Reasons Behind High Idle After Cleaning the Throttle Body

Cars are a necessary, helpful, and excellent resource. They provide us with the required transportation to go to work, school, shop for groceries and clothes, and take us on trips to exciting destinations. However, they can also be costly, difficult, and inconvenient. This occurs when a part of the car breaks and requires expensive mechanical attention–which generally takes up a lot of time and necessitates missing work or other chores.

That’s why it’s always important to pay attention to your car and take it to a professional mechanic whenever you suspect that there could be a problem. This prevents long-term wear and tear from building into something more serious and detrimental.

What to Know

The throttle body is one of the most common areas of a car that needs constant maintenance. Especially if you car has hit more than 75,000 miles, it’s important to pay attention to the fuel-injection system, as it may need some gentle work over time. The fuel-injector and throttle-body are the most common items requiring consistent maintenance. While the fuel-injector section is rarely do-it-yourself, many people will try and clean their throttle body.

While easy enough to do, in theory, it can often be done incorrectly and result in an erratic or high idle in your car. While not dangerous, it can lead to long-term issues that are expensive and frustrating to fix.

What is the Throttle Body?

The throttle body is a tube that controls the levels of air that enter the engine at any given time. The throttle position sensor combined with the air flow sensor communicate with the computer of the car and tells the car how much fuel is required. However, if dirt builds up in the air intake area it can prevent the car from pulling in enough fuel and therefore prevents your car from running smoothly and correctly. That’s why it’s necessary to clean the throttle body routinely.

The throttle position sensor (TPS) is often located on this body, however, and can be damaged when an untrained person attempts to clean it, resulting in a necessary recalibration after the fact–which can also be inconvenient and requires a trip to the mechanic or dealership.

Why is there a high idle?

When a person chooses to clean the throttle body of their vehicle on their own, everything may go totally fine. Often, it’s a quick, easy process that produces better results. However, many times, the person can make a simple mistake that results in negative consequences. The most common result of this is the “high idle” or the erratic and aggressive noise that you hear when the car is idling.

The loud idling sound is most often the result of a vacuum leak. Another possibility is that an intake hose has been torn. Even when being very careful, it’s easy to create a vacuum leak completely by accident.

Don’t worry too much: oftentimes a rough idle is overcome simply over time. A couple of days of turning the car off and on again will fix the problem. However, if the problem doesn’t dissipate, it’s likely that you’ve done something wrong in your effort to clean the interior components of the car. At this point, you should take it to the dealer or a local mechanic and have the problem looked at. Over time, the damage can add up and cause costly replacements.

What to Do

No matter what the problem is, Euro Plus Automotive is here to provide our dealership quality services at a reasonable price. After 3 decades in service, we’re ready to help with any problems that occur with your Japanese or German vehicles. With a 2 year/24,000 mile warranty–for both parts and labor–we’re ready to fix any needs that you could possibly have.

Our expert, certified technicians at Euro Plus will service Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Volkswagen, Acura, Lexus, Honda, Nissan, Infiniti, and Toyota vehicles as well as many others. Our specialists service Canoga Park, Woodland Hills, San Fernando Valley, and Los Angeles County, CA.

Regardless of the problem, we here at Euro Plus Automotive are ready and willing to help solve all your issues, quickly, confidently, and with the service and quality that you deserve.