing throttle body –

1. Lack of power – If the throttle body works incorrectly, it will lead to higher or lesser amount of air entering into the mixture in the engine than is ideal for optimum operation, thus leading to a lack of power and the vehicle not accelerating as it should.

2.Issues while accelerating – When you press on your accelerator, ideally it should allow more air to burn the excess fuel coming in, but if the throttle body malfunctions, enough air will not enter the mixture causing the acceleration to fail due to the lack of surge in power. Thus the car will either not accelerate after a certain point or have uneven acceleration. Both of these issues will adversely affect the power, mileage as well as the longevity of the engine.

3.Higher or lower idling – If the throttle body does not operate effectively, one of the obvious tell tale sign is poor or low idling. This also includes the engine stalling after coming to a stop, extremely low idling after starting and stalling even when the accelerator pedal is pressed down rapidly. This is generally due to the dirt collected in the throttle body causing the airflow into the system to be turbulent and leading to a fluctuating idle speed.

4.Dirt or Grime build up – One of the major reasons of the throttle body being clogged up is due to the accumulation of dirt and grime within the part. This phenomenon is known as coking. Coking basically creates a rough surface that will disturb the air-fuel flow and diminish the effectiveness of the engine. Carbon deposits cause a similar problem as well by generating an uneven surface inside the part. Thus, if you notice dirt or grime getting built up, its best to get your vehicle checked up.

5.Poor mileage – The fuel efficiently of a vehicle will be severely impacted by a chocking throttle body. The full-tank-to-full-tank method is the best method to measure the mileage. In this method, first fill the tank completely with fuel and make note of the odometer readings. Fill the tank again and make note of the total amount of fuel consumed once more. The distance divided by the amount of fuel consumed is the vehicle’s mileage. If you discover a variation of more than 15% in both the mileages using this method, then you most likely have a throttle body issue.

6.Electrical problems – Most of the vehicles are highly dependent on electronics these days. If the throttle body’s electronic sensor gets covered in dirt, this will end up resulting in unnecessary changes to the air fuel mixture inside the engine, leading to the vehicle to shift into secondary power reduced mode.

7.Check engine light is ON – If the check engine light is ON and there is nothing wrong with the engine, then a malfunctioning throttle body is one possible cause. This is caused by the fact that any issue with the throttle body’s performance alerts the electronic throttle control, which in turn illuminates the check engine light.