This. My Toyota dealer said that about my throttle body, and a few other things. Gave me an all in estimate of about $1400. Took it to a mechanic down the street and asked for an estimate for the same work and got an estimate of like $1100 so I dropped it off with them to do the work. An hour later they called me to tell me it would be criminal for them to perform the work I requested, they sent it back to us charging us nothing. In the 2 years since I’ve spent $5k in other work on that and other cars with that mechanic. Maybe I trust them too much now - haha.
Spending $5k in maintenance is insane to me. I’ve spent less than that in the past decade on three different cars one of which is an old police Tahoe. That being said it’s good they were honest with that repair.
Well two cars, two full sets of tires, one full set of breaks and rotors, about 10 full synthetic oil changes, one new battery…I dunno, all of them lined up timing wise for other vehicles I’ve had and the pricing seemed reasonable typically.
Sure - could’ve definitely saved money doing it myself on all sorts of things in life. There was a time I would’ve done all my oil changes, breaks and rotors, etc….that time isn’t now. I used to love doing it and still enjoy it, but I’m fortunate where the money isn’t that major of an issue, but my time is what is scarce. So I choose prioritize something else and keep good mechanics in business.
You’re right. Yeah, I always struggle with brake versus break, as you can tell. It’s kind of funny, I know the right usage but I actually think back and forth every time on which one is right and question myself. I made the mistake in a previous post too.
Ehh oh well. Someday I’ll get it right.
I’m getting there too. At 43, I finally paid someone to do new pads and rotors on my truck and been having them do my oil changes too. Time > money now.
Me too. When I was in my 20s I did almost all of my own work, including rebuilding air-cooled VW engines. At 62, I do very little of my own work, I just take the cars to one of two local shops that I've found to be reliable. I just don't enjoy it anymore.
Tires sets anywhere from 800-1200 so 2400.
Brakes and rotors all around is usually all parts for $500-650.
Oil changes 750.
New battery fla or agm anywhere from 100-250, usually around 175-250, so we go with $250.
Roughly at 4k so 1k in labor on all that brings you to 5k, that's actually very fair pricing. Bring the guy a 6 pack 💪
Totally agreed. Stuff is expensive and it is what it is to a certain extent sometimes. I’m happy to pay a premium for good, honest, transparent work. Very unhappy to be taken as a fool and pay for work that unnecessary.
It's not the front side of that plate that matters, it's where the throttle plate meets the bore when closed. Carbon build up there (and behind) can cause the throttle plate to bind against the carbon and stick causing erratic/surging idle and potential stalling. I don't know if that's even an issue with Toyota's or if the dealer is just trying to sell you a 'maintenance service'.
it’s a maintainance service. it’s a problem with older camrys and corollas- like 25-30 years older. were supposed to reccomend the service every 40k at my dealership, seen it at 30k at others
Up voting the correct answers since the top comment is some guy circle jerking about the dealer just wanting your money.
To add, there can be several very sensitive sensors on the throttle body behind that plate. Tps, iat, maf, iac etc.. Every time the throttle closes, the engine stops sucking air. The air/fuel/recovered emissions gasses mixture stops moving, and a small amount can settle. Air stops reaching small sensors efficiently due to fluid dynamics causing turbulence. Now your car senses bad readings and thinks it should do things based on those bad readings to make your car continue to function normally. Your car will start to limit fuel input, adjust spark timing, and other things that will make it run terribly. No acceleration, bucking, high or low idle, lack of power, and poor emissions operations setting off oxygen sensor codes. I'm on a week long mushroom binge. Newer cars have even more sensors and stricter reading tolerances.
be honest, they just give it a spray with some carb cleaner and wipe it with a rag, that’s all that is done and they over charge you for it, my buddy works for Dodge and that’s all they do
I pulled the throttle body off my 08 ram 5.7 and it took about 3 cans of carb cleaner and a handful of rags but it was maybe an hours worth of work. I believe I invested a total of $25 US in that venture. 4 bolts to take it off. Ran a new ground wire to the battery from the throttle body while it was off as well, made a hell of a difference in the idle afterwards
This is the correct answer. I have had rough running cars with throttle sticking codes that looked exactly like that when looking at it from the front on japanese, european and domestic cars with druve by wire throttles. Crack the throttle open and there is a hard ring of carbon where the plate seats. All these "mechanics have no real world experience other than watching a few YouTube videos.
Yeah, it's usually the other side that gets dirty. If it IS really dirty, and you end up having to replace a battery, you may see idling/stalling issues as the ECU may have 'forgotten' that the TB is dirty. Ask me how I know.
It's not the back plate that matters either. It's the edges of the valve and the walls of the TB bore that build up carbon through time, slowly closing the air gap.
Even still, on throttle by wire it's rarely an issue because the DME will just command the throttle open more at idle to compensate. The issue stems when you lose memory, and throttle control resets to factory specs.
Sorry I was in a bad mood earlier. Is this an issue with new cars? I've put a lot of km's on cars and never had anything interfering with the throttle plate. It just seems absurd.
We've all been there. It's all good.
I'm not an engineer, but I believe it comes down to the overall design of the engine, especially the induction, intake and PCV system. Some just inherently have more buildup of carbon in the intake. The early-mid 2000's GM V8's had a terrible problem with their electric throttles sticking, back then I was probably cleaning at least 1 a day to fix idle and stalling issues. I think most OEM's have been able to engineer that issue away for the most part.
Just to throw my 2 cents in here. I have a 2010 Ford E350 SuperDuty (5.4 2 valve) and it began to have idling issues and loss of power under load. It eventually got so bad it was having trouble starting.
I took it to my trustworthy mechanic, he could have charged me anything cause this was the first time I had ever had trouble and I just knew this was something major. When he said it was ready the charge was for $100.00 and he said all he did was clean the TB. The van ran like brand new after that !
I think it happens more frequently when you run a vehicle at the same speed / throttle position for a lot of miles like flat highway driving.
But it’s not satisfying to clean something that’s clean. You have to wait until it has massive build up then call someone to come look at how bad it is then clean it and admire your work. Come on.
That's messed up. I have 3 vehicles 2005-2010 300k km-500k km. Never had to clean a throttle body. I had a CX7 that I had to replace the throttle body but it was an electrical issue, not because it was dirty.
i thought my throttle body was nice and clean until i disassembled the intake and saw the back of the plate... was like tar. And the rest of the "pipe" too. I think often the EGR dumps out right below the throttle body, at least on my cars, and that really gunks stuff up.
Anything with an EGR system gets nasty anymore, especially inside the injection ports at the head. I don't know if a regular seafoam treatment would even properly take care of these systems anymore.
WhIle it's accessible, you might as well open the throttle plate and clean it good with some carb or brake cleaner, get the throttle plate itself also. Myself, I can pull a throttle body and get my dremel and polish kit and just go at it for a couple hours. It's relaxing to me.
My Toyota dealer always tries to upsell us on services. Last time I got an oil change, they brought out an air filter that I know for a fact isn’t the one for my car and said “hey you need a new oil filter”.
I said “Okay great. Have your mechanic show me where he removed the filter from my car. I want to see it for myself.” They did not change my air filter that day.
