Sluggish VX at 40mph

[monroe74]

Originally Posted by civic lover

Cleans the motor out.

Yes. Honda actually recommends winding the motor up periodically, for that reason. If I remember correctly, the service bulletin said 3,000-4,000 rpm.

[suspendedhatch]

Don't be embarrassed. It made me laugh. I wasn't sure if it was a typo or what though.

If you're cleaning the TB because the throttle plate is sticking, then yeah just leave it on there and spray it out while you work the throttle plate manually. You might want to replace your O2 sensor with a spark plug temporarily so you don't wipe out your O2 when it burns off that carb spray and all that gunk. Your cat converter will survive.

I clean it religiously ever since it failed me on smog one year. The throttle body and intake manifold build up a thick layer of grease from PCV gases, charcoal canister gases, and believe it or not; microscopic particles that make it through your air filter. If you have a K&N style oil-air filter, then you'll get a lot of that oil in there as well. That's why I switched to the AEM dryflow.

To really get into all those little passages in the throttle body, you need to take it off. Remove the MAP sensor. You'll also need it out of the way to clean the intake manifold. The only real way to clean the intake manifold is to remove it as well. The intake manifold gasket always tears, and it can be a pain to clean off the surface for a new gasket while the engine is still in the car. So what I recommend is that you get a plastic Hondata-style "heat shield" gasket because it's reusable. Also don't forget to clean the IACV.

You'll need a bunch of carb cleaner and shop rags to get everything clean. This stuff is awful for the environment. It's better just to take it to a shop and have them clean it with their parts cleaner. The end result is better and the ozone and your water table will thank you for it.

[monroe74]

Great tips, thanks.

[slogfilet]

Excellent help... I'll start by doing a more thorough cleaning. I had cleaned the IACV previously, and that gave me a major improvement on idle (idles lower, no surging now.)