# 3.2 V6 Throttle Body Clean - How To



## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

There's been a few posts about cleaning the throttle body recently, and as I'd been experiencing similar symptoms (unsteady idling, hesitancy, jerkiness) I thought I'd give it a shot.

I have to say, I'm really pleased with the result - the response and running is silky smooth now, just like when I first got it.

If anyone hasn't had this done .... DO IT! It certainly won't hurt, and almost certainly will make a world of difference to your car's running. Don't be frightened off either. I'm a complete noob and I found it was really quite easy.

To give something back to the forum I made a photo log of my experience to provide a step-by-step guide for everyone's benefit. I hope it's useful.

*3.2 V6 Throttle Body Clean - How To*

This procedure must be carried out on a cold engine, because the throttle body needs to reset itself once reassembled and a cold engine is a requirement for that to happen.

The whole thing takes around one to two hours to complete

*What you will need:*










1. In order to remove the air hose you'll need to undo a spring hose clamp. A pair of channel lock pliers like in the photo will do it

2. The throttle body itself is attached by 4 hex bolts. I found that a 5mm hex bit on a long screwdriver (like the one that I bought especially) worked best because I couldn't access the very bottom bolt using an allen key, not even a long one

3. When re-assembling you should seal the O-ring gasket with a smear of Silicone Grease. I found that Maplins sell small tubes of it for about £5 (Maplin product code RE90X)

4. To do the actual cleaning you will need a can of carb cleaner, such as the one I got from Halfords (product code 294918-0) for about £5

5. A clean lint free cloth

6. Cotton buds

7. Plain white paper

8. Since you will need to disconnect the battery, make sure you have you radio code so you can re-activate it afterwards. The 4 digit code should be in your car handbook or other documentation that you received with it

*Step 1 - Disconnect Battery*

Unlock the car and open the boot - in the V6 the battery is in the boot, underneath the carpet with the toolset, the latter of which has a spanner that fits the nut on the negative terminal of the battery. Disconnect the negative terminal and tuck the disconnected wire away from the terminal.










Place a towel across the latch of the boot so that it won't engage if you try to close the boot. Since the boot latch is battery operated, you won't be able to open the boot again to re-connect the battery so this will prevent that happening. Having said that, there is an escape mechanism that can be used to manually open the boot but it can be a bit stiff to operate.

*Step 2 - Unclip The Air Hose At The Airbox Side*

To get the best access to the 4 bolts holding the throttle body, you need to remove the air intake hose. Start at the end shown in the picture and either use the pliers to undo the clip and pull back the pipe, or if you prefer you can undo the two screws that attach it to the air box. If you do the latter, you'll need a short philips-head screwdriver so that you can access the bottom screw easily, and I would advise to cup you hand underneath the bottom screw so that it doesn't drop into the engine when undoing it.










*Step 3 - Unclip The Throttle Body Power Cable*

Before undoing the other end of the air hose, unclip the power cable that attaches to the throttle body housing. You'll need to insert a small flat-head screwdriver and gently depress the catch while pulling the plug to remove it. You may be able to just do this by hand, as I did.










*Step 4 - Unclip The Air Hose At The Throttle Body Side*

With the power cable un-plugged and tucked out of the way, use the pliers again to release the air hose clip and pull the hose back to reveal one side of the throttle body internals.



















(Extra points to those who note how clean it looks inside already... ok, I admit I forgot to take a photo of this so I took one after cleaning LOL)

*Step 5 - Undo The 4 Hex Bolts*

The two top bolts can easily be accessed, but the ones on the left and at the bottom are more tricky to get to, and can potentially drop into the engine bay unless you're really careful. Use the screwdriver with the 5mm hex bit to undo the bolts and while doing the bottom two use your free hand to guide the bolts out so you don't lose them in the engine bay. Once the bolts are fully undone pull them out and put to one side.

*Step 6 - Remove The Throttle Body*

Now remove the throttle body by giving it a slight twist, then gently pulling it towards you (it's not held on by anything now) and this will reveal the air intake chamber on the other side of the throttle body.