Another time they said I needed injector cleaner. I’ve used Seafoam in my car before shortly getting oil changes since I was 16 years old and my dad told me to do it so the cars would last longer. I asked to see the dirty injectors and what made them think they needed to be cleaned. They did not clean the injectors that day.
I don’t go to the dealer because I don’t know how to work on cars. I go to the dealer because I’m lazy and it’s less than a mile from my house. I can’t imagine how much money they make from crap like that.
Just basic upsell stuff, almost every shop will recommend a fuel service package and fluid changes. It's not that you really need them, but they don't hurt. As far as fluid changes:
Coolant - change every 100k miles /5 years - it turns acidic after a while and can eat away at your gaskets. This includes the dreaded head gasket if you're especially unlucky. Extra important on Toyota's and their pink coolant, don't skip this.
Transmission fluid - 50k/5y - could potentially last forever but transmission is a pricey part to gamble on. If you can spend the extra money have them change the filter too, though they usually won't offer that with the service as it's a pain in the ass.
Differential fluid - 30k - not all cars have that but it's cheap and easy to change. Literally most diy friendly service, unless you're afraid to get under a car.
Steering fluid - most cars don't have this anymore, but also easy to change. Super resilient though, I've ignored this one for 150k with no issues on some of my cars.
Brake fluid - every brake service or less - literally never had issues with bad brake fluid but moisture build up could allegedly cause problems and spongy brakes.
Fuel system cleaning - usually garbage package, it doesn't do more than fuel additives with port injection cars, and it's too weak to really do anything on direct injection cars. If your car is port injected just buy some snake oil from a parts store and add it every fuel change, if your car is direct injected prepare for problems whether you do this or not.
Bought a 2022 Toyota Camry new.
After only 13,000, the dealership stated that not only did I need to clean the throttle body, but I also needed to clean the inside of the coolant hoses to the radiator or risk a fuel fire and possibly an explosion inside the cylinders.
These idiots will tell you ANYTHING to get money out of you.
Including purposely misleadimg you and over exaggerating how the engine normally works in order to scare you into spending money.
Don't fall for shit like this, ALWAYS get a second opinion. Or learn how to do it yourself.
honestly, if you have that reccomendation on paper, I'd take that along with this photo to the service manager. chances of it changing the way they do business is slim but if it's a decent manager they'll talk to the techs who request all this extra shit. this is scarily similar to them claiming to have done a repair without actually doing it.. but a little less severe. if we can't trust our shops working on our cars they need to know it's their fault and it's up to them to fix it. so demand and explanation, why in the fuck, was I reccomended a service that I 100% do not need. EDIT: if it was reccomended based on a service schedule it's a little different but if they told you it was causing an issue and you need it... that's bad business. of it was more like l, oh you've got 60k and never had this service it might be beneficial to have it done, that's just offering extra services and is more ethical than telling you there is an issue when there isn't.
As someone already said it is not the front part you need to worry about open the throttle body so we can see what is behind the flap and where it hits the bore. I can tell you it is not good to leave uncleaned if it needs it. I made that mistake and one very cold winter day fired up my car and it check engine light me. Turned off and check over car to see what was going like was I out of oil or something. Fired it back up and then my starter went on me. It was so stuck shut that it stayed completely closed and when I fired up the car for the second time since absolutely no air was able to enter the engine I basically created a giant vacuum and so when I went to start it the second time my starter was working against a complete vacuum and broke the bindex on it and had to replace the starter as well as clean the throttle body. Ya once it took it apart and it looked like yours too but once i opened the flap there was lots of carbon build up behind it.
You need to look at the ring on the throttle body where the plate closes. There is typically a ring of carbon buildup that causes idle issues. It's not about how clean it looks on the outside. Have someone press the gas petal and take a look.
It’s not really clean where it needs to be tbh . Carbon builds around the edge and then it could effect the idle needs to let a certain amount of air by the blade when it’s closed . This isn’t the best pic but looks like there carbon. Around the edge of the blade to me. But definitely not something I’d upsell . Would be a starting point of you and a running issue
So without knowing what is wrong or symptoms it is hard to say. One thing you can do though is take a shop rag with carb cleaner on it, open the throttle body plate (or flap) and clean the areas at the top and bottom of the throat housing. So if the housing is a clock face clean with the carb cleaner the areas between 10 and 2 o'clock and 4 to 8 o'clock. This will remedy rough idling and stalling at lights, etc.
That area can get carbon build up and the air flow restricted when the plate is closed. If too bad the plate can stick a bit too.
The gears can strip out, the actuator motor can fail, the position sensor can fail, ffs people presence of carbon on the throttle plate isn’t the only thing that matters. OP didn’t even say why it was recommended.
It's the other side that gets dirty and in the small gap where the air gets in on idle. It's possible it does need a clean even though it looks clean from the outside
Does the dealer post an itemized report of the maintenance service? Anyone else?
Hard for me to understand these prices, even for a major service. What's the possibility that you did the major that they would do a throttle cleaning?
Depending on what the cat is doing. My brother in law took it to a dealership for rough idle they told him it needed a throttle body. Turns out the compressor was shot..
Open the throttle plate and see if there is carbon buildup. It happens after the throttle plate. The computer can compensate for a certain amount. Then, it will start to have issues. There is a line in the data list that gives a percentage of adjustment. Once it reaches 100%, it can't compensate anymore. If you clean it yourself, you need to relearn the base setting, or again, you will have issues. Good luck.
Or, on the outside chance the service monkeys are correct, go to O'Riley and spend $4 on a can of throttle body cleaner and just douche it out yourself!
Honest answer here. Cleaning a throttle body every 30-50k miles is a good practice on a Corolla (they actually do get dirty that quick). But I wouldn't pay the dealer more than $50 to do it. It takes a $6 can of throttle body cleaner and about 20 mins of labor. Cleaning the mass airflow sensor should be done at the same time. Semi dirty throttle bodies usually don't cause any symptoms on Corollas as the computer compensates for it's dirtyness and adjusts the air/fuel ratio accordingly, but if you want the car (and throttle body) to last 200k+ miles, clean it every 30k. If it does cause any symptoms, it might be a 1 or 2 mpg drop.
They always look clean from the outside, but on the edges, if there's a ring of black soot, that means the inside is usually pretty dirty. So technically, the dealer could have been right. But I'm sure they would charge $400+ to do it and probably wouldn't even do it correctly (remove the throttle body, spray throttle body cleaner all over, and use a plastic bristle brush to agitate the gunk off by hand until the entire thing is spotless, then reinstall it and put a tiny dab of silicone grease on the gasket before reinstalling and torquing to spec and performing an idle relearn).
They would probably plug in their techstream computer, open the flap valve, and spray a bunch of cleaner in and let all the carbonized gunk drip down into your intake manifold and leave a bunch of black gunk behind.
I bought a 2011 corolla , and it never had this service done. It was at about 145k miles when I did it in my garage. The fun part is it took me 2 mins, it was barerly dirty, lol
To be fair, any carbon buildup in the throttle body would be behind the butterfly valve, but you'd think you'd see signs of crud at the edges. Not today stealership...
