FancyHonda

While doing another repair, a friend of mine - a technician I work with - held the plate of the throttle body on my car open for an extended time, and cleaned inside the TB. Afterwards the car didn't idle properly. I searched via these forums and read that I needed to do the PCM relearn (or whatever the proper description is) and I did this via software and following the proper procedure; run the car at 3k with no accessories on until the fan cycles and then let the car idle for a set amount of time afterwards. After that the car ran normally, or at least well enough that the foreman of local Acura dealer thought the car drove fine.

So, that's all well and good, but now I'm a bit paranoid that there is something permanently wrong with my throttle body and or the car still has an underlying running condition. Symptom wise, while cruising in gear on-throttle, if you let go of the throttle it feels quite abrupt/jerky. I've also noticed that coming back to idle the car first lands around 900 rpm and then settles to the regular idle speed after a second or two. Along with the finicky nature of the TL in terms of rev hang and shifting, I have a hard time driving the car as smoothly as I would like consistently. My plans for the car are to improve the smoothness and shifting as much as possible. Things on my radar or already/ordered: master and slave cylinder without delay valves, XLR8 daily flywheel/clutch kit, and a Hondata Flashpro to improve rev hang and overall drivability.

I'm not really sure if this is throttle body related, another issue, or is somewhat normal. Any input or suggestions for things to check/replace are appreciated. I'm quite eager to get my hands dirty and do more work to the car.

zeta

iTrader: (1)

Just to clarify, your friend, the technician (assuming automotive?), did he know that 'DBW' throttle bodies are to be addressed differently (in regards to moving the throttle plate) than cable operated TB's?

FancyHonda

I insisted that we use a cleaner appropriate for the TB as to not harm the finish on the inside, but neither of us thought much of moving the blade manually. Even the foreman I mentioned didn't think anything of it when I brought it up to him. I later read on here that you can apparently brick it by doing so, and that's what worries me although my symptoms seem fairly minor.

zeta

iTrader: (1)

^
Yeah, the DBW throttle bodies are sensitive. At near about the 3:25 thru 3.50 mark on the video below, even Eric the Car Guy emphasizes not to mess with them if possible. He does not say much other than 'to do everything you can to make sure you don't screw it up'.

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

The shop manual says to remove the TB before cleaning and also to use only Honda genuine TB cleaner.
It does not explicitly say not to manually move the plate. I should think it's perfectly safe to move the plate
manually as long as the ignition is not on. The motor inside is just a DC motor, not a stepper motor, so moving
it manually as long as it's not powered up is fine.

I can tell you right now that if the cleaner used was not specifically for TB cleaning, then you may have a problem
on your hands. Do you recall what cleaner was used?

FancyHonda

I don't recall precisely, but it was a TB appropriate cleaner for the vehicles that my dealer has. (German with a 3-pointed symbol)

After this thread I picked up a used TB out an 07 Base TL and swapped that in out of concern that I had damaged my previous TB. No difference in behavior between the two, so I'm pretty sure my TB was not damaged by what we did. I would still recommend caution when working on it, but perhaps my concern was unwarranted.

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

The concern with using a generic cleaner/lubricant is the potential for destroying the O2 sensors if it has silicone in it.
I've actually seen people clean TBs with WD40 before. WD40 is silicone based and running it through an engine will
most certainly destroy the O2 sensors by clogging the tiny pores in the sensor elements.

Your TB is fine as long as you didn't rub off the Molybdenum coating. I think a lot of people do this by mistake
thinking it's some sort of crud. It's there to help seal the TB when it's closed. Below is a brand new TB and you
can see the Moly coating. The coating wears-in to create a good seal.