If anything gets into this open hole it could cause a lot of problems, so me being paranoid I would advise to block the hole temporarily to be on the safe side. I used a scrunched up plastic carrier bag and gently inserted it a little into the hole










*Step 7 - Cleaning The Throttle Body*

Now onto the business 

As you can see, my throttle body was pretty gunked up










It's very important to note that during the cleaning process you should keep the cleaning solution away from the electronics of the throttle body, or you may damage it. To that end, always keep the electronics parts at the top so that the cleaning solution naturally drains downwards and away from the components. In the photo below, the electronics are housed inside the black part of the throttle body.

Also note that the throttle butterfly (the round bit in the middle) is driven by a sensitive stepper motor, so do not use any force on the butterfly or try to open it as otherwise damage may result.

Holding the throttle body in one hand with the electronics side upwards, carefully spray the carb cleaner into and around the throttle butterfly. Wait for a few secs then gently use the clean cloth to wipe away the majority of the gunk. Now gently use the cotton buds to wipe around the circumference of the throttle butterfly.

Now take a clean piece of paper and tear off a small strip. You can then feed the paper through the gap around the top and bottom of the throttle butterfly to dislodge the gunk trapped where we can't get to. Be very careful not to get too close to the hinges of the throttle butterfly or the paper will become stuck in there! And make sure to only use the cut edge of the paper to do the actual cleaning as the torn edge will be ineffective and is likely to get stuck in there. With the gunk dislodged, use a cotton bud soaked in carb cleaner to wipe around the edge and clear it up.

Repeat this process for both sides of the throttle body, then repeat the above steps until you can't get any more gunk out.

Once you're satisfied it's all clean, and still holding the electronics upright, give a final spray around with carb cleaner, let it drain off then dry off with the cloth and cotton buds. Put the whole throttle body down with the electronics upright and leave it to dry off for a while.










The finished result should look something like this


















*Step 8 - Prepare For Refitting*

Remove the inserted carrier bag from the hole and give the O-ring and mating surface a quick wipe around with a clean cloth to remove any muck that's accumulated so there is a clean surface to use. Then apply a smear of Silicone Grease to the O-ring in preparation for re-fitting of the throttle body.










*Step 9 - Refitting The Throttle Body*

It's fairly tricky to re-attach the throttle body without making a mess of the Silicone Grease, so insert the top two throttle body bolts into the throttle body and use them as alignment assistants while you carefully bring the two mating surfaces together. Once the two top bolts are inserted into their holes on the other side just do them up a couple of turns to keep the body in place while you carefully insert the remaining two bolts at the bottom, then do these two up a couple of turns.










Once all four bolts are in, work around each bolt in turn gradually tightening each one up so that the two mating surfaces are naturally drawn together. This keeps the alignment of the throttle body straight so that the Silicone Grease doesn't get displaced and can do its job.

Finally tighten all four bolts - but don't over do it!

*Step 10 - Refit The Air Hose & Power Supply*

Quite simply the reverse of the procedure to disassemble, use the pliers to re-attach the air-intake side air hose, making sure it is fully seated into its original position, then plug the power supply cable back in. Then re-fit the air box side of the air hose.










*Step 11 - Re-connect the battery*

Once you're certain everything is back in place and done up correctly, re-connect the negative terminal of the battery.










If, like me, you closed the boot then you won't be able to open it, so you' you'll need to open it using the plastic loop hidden in the centre tunnel:



















*Step 12 - Throttle Body Alignment*

The throttle body must be re-aligned. This will happen automatically - just insert the key into the ignition and turn it until the dash lights are on... but do NOT start the car. Leave the key in this position for 5 minutes. During this time you should hear some clicking going on in the engine bay. This is the throttle body alignment doing its stuff.