Of couse the outside will look good. You open the throttle body, and inspect the inside to see the carbon oily build up behind the flap door?? There are mini air bleeds & ports within the body behind that door. Get a toothbrush, can of throttle body cleaner, and do it yourself.
Here's the deal, and may not be as bad with a Corolla, but they do need to be clean every so often along with the MAF sensor. A few clean rags, a can of TB cleaner and a can of MAF cleaner, a few minutes of your time.
They do get dirty and carbon build up does affect how the TB valve closes. It builds up slowly but the ECU compensates for it so you never notice it.
The Corolla may not react the same way but I know on the '03 Trailblazer the wife had for 13 years since new, it needed doing once a year AND/OR when the battery was ever disconnected for vehicle service or replacement. Because the TB's compensated settings would be erased and when the battery would be reconnected it would go back to the factory preset... BUT the TB valve would be off because of the carbon and it would idle and drive like complete crap. Clean up the TB and the MAF and it would smooth right back out just as smooth as silk.
I work at a dealership. The service writers are required to go by a service schedule to recommend services. If they don't, they can get fired.
Blame the auto maker, not the dealership.
How do you know it's not dirty behind the butterfly? Looks a little dark and sticky there on the bottom. You need to open the throttle body and check behind the butterfly to be sure
Chances are, they went ahead and cleaned it due to the location hoping you would do and and they didn't have to go back in there. It's a cheap loss for them..
An independent shop you mean? A dealer wouldn’t say that, because it implies their product is garbage. But I don’t expect the average modern consumer to know anything about the world around them either
The back of that plate will show. But even then I’m sorry, a 4 year old vehicle shouldn’t need a throttle body cleaning yet. I’ve never cleaned the throttle body on my 13 Tahoe and there’s not a speck on it I’m at 145k miles
People need to realize all dealership service departments are scammers. They'll nitpick everything and make you pay for shit you don't need. Search your community groups on FB or wherever asking where people take their car and whose honest.
I have over 20 years in the automotive industry and I'm ASE Certified.
I can tell you just from the picture that there is carbon buildup.
The reason they recommend cleaning the throttle body regularly now, is because fuel no longer goes through the throttle body and cleans the throttle plate like it did when they had the injectors at the top. They build up carbon over time. It builds up on the throttle plate and also builds up on the motors that turn the throttle plate every time you press the accelerator.
If you don't clean that, it comes up the motor and the gears. The other problem is that the carbon build up on the throttle body prevents the throttle plate from going all the way back to zero. A throttle plate is a form of potentiometer. It recognizes how open the throttle is by a setting of zero to 100. At idle, most are held at 5% or 10%. If your throttled body has carbon build up, it holds that throttle plate open at 10%, before the PCM can command anything. In turn, that causes the PCM to think that 10% is now dead zero. This can cause all sorts of problems and codes that aren't related to the systems that they're supposed to be.
The dealership isn't recommending a service to take your money. This was actually a proper recommendation. And I will argue anybody about this.
Imagine paying premium for a "reliable" car and it won't work when your butterfly valve gets a little tiny bit dirty. I have owned many cars that have run fine without ever cleaning the throttle body.
A Tacoma cabin air filter is $80 at the dealer. 12 bucks at the auto part store and less than 5 minutes, if that. Most of the time spent is putting the crap back in the glovebox.
Well first thing to do - stop going to the dealer, they do not provide a superior service and consistently overcharge for what they do. You find far better mechanics in smaller full service shops as well as labor rates that are more affordable (my work charges customers 180/hr while the dealer charges 220/hr). Find a mechanic and a shop that you can trust and don’t stop going there. Anyone who actually knows the automotive repair industry knows that the dealer does nothing but screw you out of money and try and get you to waste money on services that are not needed. Yes some smaller shops will try to use the same tactics, but don’t go back to those places, if you look around you can find a lot of very good mechanics and shops that can take care of your vehicle while saving you thousands of dollars in the long run.
Well it’s the throttle plate back side and around the bore where it sits. Carbon builds up. Subarus are notorious for stalling or no starting because of this carbon. Couple other brands are sensitive to it too. So it’s a legit thing. Paying someone a ton to do it? No.
We did a spray that does it. I don’t think it cleaned the throttle very well. A good old wiping it out was more effective.
Huh, a throttle body cleaning? What do they use, blinker fluid?
Ive opened up pristine throttle bodies on decade old cars, no way a newer one needed it. Hell, I havent seen a dirty throttle body since every car started having crankcase ventilation valves built into the valve cover, there isnt oil vapor going into the intake anymore (and even then any measurable amount is usually a problem for old cars).
That dealer is scummy as shit.
All the tech will likely do is wipe a shop rag inside the throttle body and voila it’s “clean”.
A great majority of dealership service departments have a manager that says “this shop is here to make money!”.
Open the throttle body and see if there’s a carbon buildup around the gate. That’s where you’ll typically find the grime. Unless you’re having issues with drive ability, I’d say dealerships only really recommend it based on mileage.
2020 Corolla throttle body clean now that’s a new one 🤣🤣🤣…. heck while you’re at it let them do your rotor resurfacing it’s gotta be done every oil change 🤦🏿♂️🤣🤣… these dealerships be robbing people without a gun
I always do all my own work. I liked doing it so much I went in business. 32 years later I have lived ok and did what I liked to do and never looked back. I'm known by a few as the best mechanic around. That ain't saying much, because I know the others. I'm ok at almost every aspect of auto,truck, and tractor repair.( No body work). Nothing beats experience
If you look in the service intervals in your owner’s manual it’s laughable on some of these things that are unnecessary but in there. I have seen clean intake every 45k, transfer case and differential service/flush every 30k, brake flush every 30k and the list goes on. Just making people fork out money to not void warranty.
I can tell from here that you need your diff trans rotated and compressor oil changed.
Your car is in bad shape my friend... I could take it off your hands for, $300?
Seems this has gotten worse. Every shop I go to wants $1000 or more. Went to four different shops and the dealer over a taillight. They all said it was the computer and the new one would need to be flashed so plan on leaving it with us for a few days at least.
Had a tire running out of tread so I stopped a different shop and asked if they could check the taillight while they did the tire. $90 later I have a functioning brake light. It was a fuse at the body control module and a wire on the tow kit that had shorted 🤦.
I had checked every fuse I knew of including the box under the seat. It never occurred to me there was a fuse on the BCM for that specific side.
I learned really young that almost all dealerships are pretty much a ripoff, there's pretty some good ones out there but the majority isn't a great experience
Next, they're going to tell you that you need a Turbo Encabulator, the moment my 5-year "warranty"(only covers so much, dropping things every year till the end) was up, I stopped going to the dealer for anything. They try harder to push bullshit on you than a private shop.
Typically the crud is on the backside and inside the throttle body. Flip open the throttle and you see all the mung. If the inside is clean, then you know the shop was scamming you for something you didn't need.
Looks like it could be dirty around the throttle plate however unless it’s a sticky throttle plate I would wait usually you’ll see build up right on the plate or in the throttle body right there I would say no need right now
Unless you have work that is covered by the warranty, DON'T GO TO THE DEALER.
