hey all,

i have a small problem in my 97 explorer 5.0. when i hit the pedal its almost like its stuck at first, and then goes and revs and takes off like almost spinning the tires. my mpg is horrible, about 13.2 mpg. i traced the problem back to the throttle body. I took the black plastic housing and the air intake tubing off and exposed the round plate that moves up and down. with the truck off i was pushing it with my hand and had the same sticky problem. i put some oil on the outside of it where the cable meets the throttle body with that piece that turns the round plate. i also put some oil on the inside of the throttle body on the 2 sides where it pivots to move. (i put very little almost barely noticeable because only air should go thru there). and then i test drove it. it seems to have gone away about 95%. is there something else i should have done or do i need a new throttle body? because i'm sure once the oil dries up i'll need to do it again. i used regular household oil in the plastic container that you could get at walmart.....

thanks.

 

I had that same problem on my 91 mark VII. I took the throttle plate out and very carefully filed it with a fingernail file. Be careful it's tricky! my plate was held in by two phillips head screws and they fall very easily, I used a new magnetic screw driver. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!

 

yea, mine is also held with 2 philips screws on the sides.....where did you do the filing? right there on the sides where is pivots?

 

I feel your pain, I'm stuck at 13.5-14 mpg too. My throttle's a little sticky at first also. I figure a little cleaning would make it better. I know my MAF is a little dirty as well. Too much going on to mess with it right now, maybe after the holidays.

 

you're on the right track. I opened and cleaned mine 3xs before i got it right. Use carb/TB cleaner and scub the heck out of that butterfly and TB area. Then i adjusted the stop screw on the outside cam of the trottle linkage(not sure if its right but it worked for me)

 

yea i was thinking of adjusting the stop screw (turning it up a little) but wouldnt that cause me to idle higher and use more gas?? the tb has a sticker on it that says "do not clean tb, it has a special coating" or something to that effect.... so i am a little hesitant to spray it with carb cleaner. should i just ignore that? there is this white residue all over the inside of it.....and its sticky...

 

I ignored figuring that the coating had reached the end of its life and was causing the sticking.

 

I asked a tech about that once and he said, "I got those little stickers all over my tool box". I guess the cleaner takes 'em off nicely.

 

I have the same problem on my 5.0 97EB. It shows up after I'd driven it around for at least half an hour, usually at highway speeds. It's also occurs very frequently in hot weather. And if I let it sit for about 5 minutes, it goes away - for a while.

But so far this winter, I haven't had any problems - none. It really looks like the hot weather contributes somehow.

I'm pretty sure it's not the coating on the TB that's causing the sticking - it's been gone on mine since I bought it (used). I've sprayed the TB with carb cleaner and used some WD40 on the outside linkage. That seemed to help - but it wasn't a cure. The problem came back in in a couple of weeks - until winter arrived.

Just a thought: could it be possible that there is something in the cruise controller causing the problem?

Still looking for a cure rather than a temporary fix.

 

i bought some tb cleaner and plan to use it soon. if it wont fix the problem then i think i will just get an entirely new tb.

 

I had the same problem with my '99. The problem was not the throttle body. The problem was the throttle cable linkage was all gummed up. Sprayed it down with some TB cleaner followed by some WD40 and life was good.

 

Just clean up the sticky crude. I used TB cleaner on a rag. I found that cheap gas (non branded) caused the build up. Mine happens after using the cruise control for a period of time. I also found that switching between branded and non branded, every other fill up, solved the problem. I still have the orginal TB after 142K miles.

 

i sprayed it with the tb cleaner and the problem is about 80% gone. i dont have wd40 but i will get a can tomorrow. also sprayed down the whole air intake tubing and the MAF. i took the maf off the air box and sprayed it down, both sides and also sprayed the little sensor. truck didnt start right away. about 4th try it started and stalled. then i started it one more time then gave it throttle and its worked fine since then. the pedal is barely sticky but still there....it'll get wd40'd tomorrow and we'll see. i have a used tb coming from another 97 with 40k miles on it, only paid $24 total.

 

I had this problem with my 1997 4.0 SOHC. When I took it to the dealer, they replaced the throttle body under warranty. Then, about a month later, Ford announced a recall for the very same reason. I guess they had had enough warranty repairs for the Feds to order a recall. I do not know if there was a similar recall for your 5.0. Anyway your taking care of it.

 

I seem to remember a reacall or a TSB about this back in the day.