*Step 13 - Radio Code*

While you're waiting for the throttle body alignment to complete you may as well re-enable your radio by entering the code from your handbook. The unit will display SAFE on the front. You need to simultaneously hold down the RDS and SCAN buttons for a couple of seconds until the display changes to four zeros. Then you can use the radio station buttons from left to right to enter the four digit code - button one changes digit 1, button two changes digit 2 and so on. When you've entered your code simultaneously hold down the RDS and SCAN buttons to set the code.


















*Step 14 - Set The Date & Time*

The clock will also be reset to your car's dash pod manufacture date, so this is another job that can be done while waiting for the throttle body reset to take place.

On the dash, pull the left silver knob (under the rev counter) towards you until the Hours flash, then turn the knob to the right or left to increase or decrease the hours. To advance to minutes pull the knob again and set the minutes, again for year, month and so on.

*Step 15 - Enjoy!*

By this time the throttle body reset will have taken place. Remove the key from the ignition, re-insert and start the engine. Now drive off and have fun! (Oh, and make sure the bonnet is closed first!)


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## V6RUL (May 28, 2009)

Cheers Marty, the sticky has been added to the V6 page.
One thing..can you amend your guide to say "put a towel over the tailgate lock once the battery has been disconnected" this will save peeps from trying to open the tailgate with the wire as it is very stiff to operate.
Well donenmate.
Steve


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

V6RUL said:


> Cheers Marty, the sticky has been added to the V6 page.
> One thing..can you amend your guide to say "put a towel over the tailgate lock once the battery has been disconnected" this will save peeps from trying to open the tailgate with the wire as it is very stiff to operate.
> Well donenmate.
> Steve


Done!

Cheers dude


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## smally4 (Mar 28, 2011)

great post not got a v6 but deffinalty going to do this to me 1.8t
cheers mate


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## antcole (Apr 4, 2009)

Excellent write up mate!

Im going to do this today, rain permitting...

What improvements did you notice after doing this?


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

antcole said:


> Excellent write up mate!
> 
> Im going to do this today, rain permitting...
> 
> What improvements did you notice after doing this?


Thanks, I'm quite proud of my efforts 

I went down this route because I had some issues with the running, so there's no benefits as such, it just fixes up the problems. So, if you're already running smoothly then you might be wasting your time doing this.

The issues I had were:

1. Unstable idle - not by huge amounts but enough for me to notice
2. Jerkiness - especially with light operation of the throttle (like in traffic)
3. Hesitancy - put my foot down and I would get flat spots

All these problems have disappeared now. It's back to how it was when I first bought it two years ago - silky smooth power delivery all the way up. It's much more of a pleasure to drive again 8)


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## antcole (Apr 4, 2009)

Marty said:


> antcole said:
> 
> 
> > Excellent write up mate!
> ...


Superb, well i have pretty much all of those symptoms....
Idles fine but theres a disgracefully monumental flat spot that is not unlike a badly tuned vauxhall viva from 20+ years ago!!!
Hesitancy - YES
Jerky in low throttle driving - YES
Flat spot - like Ace Ventura inhaling before his exhaustive explanations!!

I might give the exterior a bit of a buff up while im there, your first class write up explains very nicely on how to remove and re-fit, so thats good even if not needing the clean up.

Thanks again mate.


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

antcole said:


> Marty said:
> 
> 
> > antcole said:
> ...


LOL - go for it! Please do report back on how you got on


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## markwartd (Apr 29, 2011)

Hi - Newbie here

Just to say that I followed your how to guide and took everything apart and managed to clean the throttle body (man it was filthy - must have taken about 20 cotton buds to get it really clean).

Whilst I was at it I gave the MAF a clean with specialist MAF cleaner and put a new Pipecross panel filter in as well, just to make a proper job of it.

I managed to do the throttle reset also - heard the buzzing and clicking with the key in the ignition.

Initially after taking the motor out for a spin I didn't really notice any difference and if anything it felt a bit bogged down on occassions when pulling away,say from traffic lights, but having given it a good 10mile run yesterday I have to say that from start up today the car drives much, much better than before and it's really worth doing - throttle response has deffo improved and the engine in general feels a lot smoother and stable than before. (ECU must have needed to re-sort fuelling etc out)

So would like to say thanks for the write up, as I probably wouldn't have even attempted it without the info and pics - so once again thanks! 