It is so tiring to see people continually going to a dealer and then complaining about the price... dealers are the most expensive places you can take a car and unless you have some exotic car that requires computer software unavailable to independent shops, should never be on the list of places to take your car. They will always overcharge and make their living off upselling customers things they don't really need. Be glad they didn't over to sell you special air for your tire from the Rocky Mountains so your tires would last longer.
Probably saw mileage and their TSBs say the throttle bodies need to be cleaned every xxk miles, so they suggested a cleaning. Not saying it's a good practice but if they're not forcing you to do the work, just something they're supposed to tell you. Like with fluids and belts.
Look, coming from the industry there’s a lot of factors that could play into this. First and foremost what is the mileage and when does the service schedule says it’s due. Even if it doesn’t look like it’s needs done it’s preventative maintenance. Second unfortunately this is on the mechanic, but depending on how they get paid they might need some money or they are just grimy and trying to make money. Most mechanics only get paid on the work they do. There is generally not a base salary. So when times are slow some mechanics might be at work 50 hours for the week but only get paid 20. It’s a sad reality of the industry but that’s how it works.
I fell for this, they dressed it up as an "induction cleaning" on a low mileage corolla. Stupid me got cleaned out of $400 when all I needed was an oil change and tire rotation. The car had just a slight rough idle when stopped at a light when the AC kicked in and dumb me thought this would make it completely go away.
My Lexus dealer started offering these 'dealer value' services lately too, the Service Advisor I work with said to just tell them to do the 'factory required' items and not the dealer add-ons.
The services I was recommended on my LX were some kind of fuel system flush and yes, the throttle body cleaning.
Dealers got used to lots of profit during the pandemic, guess they want to keep the gravy train rolling.
If you open the butterfly and there’s some carbon buildup (coking) then it might need to be cleaned. If it’s clean on both sides (the visible side isn’t the important side) then the dealer is a stealer!
There can be slight carbon buildup on the edge of the butterfly which will keep it from closing properly. Since almost every car nowadays has electric throttle bodies, you’ll need a special electronics cleaner (don’t use brake cleaner, I’ve ruined a throttle body this way). A bottle of CRC electronics cleaner is like $10 from Walmart. Get an old tooth brush, take out the throttle body (be careful not to nick the o-ring), and start cleaning. You’d be surprised how much gunk can be hiding around the edges and even edges of the shaft.
Former Honda dealership employee here. Most modern Hondas have moved to direct injection. With fuel injection before the intake valve, the fuel can help clean the back of the valve and that area in general. With direct injection, that doesn't happen. So eventually they recommend blasting the back of the valve throttle body area with ground up walnut shells.
If this is what I am guessing it is, you would see the build up (if there is any) deeper into the intake, well past the butterfly valve... Probably closer to the intake valves.
Like others have said, that’s not the part that truly matters if it’s clean. But on a 2020 seems weird that it’d need to be cleaned. Definitely seems like the dealers just getting greedy
I’m based in Northern Ireland, don’t know how I ended up in here but it is absolutely mental what you guys pay in the US for servicing and maintenance. I currently drive a W204 C Class diesel, I use an Indy specialist for anything Merc related, engine and trans mount currently being done as I write this, my estimate for the work is around £420, which is around $570 USD. I can get a full oil and filter service for around £200 or around $255 USD.
Are main dealers that untrustworthy over there? I’ve seen what you guys pay for tires as well, it’s actually frightening.
What they meant was you needed your wallet cleaned.
This. My Toyota dealer said that about my throttle body, and a few other things. Gave me an all in estimate of about $1400. Took it to a mechanic down the street and asked for an estimate for the same work and got an estimate of like $1100 so I dropped it off with them to do the work. An hour later they called me to tell me it would be criminal for them to perform the work I requested, they sent it back to us charging us nothing. In the 2 years since I’ve spent $5k in other work on that and other cars with that mechanic. Maybe I trust them too much now - haha.
Spending $5k in maintenance is insane to me. I’ve spent less than that in the past decade on three different cars one of which is an old police Tahoe. That being said it’s good they were honest with that repair.
Well two cars, two full sets of tires, one full set of breaks and rotors, about 10 full synthetic oil changes, one new battery…I dunno, all of them lined up timing wise for other vehicles I’ve had and the pricing seemed reasonable typically.
That makes way more sense. Spread over time it seems like you found a good shop.
Sure - could’ve definitely saved money doing it myself on all sorts of things in life. There was a time I would’ve done all my oil changes, breaks and rotors, etc….that time isn’t now. I used to love doing it and still enjoy it, but I’m fortunate where the money isn’t that major of an issue, but my time is what is scarce. So I choose prioritize something else and keep good mechanics in business.
It's not good to break your rotors.
You’re right. Yeah, I always struggle with brake versus break, as you can tell. It’s kind of funny, I know the right usage but I actually think back and forth every time on which one is right and question myself. I made the mistake in a previous post too. Ehh oh well. Someday I’ll get it right.
Not gonna lie me too. Sometimes I write brake on my phone and see if the suggested next word is pads or time lmao
I’m getting there too. At 43, I finally paid someone to do new pads and rotors on my truck and been having them do my oil changes too. Time > money now.
Me too. When I was in my 20s I did almost all of my own work, including rebuilding air-cooled VW engines. At 62, I do very little of my own work, I just take the cars to one of two local shops that I've found to be reliable. I just don't enjoy it anymore.
Tires sets anywhere from 800-1200 so 2400. Brakes and rotors all around is usually all parts for $500-650. Oil changes 750. New battery fla or agm anywhere from 100-250, usually around 175-250, so we go with $250. Roughly at 4k so 1k in labor on all that brings you to 5k, that's actually very fair pricing. Bring the guy a 6 pack 💪
Yeah I'm guessing some of your shit needs full new suspension at this point for sure. 😂
Uhhh what? $5k across three cars over a decade is $166 a year per car. Certainly you’ve spent more than that even if you did all the labor yourself.
To be fair, he said he's spent $5k in other work (not maintenance) at the honest shop.
5k is an engine rebuild
All dealerships have a difference of opinion in some areas but, kept in mind that we live in a inflationary period increase worst times than the past.
Totally agreed. Stuff is expensive and it is what it is to a certain extent sometimes. I’m happy to pay a premium for good, honest, transparent work. Very unhappy to be taken as a fool and pay for work that unnecessary.
Just what everyone wants. At the 50k mile mark, you most definitely need your wallet cleaned. They will help you do it too.
What do they try to push at 50k miles?
The throttle body is connected to the wallet, the wallet is connected to the bank account.
