Akim711

well, i go to my dealership (sierra acura of alhambra (so-cal dealership))... and the charged me $260... which wasn't too bad, but then they called me back later and told me that my throttle body should be cleaned... they said that there was a carbon buildup in there that should be the result of bad gas mileage. The labor was about a $120, so i had it done. Is this sorta thing usual? I heard from some others that its usually a consequence of driving the car hard... can anyone verify this? i guess i sorta can, because lately i've been lead foot, esp. ever since i got my headers installed, and my gas mileage is def. thumbs down... but i feel my car feels better... which is also one reason why i think our ECU's are adaptive to our driving style... i think someone mentioned this earlier that it might be, and yes, i'm starting to agree...

but just wanted to know... anyone else get this too?

-oh, and on another note, what's going down with the 12/15 meet guys?
if anything, i'd put my vote on the navi conversion.

mattg

You'd think that would be under warranty or at least included in the service cost, not an extra $120 in labor. That seems real high but I'm not really sure. And they say WOT cleans the carbon out, guess not.

Road Rage_RENAMED

If this is what I think it is, it is outrageous!

They probably meant the throttle body plate - this is a metal plate that modulates the amount of air entering the engine. If it gets dirty, it can stick open a bit, messing up idle. Cleaning it is part of a "tuneup" on modern engines - but it is incredibly easy, simnilar to cleaning carburetors in the old days. There are specialized sprays that safely clean the gunk off the TB plate without harming the film on it. All one has to do is remove the rubber belows, spray the stuff, wipe it down with a rag - done!

This strikes me as Service padding - they should charge a fee for it, but not near $120 on top of the $290.:P

CO-CL-S

I'd write Acura Care and complain about that. It sounds bogus..

AntsAreCrap

I agree with Road Rage. This should be a pretty easy thing to work on. Even if you take the throttle body off to clean it (I did on my last car) it should only take 30 minutes. $5-$10 for the cleaner and 30 minutes, their time must be more valuable than mine. To answer your question, I think a build up on the throttle body can be caused partly by the gas. Our engines are very effiecient, but typically at WOT you are going to blow some gas through the engine without completely combusting it. The increased velocity is what helps "blow the carbon out". But this can't really be the problem because the throttle body is the almost the first part of the engine, way before the gas gets to the cylinder where it can build up from incomplete combustion. All this is to say that I don't think hard driving is a big factor in the build up. Unless you are sucking in real dirty air, and it is getting past the filter. Just my 0.02.

Road Rage_RENAMED

I agree 100% - TB is upstream and is solely affected by incoming airstream - any adulterant that gets past the air filter can stick on it - sulfur in air, silicon, etc. But it usually takes a long time to build up enough to cause problems, unless one is using a poor filter such as K&N or a foam filter like Comptech's that has been too heavily oiled or uses the wrong oil.

AntsAreCrap

The throttle body I cleaned had 110,000 miles on it before I cleaned it. I can't imagine needing to clean one at 30K. Sounds like padding to me, but next time I would just check it. Unbolt the rubber bellows and you should see the plate. If it is dirty - squirt it. If it's not ask them what they are talking about.

M5 Lite

I can see myself using that excuse when I get pulled over. "I'm sorry officer, my BMW dealer told me to drive this car at WOT to clean out the carbon deposits otherwise this car's engine is going to blow up". Hahah, maybe I might use it

mr tl

that does not sound right

i remember on some 99-01 tl's there was a tsb on that. my dealer told me they noticed a lot of carbon build up on some tl's, which were all cleaned under warranty

Akim711

hmm.. yeah, guess i got jipped... Hey, tell me how to do this procedure and what i'll need for the future so i don't have to spend so much at the dealer everytime. I knew from the start they ripped me off, but whatever, couldn't do it myself.

so yeah, they said it would help idle rpm, and it really did... even on a cold start, it dropped down to about 750rpm, whereas before that it would idle at 1400rpm, and slowly drop to 1000rpm as the engine warms up.

hmm, any tips would be great. thanks.

EricL

(BTW – I know how much you love the K&Ns…)

I didn't see an aftermarket filter or CAI in his sig.

You know, this is one of the "current" jack-the-price-up gimmicks (along with fuel injector flush jobs) that service people are told to peddle to boost profits!

The Nissan people over at Universal City sang that song all the time... "Hey, you probably could use a throttle cleaning, your idle is a bit off" (Yea, and there is a little screw that takes a minute or two to adjust the idle air bypass) "Oh, you need a fuel injection clean out -- we see all of the 30K mile cars really needing it" (Yea, sure... even if you're running Techron and fuel cleaner...)

IMO -- This "stuff" is a quick way to clean their customer's wallets out (sure does a great job of doing that)

(And I'm not saying that it shouldn't ever be done, but it is a well-know scam *and* I thought that more than a few members had some less than pleasant stories about the Alhambra (something about being a "snake farm" or something similar). Doesn’t sound like they have changed much…

EricL

1. Try Pasadena Acura next time (current reports are good).
2. There is an idle air bypass adjustment that should can be adjusted.


Excpert from thread 1: http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...5&pagenumber=5

"Dealership: Acura of Pasadena, Pasadena, CA
Pricing: Very good, cheaper than competitors but depends on which salesperson u get.
Service: A+ in my book.
Comments: In the world of forced accessories and bad service, this dealership only sells you what you want and not what they want!

Dealership: Sierra Acura, Alhambra, CA
Pricing: VERY BAD. Wanted to sell me $1200+ dollars of accessories that I didn't want and wouldn't budge. Gave me such excuses as "If we remove the mudguards, your car will have holes in it" and "If I take off the guards, locks and trunk tray off, who will want them?" which yieled "Put them on the next CL you get" from me.
Service: Is there a rating lower than F-??
Comments: In the world of forced accessories and bad service, Sierra Acura is right at home. Don't waste you time or money there and don't tell me I didn't tell you so. If you frequent this delaership by mistake, drive over to Acura of Pasadena which is only 15 minutes away. Put it simply, I cannot describe Sierra Acura w/o cursing at them......

AND

link: http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...5&pagenumber=1

Chris

man fuck Sierra... go to Acura of Pasadena. $260 sounds steep for the 30K check-up. Pasadena is going to charge me $230 or so.