Regards
Daniel


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## antcole (Apr 4, 2009)

I did mine too, following Martys excellent instructions.

There was one difference with mine in that the one shown in the write up doesnt have cooling hoses to and from it.... mine does.

I just de-pressurised the engine coolant and carefully disconnected each hose. Didnt lose a drop of coolant and apart from the wriggle of re-fitting the hoses, all went well.

Cant say i noticed a big difference but it just felt good to have cleaned a filthy throttle body.


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## antcole (Apr 4, 2009)

markwartd said:


> Hi - Newbie here
> 
> Just to say that I followed your how to guide and took everything apart and managed to clean the throttle body (man it was filthy - must have taken about 20 cotton buds to get it really clean).
> 
> ...


Welcome to the forum BTW


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## markwartd (Apr 29, 2011)

Thanks for the welcome.

Your quite right - forgot to mention that I also had the two hoses connected. i just left the hoses connected as access looked a bit tight and I didn't want to damage anything (bit of a wuss I know :roll: ) and cleaned the Throttle Body in place with a large rag under to make sure no cleaner went over the engine bay around and below the area - managed to do it without getting any cleaner near the electronic part of the Throttle Body.

Regards
Daniel


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## V6RUL (May 28, 2009)

markwartd said:


> Thanks for the welcome.
> 
> Your quite right - forgot to mention that I also had the two hoses connected. i just left the hoses connected as access looked a bit tight and I didn't want to damage anything (bit of a wuss I know :roll: ) and cleaned the Throttle Body in place with a large rag under to make sure no cleaner went over the engine bay around and below the area - managed to do it without getting any cleaner near the electronic part of the Throttle Body.
> 
> ...


Hey Daniel,
Any chance of some decent pics of your steering wheel and paddles as I've not seen a DSG with a comfort pack steering wheel.

Ps welcome by the way
Steve


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## markwartd (Apr 29, 2011)

Here you go - The Red Leather really isn't as red as the picture - I wasn'too sure about it at first (maybe a bit poncy), but I love it now - it's something a bit different.

I could only attach a photo via attachment - sorry.

Regards
Daniel


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## markwartd (Apr 29, 2011)

Regarding the above - Im not trying to hijack the thread (apologies)

Daniel


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

@markwartd and @antcole

Hmm, odd about the cooling hoses. Mine does not have them. But then, mine's a manual... and yours are both DSG. Maybe that's why? Now my article is incomplete! [smiley=bigcry.gif]

@antcole I'm really sorry to hear that all that effort didn't really pay off for you. I'm still grinning with the difference in mine!


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## markwartd (Apr 29, 2011)

Marty,

Im not sure what the hoses are either I thought best to leave them well alone.

But once again thanks for the clear and concise write up it was really helpful and the cleaning has made a big difference to my car.

Regards
Daniel


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

markwartd said:


> Marty,
> 
> Im not sure what the hoses are either I thought best to leave them well alone.
> 
> ...


I'm really pleased to hear that! You're very welcome

Welcome to the forum btw


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## antcole (Apr 4, 2009)

Marty said:


> @markwartd and @antcole
> 
> Hmm, odd about the cooling hoses. Mine does not have them. But then, mine's a manual... and yours are both DSG. Maybe that's why? Now my article is incomplete! [smiley=bigcry.gif]
> 
> @antcole I'm really sorry to hear that all that effort didn't really pay off for you. I'm still grinning with the difference in mine!


It did make a difference, definately a bit more perky.... i think my issues are more related to my mechatronic unit.... which, again, you wont have the stress of!! :lol:

While mine was out i gave it a soft detail brush off and coated with an aluminium etch primer before a nice spray of smooth silver hammerite. 
Looks the dogs dusters all brightened up.
You gave me the confidence to remove it and it did need a clean!