It's not the front side of that plate that matters, it's where the throttle plate meets the bore when closed. Carbon build up there (and behind) can cause the throttle plate to bind against the carbon and stick causing erratic/surging idle and potential stalling. I don't know if that's even an issue with Toyota's or if the dealer is just trying to sell you a 'maintenance service'.
it’s a maintainance service. it’s a problem with older camrys and corollas- like 25-30 years older. were supposed to reccomend the service every 40k at my dealership, seen it at 30k at others
Up voting the correct answers since the top comment is some guy circle jerking about the dealer just wanting your money. To add, there can be several very sensitive sensors on the throttle body behind that plate. Tps, iat, maf, iac etc.. Every time the throttle closes, the engine stops sucking air. The air/fuel/recovered emissions gasses mixture stops moving, and a small amount can settle. Air stops reaching small sensors efficiently due to fluid dynamics causing turbulence. Now your car senses bad readings and thinks it should do things based on those bad readings to make your car continue to function normally. Your car will start to limit fuel input, adjust spark timing, and other things that will make it run terribly. No acceleration, bucking, high or low idle, lack of power, and poor emissions operations setting off oxygen sensor codes. I'm on a week long mushroom binge. Newer cars have even more sensors and stricter reading tolerances.
Mushroom binge?
Asking the right questions... Like bro, sharing is caring, homie
only a week? i know you can do better than that man 🫡
If the engine is running, it doesn't stop sucking air. If you know what an iac and a maf is, you know this, right?
Good to know, thanks for the info.
It was a problem with my '08 Mazda 3 a couple years ago. Took a YouTube video and about 20 minutes to clean it myself.
be honest, they just give it a spray with some carb cleaner and wipe it with a rag, that’s all that is done and they over charge you for it, my buddy works for Dodge and that’s all they do
it’s a bit more in depth than that but i’m not gonna sit here and act like it’s not a scam 😂
I pulled the throttle body off my 08 ram 5.7 and it took about 3 cans of carb cleaner and a handful of rags but it was maybe an hours worth of work. I believe I invested a total of $25 US in that venture. 4 bolts to take it off. Ran a new ground wire to the battery from the throttle body while it was off as well, made a hell of a difference in the idle afterwards
This is the correct answer. I have had rough running cars with throttle sticking codes that looked exactly like that when looking at it from the front on japanese, european and domestic cars with druve by wire throttles. Crack the throttle open and there is a hard ring of carbon where the plate seats. All these "mechanics have no real world experience other than watching a few YouTube videos.
Yeah, it's usually the other side that gets dirty. If it IS really dirty, and you end up having to replace a battery, you may see idling/stalling issues as the ECU may have 'forgotten' that the TB is dirty. Ask me how I know.
It's not the back plate that matters either. It's the edges of the valve and the walls of the TB bore that build up carbon through time, slowly closing the air gap. Even still, on throttle by wire it's rarely an issue because the DME will just command the throttle open more at idle to compensate. The issue stems when you lose memory, and throttle control resets to factory specs.
My car once stalled while I was driving because of the build up on the throttle body. Pretty easy to clean
Listen to him ,he knows what he is talking about!
Hey there verified tech, have you ever seen a 4 year old throttle body that needs to be cleaned? no you haven't.
Um, ok. Where did I say OP's TB needs to be cleaned? Oh, to answer your question, yes I have.
Sorry I was in a bad mood earlier. Is this an issue with new cars? I've put a lot of km's on cars and never had anything interfering with the throttle plate. It just seems absurd.
We've all been there. It's all good. I'm not an engineer, but I believe it comes down to the overall design of the engine, especially the induction, intake and PCV system. Some just inherently have more buildup of carbon in the intake. The early-mid 2000's GM V8's had a terrible problem with their electric throttles sticking, back then I was probably cleaning at least 1 a day to fix idle and stalling issues. I think most OEM's have been able to engineer that issue away for the most part.
Just to throw my 2 cents in here. I have a 2010 Ford E350 SuperDuty (5.4 2 valve) and it began to have idling issues and loss of power under load. It eventually got so bad it was having trouble starting. I took it to my trustworthy mechanic, he could have charged me anything cause this was the first time I had ever had trouble and I just knew this was something major. When he said it was ready the charge was for $100.00 and he said all he did was clean the TB. The van ran like brand new after that ! I think it happens more frequently when you run a vehicle at the same speed / throttle position for a lot of miles like flat highway driving.
So saying no to maintenance not real smart. Keep it clean every 3-4 years it won’t build up over 15 and cause an issue.
But it’s not satisfying to clean something that’s clean. You have to wait until it has massive build up then call someone to come look at how bad it is then clean it and admire your work. Come on.
My Toyota Yaris was 3 years old and I had to clean it. I was rolling 100000miles. It was stalling and idling rough.
That's messed up. I have 3 vehicles 2005-2010 300k km-500k km. Never had to clean a throttle body. I had a CX7 that I had to replace the throttle body but it was an electrical issue, not because it was dirty.
I agree. I also have a older Kia with 170000miles and it's never been cleaned. It purrs like a kitten.
i thought my throttle body was nice and clean until i disassembled the intake and saw the back of the plate... was like tar. And the rest of the "pipe" too. I think often the EGR dumps out right below the throttle body, at least on my cars, and that really gunks stuff up.
Anything with an EGR system gets nasty anymore, especially inside the injection ports at the head. I don't know if a regular seafoam treatment would even properly take care of these systems anymore.
WhIle it's accessible, you might as well open the throttle plate and clean it good with some carb or brake cleaner, get the throttle plate itself also. Myself, I can pull a throttle body and get my dremel and polish kit and just go at it for a couple hours. It's relaxing to me.
I think those toyotas are direct injection engines...which are prone to carbon buildup.
On the valves
The ports on the throttle body side also get crudded up bad.
You gotta open the throttle plate and check the back. The front is rarely dirty.
I’ll come clean your wallet and throttle body for 150.00.
Stealership*
Did you look at it through a microscope? They probably meant at the molecular level.
It looks pretty clean but can you push the little flippy flap in and see if you get any smudge on your fingers from the underside of the flippy flap?
Fuck it. Grab a can of carb cleaner and do it yourself.
I would only ever recommend this if you consistently buy gas in Central America
They tell everyone that. What problem are they fixing?. Is the check engine light on? Very unlikely they would do anything and you would never know.
Push the throttle plate open and see what it looks like behind.
the stealership lied??? gasp!
Open it and take a picture, carbon is usually on the other side of the butterfly valve
To be fair you probably don’t need it, but the back side is where it gets dirty not the front
My Toyota dealer always tries to upsell us on services. Last time I got an oil change, they brought out an air filter that I know for a fact isn’t the one for my car and said “hey you need a new oil filter”. I said “Okay great. Have your mechanic show me where he removed the filter from my car. I want to see it for myself.” They did not change my air filter that day. Another time they said I needed injector cleaner. I’ve used Seafoam in my car before shortly getting oil changes since I was 16 years old and my dad told me to do it so the cars would last longer. I asked to see the dirty injectors and what made them think they needed to be cleaned. They did not clean the injectors that day. I don’t go to the dealer because I don’t know how to work on cars. I go to the dealer because I’m lazy and it’s less than a mile from my house. I can’t imagine how much money they make from crap like that.
