Hi, today I will tell you how to solve Dodge Ram 1500 throttle body problems and clean it on 5.7 Hemi. You may encounter problems while driving where when you slow down around a corner or right in the middle of traffic, it will just stop and die. You think it’s a torque converter problem, but you’re pretty sure it’s an idle air control valve.
Alright, I’ll tell you how to remove the idle area from the throttle body of the Dodge Ram 1500 and how to clean it. You may have found information for this throttle body problem on the internet, but they don’t show it because there are too many cleaning parts for the 5.7 Hemi. But if you do, it’s going to be super cheap than taking your truck to a repair shop, and this guide is something anyone can do.
You recognize the problem when you try to start your truck, and it’s hard to start and sputters.
How To Clean Throttle Body to Solve The Problems
- The first thing you will want to do is disconnect the battery terminals, so remove the cap.
- Remove the intake tube. You will be removing some of the connectors. For that, you can use a flat-blade screwdriver to loosen the locks, and you should be able to pinch and unclip.
Intake tube of Dodge Ram - You will see four bolts around it, so what you want to do is loosen the clamp, and you can move your intake tube easily.
- Now you can see the throttle body, and you see evidence of carbon buildup around the edges. You can suspect it’s a lot worse than the backside. So you want to proceed with removing the connector and the four bolts.
- You can use a throttle cleaner and a toothbrush to clean the carbon from the throttle body and make it look new again. Pro tips: you can place something to hold the throttle plate open and make it easier for you to clean it perfectly. You will want to pay attention to two specific areas, especially when you are cleaning, are the inner edges right where the throttle plate is and the edges of the valves. You want those edges to be as clean as possible, and those are two important.
- You are ready to reinstall a clean throttle body into the intake manifold. You’ll also want to clean around the gasket so it’s usable. Installing it is quite easy. You will notice that some dimples coincide with the bottom of your throttle body. So you can only put it in one way, you can’t put it on backward, it won’t work, so it’s a pretty simple thing. So you’re going to plug it back in and try to make sure it’s fine.
How to Reset Throttle Body on Dodge Ram 1500
Once the throttle body is fully attached to the intake manifold, now you need to reset it. Following are the steps to do it.
- Turn your key to the ON position but don’t start your engine. Wait for all the lights to come on.
- Press the gas pedal to the floor for 20 seconds
- After that, release the gas pedal very slowly
- Turn your key to the off position
- Restart the engine and drive
How important is throttle body maintenance on the Dodge Ram?
The throttle body is the main route for air entering the engine. If the throttle body is damaged, your engine will not get enough air for the fuel combustion process. As a result, your engine will not run properly and your car’s RPM will become abnormal.
The car throttle body is a section of the air intake system. Your car needs the right amount of fuel and air mixture to run smoothly. The throttle body serves to regulate the amount of air that enters the engine. When the gas pedal is stepped on, the throttle body will open, and filtered air will enter the intake manifold to the engine and process fuel combustion.
If there is an abnormality in the throttle body of your car, it is not necessarily damaged.
Accumulated carbon or dirt can reduce the performance of the throttle body. To fix this, you have to clean it, and your car will return to normal. To maintain the condition of the car’s throttle body, I suggest that you clean it with a throttle cleaner every time you do routine service. Throttle cleaner will clean carbon debris from the throttle body and will extend its life.
Some of the symptoms that indicate that your car may need a throttle body replacement:
- Check engine light is on
- Your engine performance is decreasing
- Underpowered engine
- Gearshifts in an automatic transmission are not normal.
That’s how to solve the Dodge Ram 1500 throttle body problems. I hope it can help you to restore your truck’s performance.