I was suprised during my 37500 mile service at the dealer on my 2006 LR3 to hear them say they had discovered a heavy build up of carbon on the throttle body, and they recommended it be cleaned. I said OK, but was then surprised again to hear that this would not be covered by warranty and cost me $169. Is there any new TSB's on this that anyone has heard of, and is a carbon build-up at this relatively low mileage a sign that my engine is not holding up well?

I'm really surprised it would not be covered with warranty, as I've never heard of this kind of problem on any of my other cars, and I don't see it mentioned as a normal service item in my manual. Did I get ripped off by the dealer for something that really should have been warranty?

I almost did not do it, but told them to go ahead at the end. They said it would help my fuel milegage, and I was skeptical, however I will say I was pleasantly surprised to see that I am now averaging about 1.5 miles per gallon better than before (18.9 MPG vs. my normal 17.4).

 

you got ripped off man, theres no way that carbon will build up on your t/b, pistons or valves sure, but not the throttle, carboning happens due to either a poor burn or bad compression chamber temp, but in any case, it needs a hydrocarbon to build out of, gas. there is no gas at all that far up your intake, the only possible explination would be if your egr was causing it, but this managment system is more then good enough to know if theres a problem there, plus theyd have to have seen into the intake past your throttle plate, which is a hassle seeing as how its an electric throttle, cant just push it open. i myself am a tech at a dealership, and i hate saying it, but they screwed you. go back, talk to the manager, find out why there was build up, and why they were even checking it, not part of a 37.5. it sounds to me like they were just trying to push a BG service. by the way, what dealer?

 

My throtle body was replaced recently at 29k miles after Istarted gettingthe "Reduced Engine Performance" message and the LR3 would start stalling at idle. First couple of visits the computer would read codes pointing at a couple different sensors which were changed out to no improvement. On the third visit for the same problem, the forman decided to change out the Throtle body and that fixed the problem..so far.

I know from reading other posts on the LR3 that this seems to be an on-going problem at least with the early years of LR3 production. Could it be a tech message is out for them to start looking at this when early model LR3 come in for service?

 

yes, they do have the occasional issue with the tb, but not build up, the problem it has is the sensor in one of the motors that move the plate, there is no sort of service message or bulletin about this as it is not a very common problem, ive seen less then 5 or 6, and as to the early lr3 problems, most of them are nothing more then simple software glitches, and water leaks.

 

The dealer was Houston North

 

Send a nice letter to the service manager letting him know he has lost your business.
This is a common problem with any t/body, takes a can of carb spray and 10 milutes to resolve.