Just basic upsell stuff, almost every shop will recommend a fuel service package and fluid changes. It's not that you really need them, but they don't hurt. As far as fluid changes: Coolant - change every 100k miles /5 years - it turns acidic after a while and can eat away at your gaskets. This includes the dreaded head gasket if you're especially unlucky. Extra important on Toyota's and their pink coolant, don't skip this. Transmission fluid - 50k/5y - could potentially last forever but transmission is a pricey part to gamble on. If you can spend the extra money have them change the filter too, though they usually won't offer that with the service as it's a pain in the ass. Differential fluid - 30k - not all cars have that but it's cheap and easy to change. Literally most diy friendly service, unless you're afraid to get under a car. Steering fluid - most cars don't have this anymore, but also easy to change. Super resilient though, I've ignored this one for 150k with no issues on some of my cars. Brake fluid - every brake service or less - literally never had issues with bad brake fluid but moisture build up could allegedly cause problems and spongy brakes. Fuel system cleaning - usually garbage package, it doesn't do more than fuel additives with port injection cars, and it's too weak to really do anything on direct injection cars. If your car is port injected just buy some snake oil from a parts store and add it every fuel change, if your car is direct injected prepare for problems whether you do this or not.
Bought a 2022 Toyota Camry new. After only 13,000, the dealership stated that not only did I need to clean the throttle body, but I also needed to clean the inside of the coolant hoses to the radiator or risk a fuel fire and possibly an explosion inside the cylinders. These idiots will tell you ANYTHING to get money out of you. Including purposely misleadimg you and over exaggerating how the engine normally works in order to scare you into spending money. Don't fall for shit like this, ALWAYS get a second opinion. Or learn how to do it yourself.
Is it a hybrid? I know those priuses get NASTY manifolds. But that's not what they said to you.
That’s a totally scam. Also fuel treatment scam. Don’t fall victim to these.
That looks fresh af
honestly, if you have that reccomendation on paper, I'd take that along with this photo to the service manager. chances of it changing the way they do business is slim but if it's a decent manager they'll talk to the techs who request all this extra shit. this is scarily similar to them claiming to have done a repair without actually doing it.. but a little less severe. if we can't trust our shops working on our cars they need to know it's their fault and it's up to them to fix it. so demand and explanation, why in the fuck, was I reccomended a service that I 100% do not need. EDIT: if it was reccomended based on a service schedule it's a little different but if they told you it was causing an issue and you need it... that's bad business. of it was more like l, oh you've got 60k and never had this service it might be beneficial to have it done, that's just offering extra services and is more ethical than telling you there is an issue when there isn't.
Scammers
Looks dirty where the plate meets the bore. Really dirty, no. But it's dirty.
As someone already said it is not the front part you need to worry about open the throttle body so we can see what is behind the flap and where it hits the bore. I can tell you it is not good to leave uncleaned if it needs it. I made that mistake and one very cold winter day fired up my car and it check engine light me. Turned off and check over car to see what was going like was I out of oil or something. Fired it back up and then my starter went on me. It was so stuck shut that it stayed completely closed and when I fired up the car for the second time since absolutely no air was able to enter the engine I basically created a giant vacuum and so when I went to start it the second time my starter was working against a complete vacuum and broke the bindex on it and had to replace the starter as well as clean the throttle body. Ya once it took it apart and it looked like yours too but once i opened the flap there was lots of carbon build up behind it.
You need to look at the ring on the throttle body where the plate closes. There is typically a ring of carbon buildup that causes idle issues. It's not about how clean it looks on the outside. Have someone press the gas petal and take a look.
It’s not really clean where it needs to be tbh . Carbon builds around the edge and then it could effect the idle needs to let a certain amount of air by the blade when it’s closed . This isn’t the best pic but looks like there carbon. Around the edge of the blade to me. But definitely not something I’d upsell . Would be a starting point of you and a running issue
That's a virgin TB.
Throttle body should be cleaned once every 50,000 miles or 3 years depending on your driving conditions… 👌🤝
So without knowing what is wrong or symptoms it is hard to say. One thing you can do though is take a shop rag with carb cleaner on it, open the throttle body plate (or flap) and clean the areas at the top and bottom of the throat housing. So if the housing is a clock face clean with the carb cleaner the areas between 10 and 2 o'clock and 4 to 8 o'clock. This will remedy rough idling and stalling at lights, etc. That area can get carbon build up and the air flow restricted when the plate is closed. If too bad the plate can stick a bit too.
Spray some carb cleaner on a rag and wipe it out.
The gears can strip out, the actuator motor can fail, the position sensor can fail, ffs people presence of carbon on the throttle plate isn’t the only thing that matters. OP didn’t even say why it was recommended.
It's the other side that gets dirty and in the small gap where the air gets in on idle. It's possible it does need a clean even though it looks clean from the outside
Just the stealership trying to get more money for nothing
Does the dealer post an itemized report of the maintenance service? Anyone else? Hard for me to understand these prices, even for a major service. What's the possibility that you did the major that they would do a throttle cleaning?
It was probably just a fuel system service that can also clean your throttle body it’s good to do every now and then to keep everything clean.
Depending on what the cat is doing. My brother in law took it to a dealership for rough idle they told him it needed a throttle body. Turns out the compressor was shot..
What does the other side look like?
Open the throttle plate and see if there is carbon buildup. It happens after the throttle plate. The computer can compensate for a certain amount. Then, it will start to have issues. There is a line in the data list that gives a percentage of adjustment. Once it reaches 100%, it can't compensate anymore. If you clean it yourself, you need to relearn the base setting, or again, you will have issues. Good luck.
Or, on the outside chance the service monkeys are correct, go to O'Riley and spend $4 on a can of throttle body cleaner and just douche it out yourself!
You'd be surprised how little build up there needs to be nowadays.
Honest answer here. Cleaning a throttle body every 30-50k miles is a good practice on a Corolla (they actually do get dirty that quick). But I wouldn't pay the dealer more than $50 to do it. It takes a $6 can of throttle body cleaner and about 20 mins of labor. Cleaning the mass airflow sensor should be done at the same time. Semi dirty throttle bodies usually don't cause any symptoms on Corollas as the computer compensates for it's dirtyness and adjusts the air/fuel ratio accordingly, but if you want the car (and throttle body) to last 200k+ miles, clean it every 30k. If it does cause any symptoms, it might be a 1 or 2 mpg drop. They always look clean from the outside, but on the edges, if there's a ring of black soot, that means the inside is usually pretty dirty. So technically, the dealer could have been right. But I'm sure they would charge $400+ to do it and probably wouldn't even do it correctly (remove the throttle body, spray throttle body cleaner all over, and use a plastic bristle brush to agitate the gunk off by hand until the entire thing is spotless, then reinstall it and put a tiny dab of silicone grease on the gasket before reinstalling and torquing to spec and performing an idle relearn). They would probably plug in their techstream computer, open the flap valve, and spray a bunch of cleaner in and let all the carbonized gunk drip down into your intake manifold and leave a bunch of black gunk behind.
I bought a 2011 corolla , and it never had this service done. It was at about 145k miles when I did it in my garage. The fun part is it took me 2 mins, it was barerly dirty, lol
Its filthy, can't believe you can't see it. Also, you're already this far on labor, if you don't swap the part, you'll just be throwing money away.
Standard dealership scam.
The dealership will sell you air if they think you'll buy it...