I only removed the hoses because i wanted to give it a spray up, otherwise your instructions still stand... its easy enough to give it a clean while its attached to the hoses.
Thanks again mate.


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## antcole (Apr 4, 2009)

Heres the puppy back in place... i like shiney stuff see....


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## cabbie-uk (Oct 23, 2010)

NIce one ant  , noticed a smoother pick up and a bit more perky when I did mine  , well worth it , nice one mate .


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## V6RUL (May 28, 2009)

antcole said:


> Heres the puppy back in place... i like shiney stuff see....


Unfortunately, in cleaning the TB the rocker cover looks a little sorry for itself now.
Check my latest posts on my build thread for options..
Steve


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

antcole said:


> Marty said:
> 
> 
> > @markwartd and @antcole
> ...


Yea, I was reading some of your posts and wondered if the mech unit might be more of the cause rather than anything else :?

I still think the DSG is awesome and even now sometimes wish I had one, but I'd made my decision to go manual for the reliability and I think it was a wise decision to make.

Anyway, I'm very glad to hear it wasn't an entirely wasted effort! 8)

Now just to clean the rest of the engine to make it shiny ... :wink:


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## antcole (Apr 4, 2009)

V6RUL said:


> antcole said:
> 
> 
> > Heres the puppy back in place... i like shiney stuff see....
> ...


Youre spot on there mate!
Ive got to pluck up the courage to remove the inlet manifold and do the cam cover... :-|

Its a bit like picking at a piece of loose wallpaper.... once you start its all gotta go or it looks rank!! :lol:


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## V6RUL (May 28, 2009)

antcole said:


> V6RUL said:
> 
> 
> > antcole said:
> ...


yeah, tell me about it..
Steve


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## gogs (Dec 22, 2010)

Great how to, will be giving this a go over the weekend if the rain holds off :x


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## Mark1976 (Mar 2, 2011)

I did this today and followed the excellent instructions. I wasn't having all the symptoms as others have described but the tickover seemed a little high at 1200rpm and the throttle response was slightly hesitant. Anyways, I figured it was worth a go!

I came a bit stuck getting the small air hose and power connector off but managed to figure the little clips out in the end! Also didn't have a set of long reach pliers so struggled getting the main air intake hose clips back on. Nothing like having the right tools for the job  Apart from that it all went smoothly.

The throttle body was very dirty and came up like new after a clean. After putting it all back together the tickover is now around 650rpm and the throttle response does seem improved. I would reccomend anyone to do this!

Thanks again for the instrctions :lol:


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

You're very welcome!  Thanks for reporting your success!! 8)


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## PeTTe-N (Aug 24, 2010)

Saw this excellent "How To" when it first appeared and have been itching to have a crack ever since. Didn't have any of the symptoms of jerkiness etc but thought it could probably do with a clean after 48k miles.

I bought all the bits n pieces a couple of weeks ago, along with a pipercross panel filter that I got this week and decided to finally have a go yesterday. Swopped out the panel filter first and proceeded to remove the air hose next, only to find it was spotlessly clean anyway! :? So, I just put everything back together and did the reset procedure.

What sort of mileage are other peoples cars at, that have had to clean theirs?

One thing I did notice on removing the air hose, was that the butterfly was partially open. Not much, only 3-4mm but I was just expecting it to be closed. Is this normal?


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

PeTTe-N said:


> Saw this excellent "How To" when it first appeared and have been itching to have a crack ever since. Didn't have any of the symptoms of jerkiness etc but thought it could probably do with a clean after 48k miles.
> 
> I bought all the bits n pieces a couple of weeks ago, along with a pipercross panel filter that I got this week and decided to finally have a go yesterday. Swopped out the panel filter first and proceeded to remove the air hose next, only to find it was spotlessly clean anyway! :? So, I just put everything back together and did the reset procedure.
> 
> ...


Mine had 40K on the clock when I did it a few weeks back now.

