Throttle Body Service

Recently I took my Tacoma to the local AutoNation Dealership for an Oil Change at 38000 miles. They told me the Throttle Body needed cleaning if I wanted to keep the vehicle running like new. I was told they would take it apart and clean it out with a brush and cleaner then charged me $100. In my younger days I swapped out the plastic throttle body from time to time to keep emissions under control. I use the truck to pull a trailer so the truck is under a 3100 lb load when I drive across country. Did this senior citizen hear a line of BS or not? Of course the truck seemed to run smoother after, but I had the oil changed.

 

I'm thinking BS. But what do I know....I think my truck runs better after being washed.

 

$100 to clean your throttle body? Man these dealerships are getting desperate

 

I don't know what the manual says about cleaning the throttle body but it does not appear to me that you were overcharged. I have personally never noticed a performance difference from an oil change.

https://www.yourmechanic.com/estimates/toyota/tacoma/clean-throttle-body

 

You are over-thinking this stuff. This and the brakes, and the dealer is trying to get your money. Just follow the maintenance manual and have them do what it says unless you have a specific issue that needs attention.

G.

 

no

 

I have but one question. Have you been using Top Tier gasoline? I don't know if you had necessary work done.

 

@ 38K miles, no. At some point in the trucks life? Yes. And you will know because your idle quality will tell you.

 

I cleaned mine at 95k....and that's because I took it off for something else

 

No way it needed cleaning at 38k.

Next time you need work I would find an independent mechanic you can trust.

Pro tip: if they are saying something is "dirty", ask to look at it. Your eyes are as good a judge as theirs!

 

If you have technical questions in the future (or maybe even re-post this one there) try posting here

https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/technical-chat.10/

 

I cringe when places start taking things apart they shouldn't be touching! Then I have to do a 50 point inspection of what's put back together correctly before I leave

 

I clean my TB and MAF every oil change. It’s too easy to not do...

And you don’t have to remove the TB to clean it....

 

All you have to say is show me the dirt you speak of

 

You probably didnt need to clean it, $100 is a lot in my opinion, at my dealer we charge $50 I believe, I do mine (2nd gen 4.0L) maybe every 25K or so, I dont feel much improvement but I dont let it get very dirty in the first place. I will say that I think its worth doing when you are doing a tune up if you havent cleaned the throttle body before.
Its one of those things that gets recommended by mileage, its like recommending a tune up when you come in for a oil change/rotation, are we going to take the plugs out and check them before recommending it, hell no we dont get paid to check plugs, but we say hey based on your mileage of 100K we are recommending this and its up to you on how you feel the vehicle is doing to either approve it or not.

See bolded above, you want me to actually remove the air inlet and check it, then pay me and I will gladly take a video or you can come back and see, most dealers dont pay us for the free inspection so we arent going to spend more then 5 minutes checking tires/brakes/battery/easily seen fluids/worn mechanical parts.

 

The didn’t say recommended...they said it needed to be done which implies they inspected it. If they don’t want to give the OP an option then they need to provide evidence to back up their claim. If the cost of inspection is not included in the service then that’s management fault. If your not paid for your time then you will not be motivated to do a good job.

 

Don’t give them a penny for anything.

Last time I was at the dealer for a ac fan recall, I overheard them quote a guy $750 for front brakes, basically changing pads and “turning” the rotors which nobody does anymore.

The guy was debating it and I was going to say something, but I couldn’t because I threw up in my mouth.

 

No see below, they said "running like new", running like new would mean as it left the dealer, which would be with a clean/new throttle body.

 

lol. cus you can't fix stupid.

 

Don't feel too bad. I fell for it too.

Most of the maintenance on Tacoma's is pretty easy for the do-it-yourselfer. I'm gonna start doing my own services once my pre-paid oil changes are used up.