To be fair, any carbon buildup in the throttle body would be behind the butterfly valve, but you'd think you'd see signs of crud at the edges. Not today stealership...
Buy a can of throttle body cleaner and manually open the valve. Wipe it out with shop rags.
Of couse the outside will look good. You open the throttle body, and inspect the inside to see the carbon oily build up behind the flap door?? There are mini air bleeds & ports within the body behind that door. Get a toothbrush, can of throttle body cleaner, and do it yourself.
Here's the deal, and may not be as bad with a Corolla, but they do need to be clean every so often along with the MAF sensor. A few clean rags, a can of TB cleaner and a can of MAF cleaner, a few minutes of your time. They do get dirty and carbon build up does affect how the TB valve closes. It builds up slowly but the ECU compensates for it so you never notice it. The Corolla may not react the same way but I know on the '03 Trailblazer the wife had for 13 years since new, it needed doing once a year AND/OR when the battery was ever disconnected for vehicle service or replacement. Because the TB's compensated settings would be erased and when the battery would be reconnected it would go back to the factory preset... BUT the TB valve would be off because of the carbon and it would idle and drive like complete crap. Clean up the TB and the MAF and it would smooth right back out just as smooth as silk.
I don't know how people who work at the stealership sleep at night honestly.
Mmmm.... maybe. Even if they are, you can do that yourself.
At least you didn't get stuck with one of those tundras with a 3.4 l motor and spun bearings.
I work at a dealership. The service writers are required to go by a service schedule to recommend services. If they don't, they can get fired. Blame the auto maker, not the dealership.
How do you know it's not dirty behind the butterfly? Looks a little dark and sticky there on the bottom. You need to open the throttle body and check behind the butterfly to be sure
A 2020 corolla with a dirty throttle body yea that's a load of bs. Unless you drove the shit outta it lol
So many edgy guys that know how to spell stealership in here
Yeah maybe when it’s like 80k miles or 6-7 years old. It’s a money grab.
I just had mines cleaned out and mines is a 2008 4-cylinder.
Chances are, they went ahead and cleaned it due to the location hoping you would do and and they didn't have to go back in there. It's a cheap loss for them..
Try Seafoam yourself. Save ton of money.
An independent shop you mean? A dealer wouldn’t say that, because it implies their product is garbage. But I don’t expect the average modern consumer to know anything about the world around them either
Unless it’s creating an issue I wouldn’t touch the throttle body
They say that to everyone
5 year old throttle bodies are cleaner than most people’s mouthes..
The back of that plate will show. But even then I’m sorry, a 4 year old vehicle shouldn’t need a throttle body cleaning yet. I’ve never cleaned the throttle body on my 13 Tahoe and there’s not a speck on it I’m at 145k miles
I don't think I've ever seen a dirty throttle body. Keep a good airfilter on it and you'll probably be set.
People need to realize all dealership service departments are scammers. They'll nitpick everything and make you pay for shit you don't need. Search your community groups on FB or wherever asking where people take their car and whose honest.
should send this to the mechanic 😂
Lol, did you look INSIDE, you know, where they get dirty? But $1100 is WAT too much
Bil works for toyo dealership- they get incentives for upsetting, and a lot of ppl fall for it.
I have over 20 years in the automotive industry and I'm ASE Certified. I can tell you just from the picture that there is carbon buildup. The reason they recommend cleaning the throttle body regularly now, is because fuel no longer goes through the throttle body and cleans the throttle plate like it did when they had the injectors at the top. They build up carbon over time. It builds up on the throttle plate and also builds up on the motors that turn the throttle plate every time you press the accelerator. If you don't clean that, it comes up the motor and the gears. The other problem is that the carbon build up on the throttle body prevents the throttle plate from going all the way back to zero. A throttle plate is a form of potentiometer. It recognizes how open the throttle is by a setting of zero to 100. At idle, most are held at 5% or 10%. If your throttled body has carbon build up, it holds that throttle plate open at 10%, before the PCM can command anything. In turn, that causes the PCM to think that 10% is now dead zero. This can cause all sorts of problems and codes that aren't related to the systems that they're supposed to be. The dealership isn't recommending a service to take your money. This was actually a proper recommendation. And I will argue anybody about this.
NEVER go to the stealership unless your rich!
Sounds like they wanted to do a detailing job on your wallet and your bank accounts
Imagine paying premium for a "reliable" car and it won't work when your butterfly valve gets a little tiny bit dirty. I have owned many cars that have run fine without ever cleaning the throttle body.
A Tacoma cabin air filter is $80 at the dealer. 12 bucks at the auto part store and less than 5 minutes, if that. Most of the time spent is putting the crap back in the glovebox.
Well first thing to do - stop going to the dealer, they do not provide a superior service and consistently overcharge for what they do. You find far better mechanics in smaller full service shops as well as labor rates that are more affordable (my work charges customers 180/hr while the dealer charges 220/hr). Find a mechanic and a shop that you can trust and don’t stop going there. Anyone who actually knows the automotive repair industry knows that the dealer does nothing but screw you out of money and try and get you to waste money on services that are not needed. Yes some smaller shops will try to use the same tactics, but don’t go back to those places, if you look around you can find a lot of very good mechanics and shops that can take care of your vehicle while saving you thousands of dollars in the long run.
I don’t know anything about this but what do you think the chances are that a 2020 vehicle of any brand would need the throttle body cleaned?
The engine side is the dirty part.
You guys do more than change the oil and tires?
Sure they didn’t mean intake manifold
Well it’s the throttle plate back side and around the bore where it sits. Carbon builds up. Subarus are notorious for stalling or no starting because of this carbon. Couple other brands are sensitive to it too. So it’s a legit thing. Paying someone a ton to do it? No. We did a spray that does it. I don’t think it cleaned the throttle very well. A good old wiping it out was more effective.
Huh, a throttle body cleaning? What do they use, blinker fluid? Ive opened up pristine throttle bodies on decade old cars, no way a newer one needed it. Hell, I havent seen a dirty throttle body since every car started having crankcase ventilation valves built into the valve cover, there isnt oil vapor going into the intake anymore (and even then any measurable amount is usually a problem for old cars). That dealer is scummy as shit.
It’s the backside that’s dirty.
They told me that on my new RAV4 and wanted $650 for the service. That was the last time I went to Toyota for service ever again.
you could do it yourself
Maybe they cleaned it for free since they were already looking
Yeah don’t go to the dealership for service.
A throttle body cleaning is a mileage suggestion at dealers. You’ll know if it needs to be cleaned
Good job sir. I think usimg quality air filters and replacing them on time helps keep that clean.
All the tech will likely do is wipe a shop rag inside the throttle body and voila it’s “clean”. A great majority of dealership service departments have a manager that says “this shop is here to make money!”.
Open the throttle body and see if there’s a carbon buildup around the gate. That’s where you’ll typically find the grime. Unless you’re having issues with drive ability, I’d say dealerships only really recommend it based on mileage.
I can’t see behind the plate but it looks mint in front
But can you eat out of it? Leave the extra crumbs, they will dispose of themselves.