The gunk on the *other* side of the butterfly was much more than the air-box side. I reckon you chickened out 

But seriously, if it really was spotlessly clean you probably didn't need to do it, especially if you had none of the symptoms. Maybe a previous owner already cleaned it? I'm surprised there isn't *any* muck in there...

The butterfly is meant to be a tiny bit open - nothing to worry about there. That's the idle setting.


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## PeTTe-N (Aug 24, 2010)

Marty said:


> The gunk on the *other* side of the butterfly was much more than the air-box side. I reckon you chickened out


lol Didn't chicken out as such but couldn't see much point stripping it down when it was so clean :lol: It really was as clean as your picture that you posted on step 4 (post cleaning). I was a bit disappointed truth be told, was looking forward to having a little tinker with it. Haven't messed with a car for 25years or more but since having the TT it's something I'd really like to get back to doing.

Great "How To" though, it inspired me to dig out my tools and have a go. Keep them coming, I'm looking forward to your next one in the series!!


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## stevebeechTA (May 16, 2009)

This is a excellent write up  so can I do my 180 and reset the TB as described and not have to use Vagcom to do the re-set. if so I think I will give this a go.

cheers steve


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

stevebeechTA said:


> This is a excellent write up  so can I do my 180 and reset the TB as described and not have to use Vagcom to do the re-set. if so I think I will give this a go.
> 
> cheers steve


My write-up is specifically for the 3.2 which is very different to the 1.8

Here is a link others have used as a guide for the 1.8:

http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/t/127279.aspx


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## Slackadder (Oct 25, 2011)

Had a go at this today....

Took the hoses off and the inside of the throttle body was pretty spotless .... so thought better of tinerking further. Was hoping to find it all gunky and a clean bringing improvements.

Was a bit of a an arse job with the pliers - two people would make it easier - one person loosen off the clips and then the other twist the hoses to get them off.

I did however manage (I hope) to sort the rattle on the passenger side - took the panel off and relocated one of the rubber bits to sit above the door "peg" above the speaker - problem solved. Might have to get a load of these and put them all over!!! Hoping for distortion free music on the way to work tomorrow!!! 

Changed the air filter on the w/e the one in there was minging.... there was a leaf stuck in it and some polystyrene balls in there too. Hoping a new filter helps everything (bought it at the TT shop - interesting visit - lots of 3.2s there - some DSG problems.

Onwards with the tinkering....

Anthony


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## muxgt (Apr 12, 2010)

Take off your intake pipe and spray a foam oven cleaner through the throttle body, works a treat


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## Robbie414 (Jun 24, 2009)

Hi Guys,

About to do this but can't find my radio code....do I really need to disconnect the battery?

Also.....oven cleaner down the intake.....are you serious???

Cheers
Rob


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## gogs (Dec 22, 2010)

I would not advise using oven cleaner for this job, stick to the carb cleaner as in the how to


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## Tritium (Apr 25, 2011)

gogs said:


> I would not advise using oven cleaner for this job, stick to the carb cleaner as in the how to


Well Gordon, it was muxley who suggested it :roll: :lol:

Brian


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## gogs (Dec 22, 2010)

Enough said Brian, he would have had you was your car with a Brillo pad if you'd listen!


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## Tritium (Apr 25, 2011)

gogs said:


> Enough said Brian, he would have had you was your car with a Brillo pad if you'd listen!


 :lol: you mean you *don't* use a brillo pad! :roll: :lol: :wink:

Brian


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## gogs (Dec 22, 2010)

Depends on the finish your after Brian!


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## lukeromeril (Nov 30, 2011)

I have been having some hesitancy issues as well as heavy steering, and seeing as i had some time off over easter, I thought it was time to sort them out.

I had a brand new DSG and mech fitted by audi at the start of the year, so i knew it was probably not that. So friday i had the wheel alignment sorted, and the power steering fluid checked, which was pretty low. (it had been causing some noises when turning hard left at low speeds). It now goes round corners smoothly, far lighter and with no noise. brilliant. I then got all the gear needed for the throttle clean, and what a result. the power delivery now feels smooth, no more jerky take offs or hesitant acceleration, it was silky smooth all the way. So, my 2005 3.2 dsg now takes of smoothly, changes gear perfectly, accelerates as it should, and goes nicely round corners. well worth the effort, a great write up, thanks!


