Eric Toften
Member
Hey all. Hope you read my post about the fuel filter change. I did the intake system cleaning as soon as I finished the fuel filter. It uses the same tools and doesn't take long. So I would advise everyone to do it as well. I took the entire system from air filter housing to throttle body out of the truck to clean it. It is really simple with only five tools. And I don't like spraying throttle body cleaner into the plastic air intake manifold. That stuff eats plastic. Don't believe me? Read the label. So here goes. If you just finished the fuel filter change, put the truck back on the ground. Some of the components can be hard to reach if the truck is elevated. Pop the tabs and lift the filter housing lid off the filter. Follow the air inlet tube. The next component is the MAF. Unplug it. Then comes the recirculation hose. It has a green clip that you have to push in on one side and lift the hose off. Lastly there is the throttle body (TB for short). Unplug the IAC from the rear. Pull the red tab out then push in on the middle tab to loosen it. Unplug the throttle connector from the front of the TB in the same manner. The TB is held in place by for screws that can be removed using a 5/16" socket. The fourth bolt has a wire hanger held in place with a nut on top of it. Use the 10mm socket to remove the nut then 5/16" to remove the stud. Now you can pull the entire tube out. Be careful not to drop the plastic diffuser ring (remember the tornado infomercials on TV? Guess where that technology came from? lol) that sits between the TB and intake manifold. Now you can use the 5/16" to loosen the intake clamp from the TB. The hose will be hard to remove. It's not glued or anything. Heat just tends to dry the tube to the metal. You can use the screwdriver to pry the hose from the TB... GENTLY. Now stand back and admire that thick black coat of soot in the TB. Spray the TB liberally with TB cleaner. Trying not to hose down the plastic parts. It will take several shots and wiping to get it all clean. Be sure to work the butterfly open and closed. You will notice it gets easier to move as you clean. Next wipe down that diffuser ring with a dry rag. I used a toothbrush (not yours... your girlfriends will work better) to get in between the fins. Next pull the MAF. It takes a torx bit (not sure of the size mine are all just loose in a plastic dish). You will notice it looks like a laptop hard drive with two slots in it. Look in one slot and you will see the resistor that makes the MAF work. DO NOT touch it. Use the Maf cleaner to hose it down several times. Set it aside to dry before reinstalling. While waiting on the MAF to dry take the dry rag you used earlier and wipe out the inside of the air intake tube. You can reassemble in the reverse order. Note that you can't put the diffuser ring in wrong. It has tabs that only line up one way. Remember to snap the red clips in on all the plugs. There you go. Easy to do and no worry of spraying a bunch of cleaner into your intake and oiled surfaces. The whole job fuel filter included took an hour and half tops. Hope this helps.
