Kizashi Club

LPSISRL wrote:I'm not sure what the "idle air controller" is. If you're referring to the MAF (mass airflow sensor), by all means. Make sure you're using the right cleaner or you could damage them.

Just ignore that my comment. I don't think the Kizashi even has an idle air controller on account of it having an electronically-controlled throttle body. My bad.

My last question however: If I remove the throttle body for cleaning, do I have to unhook all the hoses on it? Or can I leave them attached when I unscrew the throttle body to clean it?

The hoses are coolant lines. Sure, you could probably clean it hunching over the engine compartment, but I found it easier to pull it completely out and take my time cleaning it thoroughly ( it was pretty dirty ). You'll spill only a tiny bit of coolant.

KansasKid wrote:

LPSISRL wrote:I'm not sure what the "idle air controller" is. If you're referring to the MAF (mass airflow sensor), by all means. Make sure you're using the right cleaner or you could damage them.

Just ignore that my comment. I don't think the Kizashi even has an idle air controller on account of it having an electronically-controlled throttle body. My bad.

My last question however: If I remove the throttle body for cleaning, do I have to unhook all the hoses on it? Or can I leave them attached when I unscrew the throttle body to clean it?

I don't remember any coolant lines. Just air intake plumbing then 4 bolts to completely remove it. You can do a much more thorough job cleaning by removing it.

LPSISRL wrote:I don't remember any coolant lines. Just air intake plumbing then 4 bolts to completely remove it. You can do a much more thorough job cleaning by removing it.

There's a weird hose that loops around what I think is the PCV hose (someone please confirm) and connects to the throttle body (see "Dafuq" below).
Yank the metal part of the PCV hose straight out of the air intake hose, there's no connectors or anything.

I tried to removing the throttle body today, but I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the electrical plug from the throttle body and I couldn't get Dafuq Hose 1 and Other Hose 2 undone either (see pic below). Not sure if I have a significant amount of carbon buildup on the butterfly valve. I blew the crumbs out of the housing.
I was running out of daylight, and didn't have enough time to wait for everything to dry off before putting it back together before it'd get too dark to see. So. I just hooked everything back up and will probably have to hit up my buddy with the heated garage, because it's looking like it's not gonna be above 50 and dry again for a long, long time.

Below is how I feel after this endeavor:

That's not the PCV hose. It's called the breather hose. The PCV valve is located just to the right of the center of the valve cover about 8 inches from the breather hose.
Just don't disconnect the fuel line... (talking experience here)
And it looks like the carbon buildup ring is there which is the rough idle and stumbling culprit.

And now that I think about it, there were coolant hoses but the coolant loss was minimal.

LPSISRL wrote:Just don't disconnect the fuel line... (talking experience here)

This sounds like a good story...

That hose is the other end of the PCV system. At low throttle openings the PCV has a lot of vacuum on it without much blowby in the crankcase, so it sucks fresh air through that hose, through the valve cover, out the PCV, and into the intake manifold. Dafuk? is hot coolant to keep that breather hose from freezing solid when it's cold and humid.

So I finally got around to "removing" and cleaning the throttle body on Azumi at the beginning of the summer, and what a difference it made! She no longer stutters at idle anymore.

It took me a little while, but I finally figured out the ECU connector that kept me from doing this the first time was just a pinch clip and needed a good yank. After that, I was able to undo all the bolts, and just left the hoses on the bottom of the throttle body itself attached. So I didn't COMPLETELY remove it, but I was able to move it enough that I could hit it from both sides with the throttle body cleaner and a bunch of the Scott's shop towels. After the initial blasts of throttle body cleaner seemed to get the loose grime off, it seemed like the thing that worked best after that was to spray a good amount of cleaner directly on a towel and just scrub the crap out of the deposits that were pretty well baked on.

The plate inside the throttle body is pretty heavy, so I highly recommend a set of gloved with semi-rigid tips. The plate won't instantly snap shut on you, but it gets to be a bit tiresome to maintain the finger strength to push/hold it open.

I have some pics for reference for anyone who wonders what "carbon buildup" looks like:
Back-side before cleaning: Front-side before cleaning: Front-side mid-cleaning: Back-side mid-cleaning: Front-side after cleaning:

Great pics and I'm sure you'll feel the improvement right away. The first couple times I did mine I left it on and propped it open with a screw driver. While cleaning, I released the spring tension holding the screw driver and it fell into the intake manifold. Let me tell you it was no fun getting it out. It almost would have been easier to turn the car on its side and shake it!

LPSISRL wrote:Great pics and I'm sure you'll feel the improvement right away. The first couple times I did mine I left it on and propped it open with a screw driver. While cleaning, I released the spring tension holding the screw driver and it fell into the intake manifold. Let me tell you it was no fun getting it out. It almost would have been easier to turn the car on its side and shake it!

Indeed. No more shuttering at idle when I leave it in gear, and it's not as lurchy when I try to accelerate from a stop.

And I heeded your warning about dropping things in the intake manifold cuz I didn't want ANY PART of that nonsense!