Magneti Marelli Throttle Body- To Clean Or Not To Clean?

[LPTJoe]

As per the title chaps!

I've recently acquired a 2001 V70 140 manual with the infamous Magneti Marelli ETM of doom, it's the original 'white label' model rather than the later 'yellow label' type. Whilst the car drives well, when pulling up at junctions or traffic lights the idle seems to drop to circa 500 rpm, it resides there most of the time (Way too low) but on the whole can't seem to decide where to settle and can be anywhere between 500-800 rpm. Whilst it's not fluctuating rapidly, the slight idle droop is bothersome and reminiscent of dirty throttle body.

I'd usually go ahead and clean the intake/throttle butterfly in this situation, this thread seems to suggest that's a good idea... https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=116465 ..... However....advice online seems to be mixed for the Magneti Marelli unit with some folk saying either....

A- Don't touch it, don't even think about touching it. It's only the later Bosch ones that respond to cleaning and interfering with it in any way will have disastrous results.

B- It can be cleaned carefully, but disconnect the battery and don't move/open the throttle butterfly at all whilst doing so, only clean it in the closed position and afterwards leave the keys in the ignition position 2 for 10 minutes before starting.

C- It's fine, just get the carb cleaner out and have at it!

The question is simple, which is correct? Thanks in advance for any advice/musings and in particular direct experiences

[Georgeandkira]

Gain access to it by removing the air handling hose and clean it's throat and the side of the throttle plate you can see.
Turn the key to ON and open the throttle by leaving a weight on the accelerator pedal.
Clean the newly exposed surfaces.

You may find it's not dirty at all.

[LPTJoe]

Originally Posted by Georgeandkira

Gain access to it by removing the air handling hose and clean it's throat and the side of the throttle plate you can see.
Turn the key to ON and open the throttle by leaving a weight on the accelerator pedal.
Clean the newly exposed surfaces.

You may find it's not dirty at all.

With respect, did you actually read my post?

I appreciate the process involved and the logistics of the of cleaning, my question was about risking the integrity of the part by cleaning. Having heard mixed reports as to whether the cleaning process may have grave consequences on the 99-01 Magneti Marelli ETM.

[Missing Lincs]

My advice would be to leave it alone unless you plan to replace or re-manufacture.
My V70 is auto so when the throttle body started acting up it was chugging when trying to manoeuvre at slow speed, especially in cold damp weather.
I tried cleaning and it made things worse to the point that I had to replace. When it was cleaned, there were a few sticky deposits, nothing much worth the trouble really. I believe the major problem was with the control circuit, not dirt.
If yours isn't bad enough to think of replacing, I would leave it alone.

[Dippydog]

I have a P1 2.4 140 manual which shortly after I bought it exhibited similar symptoms-only mine would sometimes stall when coming to a stop.I cleaned mine and that cured it,I ran it for about a year and a half before it started acting up with the usual symptoms of wear[or whatever causes it] which is when I changed it using the sacer method[so no coding needed]and it's been fine since.Mine has the Magnetti Marelli throttle body.If yours is acting up I'd go with cleaning it in the first instance it only takes a couple of minutes and what have you got to lose by trying?

[LPTJoe]

Thanks both for the replies, the Sacer method seems like the best course of action long term for sure.

Originally Posted by Missing Lincs

My advice would be to leave it alone unless you plan to replace or re-manufacture.
My V70 is auto so when the throttle body started acting up it was chugging when trying to manoeuvre at slow speed, especially in cold damp weather.
I tried cleaning and it made things worse to the point that I had to replace. When it was cleaned, there were a few sticky deposits, nothing much worth the trouble really. I believe the major problem was with the control circuit, not dirt.
If yours isn't bad enough to think of replacing, I would leave it alone.

Thanks, that's the kind of advice I was looking for As luck would have it I scanned the car with a basic OBD2 reader this afternoon (I don't have Vida) and pulled two codes, one for the MAF and one for the AIT. I cleared the codes, cleaned the MAF using the correct stuff and low and behold, without wishing to use the 'F' word yet, things seem much better.

[barrybritcher]

borrow / buy DICE and VIDA run the ETM test - it'll tell you if buggered. And yes just clean it. I cleaned mine. If its going to break its going to break.

[barrybritcher]

there are a load of guy in the south east on facebook page Swede Sport who can help you

[LPTJoe]

Thanks for the reply man, but your car's a 2007 and will have the Bosch ETM rather than the Magneti Marelli one so the fact that you've cleaned yours without negative consequences isn't really relevant.

I've sent a request to join the group you mentioned.

[barrybritcher]

Yes, but what is absolutely relevant is the fact I used to own a 2001 with the magnetti ETM