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## kitcar98 (Nov 8, 2012)

Do you actually have to take the throttle body off I have seen many people just leave it on and clean it like that then just start the car and let it run just incase spray went through but it was ok to have the spray go through so can I just leave it on and do it like that?

Cheers
Kit


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

kitcar98 said:


> Do you actually have to take the throttle body off I have seen many people just leave it on and clean it like that then just start the car and let it run just incase spray went through but it was ok to have the spray go through so can I just leave it on and do it like that?
> 
> Cheers
> Kit


That's the lazy way, which doesn't do the worst of it : the other side. It's not hard to do it properly


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## kitcar98 (Nov 8, 2012)

ok are the bolts hard to get out or one of them and how tight does it have to be when i do them back up?


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

kitcar98 said:


> ok are the bolts hard to get out or one of them and how tight does it have to be when i do them back up?


Sorry, didn't spot this until just now... I guess it's too late, but one of them is hard to get to. It's do-able with the right tools though. Just be careful not to drop the removed bolts in the engine bay. I used one hand to undo the last of the threads and used the other to catch the bolt on the way out.

As for tightening, I didn't have a torque wrench nor do I have the required torque figure (if there even is one?)... I just did it up tightly by hand with the ratchet. It was tight to undo, so it should be tightly done up


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## Tritium (Apr 25, 2011)

Put a spot of bluetak on the hex. Push the key into the bolt head firmly. Then when you release the bolt at least something is holding it.
Works for me.

Brian


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## kitcar98 (Nov 8, 2012)

Marty said:


> kitcar98 said:
> 
> 
> > ok are the bolts hard to get out or one of them and how tight does it have to be when i do them back up?
> ...


yes bit late haha  its all ok I didn't loose any of the bolts and found it was quite easy to do and all is good now much cleaner and better throttle response 

Cheers Kit


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## Gohie (Mar 17, 2013)

markwartd said:


> Here you go - The Red Leather really isn't as red as the picture - I wasn'too sure about it at first (maybe a bit poncy), but I love it now - it's something a bit different.
> 
> I could only attach a photo via attachment - sorry.
> 
> ...


Is the comfort pack just the coloured steering wheel? Or is it different some way?


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

kitcar98 said:


> Marty said:
> 
> 
> > kitcar98 said:
> ...


Cool. The guide seems to be useful to quite a few people. I'm glad to have given something back to the forum


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## nimrod2410 (Nov 19, 2012)

Going to do this today, can anyone tell me why it's necessary to disconnect the battery to do this job?
Many thanks.


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

nimrod2410 said:


> Going to do this today, can anyone tell me why it's necessary to disconnect the battery to do this job?
> Many thanks.


Good practice to disconnect it when disconnecting / reconnecting electrical parts. Plus, once you reconnect the throttle body it will need to be re-calibrated, and the battery disconnect / reconnect will force that to happen. You can also do it with VCDS.


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## nimrod2410 (Nov 19, 2012)

Had a crack at this today. Not too dirty on inspection but the carb cleaner certainly drove a lot of black muck out.
Took about an hour, used longest allen key i had and stuck a spanner on the end for a bit of leverage.
Must admit allen key no 1 is now lounging about in depths of engine bay.

Didnt use silicone on refitting on advice of my mechanic, just a thin smear on light oil on the rubber seal.
Also used his carb cleaner as paying halfruads £7 quid for a tin is beyond my meager budget at moment, so net cost, nill.

Certainly sounds a lot crisper, take her for a blast later.

Good original write up and easy to follow, recommended.