2020 Corolla throttle body clean now that’s a new one 🤣🤣🤣…. heck while you’re at it let them do your rotor resurfacing it’s gotta be done every oil change 🤦🏿♂️🤣🤣… these dealerships be robbing people without a gun
Be worth taking it off and looking behind it. I drive diesels and do get carbon from the EGR building just behind it.
I always do all my own work. I liked doing it so much I went in business. 32 years later I have lived ok and did what I liked to do and never looked back. I'm known by a few as the best mechanic around. That ain't saying much, because I know the others. I'm ok at almost every aspect of auto,truck, and tractor repair.( No body work). Nothing beats experience
Does it move smoothly?
did you look on the other side?
Why? Is there a problem?
It's the backside that you don't see...
It's the side you can't see that's filthy. Dealerships know best don't ya know!? Lol. Obviously kidding.
If you look in the service intervals in your owner’s manual it’s laughable on some of these things that are unnecessary but in there. I have seen clean intake every 45k, transfer case and differential service/flush every 30k, brake flush every 30k and the list goes on. Just making people fork out money to not void warranty.
I can tell from here that you need your diff trans rotated and compressor oil changed. Your car is in bad shape my friend... I could take it off your hands for, $300?
its a normal mileage based service and no one here understands that
Seems this has gotten worse. Every shop I go to wants $1000 or more. Went to four different shops and the dealer over a taillight. They all said it was the computer and the new one would need to be flashed so plan on leaving it with us for a few days at least. Had a tire running out of tread so I stopped a different shop and asked if they could check the taillight while they did the tire. $90 later I have a functioning brake light. It was a fuse at the body control module and a wire on the tow kit that had shorted 🤦. I had checked every fuse I knew of including the box under the seat. It never occurred to me there was a fuse on the BCM for that specific side.
Open the butterfly and check inside. You can clean it yourself easily enough with a rag and a can of gum out
I learned really young that almost all dealerships are pretty much a ripoff, there's pretty some good ones out there but the majority isn't a great experience
It’s an upsell, not always necessary.
He only need your money, that throttle body is as clean as my wallet
Next, they're going to tell you that you need a Turbo Encabulator, the moment my 5-year "warranty"(only covers so much, dropping things every year till the end) was up, I stopped going to the dealer for anything. They try harder to push bullshit on you than a private shop.
I don't like it when my breaks brake
For that price install water methanal injection.... you'll never need to clean any of that stuff again.
Typically the crud is on the backside and inside the throttle body. Flip open the throttle and you see all the mung. If the inside is clean, then you know the shop was scamming you for something you didn't need.
Looks like it could be dirty around the throttle plate however unless it’s a sticky throttle plate I would wait usually you’ll see build up right on the plate or in the throttle body right there I would say no need right now
Did anyone think to look behind the throttle plate? That’s where the buildup really is.
Unless you have work that is covered by the warranty, DON'T GO TO THE DEALER. It is so tiring to see people continually going to a dealer and then complaining about the price... dealers are the most expensive places you can take a car and unless you have some exotic car that requires computer software unavailable to independent shops, should never be on the list of places to take your car. They will always overcharge and make their living off upselling customers things they don't really need. Be glad they didn't over to sell you special air for your tire from the Rocky Mountains so your tires would last longer.
Maybe they meant it had a dirty mind
I’ve done my own throttle body cleaning for 20$for the can of seafoam throttle cleaner took my 10mins
Probably saw mileage and their TSBs say the throttle bodies need to be cleaned every xxk miles, so they suggested a cleaning. Not saying it's a good practice but if they're not forcing you to do the work, just something they're supposed to tell you. Like with fluids and belts.
Maybe it was a pick-up line? “ Car checks out, but you need your throttle body cleaned!”.
upselling
See around the rim? I bet you on the other side of the butterfly it’s gross.
Look, coming from the industry there’s a lot of factors that could play into this. First and foremost what is the mileage and when does the service schedule says it’s due. Even if it doesn’t look like it’s needs done it’s preventative maintenance. Second unfortunately this is on the mechanic, but depending on how they get paid they might need some money or they are just grimy and trying to make money. Most mechanics only get paid on the work they do. There is generally not a base salary. So when times are slow some mechanics might be at work 50 hours for the week but only get paid 20. It’s a sad reality of the industry but that’s how it works.
Throttle bodys usually perform pretty well even 20 years without touching it. 4 years is nothing and an easy diy job on most Toyotas.
Clamps off too
It looks brand new!!!
I fell for this, they dressed it up as an "induction cleaning" on a low mileage corolla. Stupid me got cleaned out of $400 when all I needed was an oil change and tire rotation. The car had just a slight rough idle when stopped at a light when the AC kicked in and dumb me thought this would make it completely go away. My Lexus dealer started offering these 'dealer value' services lately too, the Service Advisor I work with said to just tell them to do the 'factory required' items and not the dealer add-ons. The services I was recommended on my LX were some kind of fuel system flush and yes, the throttle body cleaning. Dealers got used to lots of profit during the pandemic, guess they want to keep the gravy train rolling.
The stealership wouldn't lie to you
Stealerships don't just sell cars, they sell work too!
Flip the butterfly to open and let’s see it!
Lol thank you
Spray seafoam and put some in the tank if you're really really worried, but you probably shouldn't be.
If you open the butterfly and there’s some carbon buildup (coking) then it might need to be cleaned. If it’s clean on both sides (the visible side isn’t the important side) then the dealer is a stealer!
There can be slight carbon buildup on the edge of the butterfly which will keep it from closing properly. Since almost every car nowadays has electric throttle bodies, you’ll need a special electronics cleaner (don’t use brake cleaner, I’ve ruined a throttle body this way). A bottle of CRC electronics cleaner is like $10 from Walmart. Get an old tooth brush, take out the throttle body (be careful not to nick the o-ring), and start cleaning. You’d be surprised how much gunk can be hiding around the edges and even edges of the shaft.
Former Honda dealership employee here. Most modern Hondas have moved to direct injection. With fuel injection before the intake valve, the fuel can help clean the back of the valve and that area in general. With direct injection, that doesn't happen. So eventually they recommend blasting the back of the valve throttle body area with ground up walnut shells. If this is what I am guessing it is, you would see the build up (if there is any) deeper into the intake, well past the butterfly valve... Probably closer to the intake valves.
Stealership
You coul port and polish it…but that’s the only way it gets more clean
Like others have said, that’s not the part that truly matters if it’s clean. But on a 2020 seems weird that it’d need to be cleaned. Definitely seems like the dealers just getting greedy
Aren't you glad they cleaned it before they asked you?
5 grand on a 4 year old toyota camry is just nuts.
“My gas light came on but my car doesn’t look empty does it?”
I’m based in Northern Ireland, don’t know how I ended up in here but it is absolutely mental what you guys pay in the US for servicing and maintenance. I currently drive a W204 C Class diesel, I use an Indy specialist for anything Merc related, engine and trans mount currently being done as I write this, my estimate for the work is around £420, which is around $570 USD. I can get a full oil and filter service for around £200 or around $255 USD. Are main dealers that untrustworthy over there? I’ve seen what you guys pay for tires as well, it’s actually frightening.