Sooted Up Throttle Flap

[bmb779]

Throttle body is situated at the very front of the engine visible when you remove the engine cover if you have one,remove clip from intake pipe housing,remove electrical connector,then unscrew the three bolts.spray with electrical cleaner and then reassemble.you will have to get the dtc erased.

 

[begbie]

Throttle body is situated at the very front of the engine visible when you remove the engine cover if you have one,remove clip from intake pipe housing,remove electrical connector,then unscrew the three bolts.spray with electrical cleaner and then reassemble.you will have to get the dtc erased.

Do you mean I'd still need to take the car to the dealers to get the dtc erased? Wouldn't the engine management light go out on the dash anyway?

Sorry for the stupid questions, I'm an engineer in the oil and gas industry, not a mechanic or car enthusiast to this degree!

 

[bmb779]

Do you mean I'd still need to take the car to the dealers to get the dtc erased? Wouldn't the engine management light go out on the dash anyway?

Sorry for the stupid questions, I'm an engineer in the oil and gas industry, not a mechanic or car enthusiast to this degree!

either that or find someone on the forum near you who has vag-com,or buy a fault code reader from e-bay which can reset and erase dtc's

 

[daz_pd]

be careful not to use too much liquid when cleaning or it can get in around the electric motor.

 

[Rua1r1]

No joy lads, i took the throttle body apart as bmb779 said and gave it a good clean when i reassembled it there was no change. The engine still shudders to a halt so it looks like a need a new part The only good thing is that i now know how to fit it myself

 

[bmb779]

£200 from euro car parts.

 

[Rua1r1]

cheers

 

[MATT RILEY]

Have you checked the fuse for the flap under the ebox next to the battery? 15 amp I think but you should check.

 

[Rua1r1]

No i didn't check that, i will give that a go

 

[begbie]

No joy lads, i took the throttle body apart as bmb779 said and gave it a good clean when i reassembled it there was no change. The engine still shudders to a halt so it looks like a need a new part The only good thing is that i now know how to fit it myself

I'm going to give it a go tomorrow (well, today, seeing as it's 1.00am!) so I'll report the outcome later.

The unit's an expensive little git - £200?!

 

[jwarnette]

Hi guys,

You've totally described the problem I have on my 2.0 reference sport tdi too. Can someone (very kind!) take a photo of the engine bay and point this little critter out to me please?

Cheers!
James

 

[Rua1r1]

I need a new part now, really need to get one 2day in Northern Ireland, just waiting on the dealers opening

 

[begbie]

I need a new part now, really need to get one 2day in Northern Ireland, just waiting on the dealers opening

Going back to my original question, will there be any damage done to the engine if this throttle flap is not cleaned or replaced, If we're only talking of this flap not closing by a millimetre on switching the engine off, and the rest of the time the engine is operating as normal?

 

[jwarnette]

The SEAT guy I spoke to said it wouldn't damage the engine, but because the light has come on, you won't get anything like top performance out of it. He said that as soon as the engine management light comes on, it limits the output. Not sure if thats true, but it would make sense.

You also need to watch your fuel consumption. If the flap opens more than it should, you might see diesel being drunk a lot quicker...

 

[begbie]

Sounds plausible. I'm going to try cleaning it and if that doesn't work I'll leave it and see how performance/fuel economy is affected. To be honest, I haven't noticed any difference as yet but then again, I haven't been paying attention. The only difference I've noticed is the engine shudder on switching off the ignition.

 

[begbie]

Throttle body is situated at the very front of the engine visible when you remove the engine cover if you have one,remove clip from intake pipe housing,remove electrical connector,then unscrew the three bolts.spray with electrical cleaner and then reassemble.you will have to get the dtc erased.

Father in law just came back from shops with a can of 3-in-1 silicone spray lubricant. Am I ok to use this to clean the flap?

How the hell did you guys manage to get to the back bolt?!

 

[begbie]

Seems to be a failure for me too, although that may be due to the fact that I couldn't get the housing removed. The left hand rear bolt was too difficult to get to. I would have to remove the coolant supply hose and pipe to get a decent purchase on the allen key. In the end I just sprayed a little cleaner into the inlet and managed to get my fingers up (years of practise! )to wipe the crud off of the flap. I assembled everything again and still the same light on the dash and engine shudder. Will take it out a drive to see if it clears though.

By the way, should the flap be open when the ignition is off? I guess that it closes when the ignition is initially switched off then open again? The reason I ask is because the flap was fully open when I cleaned it.

 

[begbie]

No joy lads, i took the throttle body apart as bmb779 said and gave it a good clean when i reassembled it there was no change. The engine still shudders to a halt so it looks like a need a new part The only good thing is that i now know how to fit it myself

How I'd you get on Ruairi? Did you buy the part and fit it yet? Engine shudder gone?

I think I need to get decent tools as the allen key I was using was just the wrong length to get to the rear left hand bolt.

Let us know how you got on.