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## Jamie-V6 (Dec 21, 2012)

Great guide!!! Will do this saturday if I get the time


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## lukeromeril (Nov 30, 2011)

Hey, I did this again today as I felt that I was still getting hesitation and perhaps didn't get it completely clean last time. This time I removed the coolant pipes, but I am a little concerned I replaced them the wrong way round. Probably just worrying for nothing as I did make a mental note. If I reach under the body, the left pipe connects to the T connecter at the back of the engine bay, and the right goes to the rocker cover. Is this correct? Worried to drive


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## Hammond670458 (Feb 4, 2014)

antcole said:


> Heres the puppy back in place... i like shiney stuff see....


That looks brill, what you used to get that finish.


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## Adam32 (Sep 21, 2014)

This has certainly helped my car thanks, main issue has been hesitation, too early to tell if its solved it totally but the car is a whole load smoother. Did it without disconnecting the cooling pipes, just had a pan underneath to collect the fluid.


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

So glad that my write up has helped others 

It's about time I redid mine!


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## Adam32 (Sep 21, 2014)

Main reason for signing up was to say thanks. Certainly a huge improvement in throttle response, makes the car feel significantly more sprightly. Still get the hesitation every so often so the hunt continues!


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## theaddman (Mar 6, 2013)

Thanks for the write up!!

Cleaned my throttle body TT 225 what a difference.

Car would loose not accelarate smoothly above 3000 or so revs then I would hear her spooling and then the revs would not increase... I would take my foot off the accelerator and I would have more power.

At about 4000 revs she would rev no more and then eventually open up again.

Cleaned throttle body and she is kicking again.

Thanks again what a brilliant write up!


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## Marty (Jun 9, 2009)

Excellent to hear my write up is still helping people


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## vwlupo (Feb 13, 2015)

Still getting used =) some of my pics including the 2 damn hoses for cooling lol




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## vwlupo (Feb 13, 2015)

Also found perfect tool


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## 2dareis2do (May 4, 2015)

Thanks for the tips. i am a complete novice as far as mechanics are concerned but this post gave me the confidence to have a go, and boy, am I pleased I did. I recently purchased an 2002 Audi TT 1.8 and got everything done including cam belt, water pump, cam cover gasket, oil filter, air filter spark plugs, airmass sensor etc etc and took it back to the garage as I was concerned that there might be a an issue with the pneumatic belt tensioners due to a slight rattle or occasional engine shake on startup. They took it in and tested it and identified the throttle as a potential cause of my problems. They basically said that they could replace the throttle for around £400 + labour, or they could try cleaning it for around £80, but that would be no guarantee of fixing the problem so could end up replacing it anyway. Well after spending over £1000 at the garage I thought I would try and save some money and give it a go myself, especially after hearing the positive feedback on this forum.

The issues I had were

occasionally engine rattle on start up, quite scary
idle steady at around 8k rpm, then drops about 5k rpm for half a second then back up to normal. When at low speeds the car feels like it is going to stall, so invariably tend to rev a bit when changing gear etc. 
Loss of power, sometimes noticeable when driving at speed when changing gear etc
Engine smells rich after driving, smell of petrol when getting out of the car.

The engine layout on the 1.8 is quite different I believe to the 3.2 so for my purposes this video was also quite helpful






After simply cleaning the throttle body, the car drives completely differently. This is is the car that I had hoped to buy and is now a pleasure to drive. Thank you so much for you post. You have saved me another trip to the garage and now my car purrs as opposed to growling all the time. There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of fixing something your self, especially when that something is as personal as your own car.


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## vwlupo (Feb 13, 2015)

Dude sweet

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## jamiemcc (Jan 30, 2014)

Just done this today ;-) Wouldn't have attempted if i didn't have this guide so big ups for making it ,, mine was stinking!! Had a fun time reconnecting up the coolant hoses afterwards, couldn't get it to seat back on for ages! :mrgreen: Thanks again, great sticky!


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## westo3 (Jan 15, 2011)

Just marking this for future ref


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## Sandy (May 5, 2014)

Excellent write up as I'm going to do this next week and fit in a fresh set on ignition coils


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