1999 Mercury Villager / Nissan Quest Throttle Sticking

[jcoffee]

I have a 1999 Villager Estate Van and since I bought it new I have had a sticking Throttle condition that is intermittent. While still under warranty, they replaced the throttle body and the problem went away for a year or 2 and then came back. The dealership stated that if the car was not under warranty it would have cost almost $800 to do the repair. It is now doing it again at 82,000 miles. I have searched the web and found very little. Also I am looking for a service manual if anyone has one to pass along as a download.

Any Help out there??

Thanks,
JC

[chubbygoatboy]

SURE, I think I have your answer!! We have a 2000 Villager estate, that had a sticky throttle early on, shortly after warranty expiration, of course. The dealer told me new throttle body was needed. I thought this seemed like bull. I even reported it to the NTSB as a safety concern, that I thought there should be a recall on, but to my knowledge, that never happened. Anyway, back to the problem, real simple and cheap to try!!
Remove the air filter box and the big hose, if I remember correctly, there are a couple of smaller tubes and a sensor connecter or two also. Get it all completely out of the way. Get an old rag, and place it below the throttle body to absorb the carb cleaner. Get an old toothbrush, with nice soft bristles, so you do not scratch anything. Spray carb cleaner into it with the throttle held open, WHILE CAR IS NOT RUNNING. Spray liberally. Use the brush to clean the throttle/butterfly plate, especially around the edges, front and back of butterfly, and also clean the body of the throttle valve where the butterfly seals against. Do this several times until it appears to get the oily carbony build up cleaned off. the throttle spring is pretty beefy. Your thumb will get tired of holding it open, but it is worth it!!!
Remove the rag, reinstall ALL of the tubing and sensors wires, and air filter box. Start the car. It will be rough and smoke the neighborhood out. But, in a few seconds, it will clear, and you should have your car fixed!! This needs to be done about every 2 years, or as soon as the pedal starts sticking!!! GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!

[jcoffee]

I did as you directed and it appears to have done the trick. This was a very easy repair and while I had the Air Box off, I inspected and cleaned all up and changed the air filter. Thanks for your expert help and I hope otehrs out there can avoid costly repairs!!

JC

[chubbygoatboy]

You are welcome!! I am glad it saved you a costly repair. I have found that cleaning the throttle body on just about any car, will make it idle, and run better. I just did it on a Ford pickup that I am working on to resell, and it fixed the idle problem right now!!! I actually by carb cleaner by the case now!!