Butterfly assembly - removal and lubrication?

[Jonathan]

Do we know if there is already a write-up on how to remove the butterfly assembly in order to clean it and lube it?

http://store.delorean.com/p-6395-butterfly-assy.aspx

I feel my idle stumbles at times because things are not rotating easily enough nor springing back to their rest position. I would like to get in there and clean things up and lube the pivot points of the butterfly valves and throttle linkage as well as the two main springs.

If someone knows of a step by step process for removal indicating what comes off and in what order, I'd love to look it over. Not likely the hardest thing to figure out, but thought it was worth asking about. Service manual perhaps? Current version with photos would be ideal.

[Bitsyncmaster]

You don't really need to remove it. Most important is to grease the two springs (one on the butterfly and the other on the throttle spool)

[Jonathan]

Gotcha Dave. Can you lube springs like that in place? I had thought perhaps they needed to come out to get them on a workbench and have at it. What sort of lube would you suggest? I'm assuming something you can spray down on them yet more or less control it from going everywhere.

[David T]

Actually the springs don't get greased, the rotating parts that they are attached to need the lubrication. The throttle assembly, aka, the "butterflies", do not get greased. The problem is usually the throttle spool. It should be disassembled, cleaned and relubricated. The other problem area is the quadrant link. The rod ends never get lubricated and can wear quite a bit causing a lot of lost motion. The cable can also be sticky and can be lubricated as per the recall with anti-freeze.
David Teitelbaum

[Bitsyncmaster]

I think you can work some grease into the springs from the outside without needing to take them out. Just use a Q-tip or a wood stick to work it into the springs.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Actually the springs don't get greased, the rotating parts that they are attached to need the lubrication. The throttle assembly, aka, the "butterflies", do not get greased. The problem is usually the throttle spool. It should be disassembled, cleaned and relubricated. The other problem area is the quadrant link. The rod ends never get lubricated and can wear quite a bit causing a lot of lost motion. The cable can also be sticky and can be lubricated as per the recall with anti-freeze.
David Teitelbaum

Mine was binding because the spring would bind on itself and not slide.

[Jonathan]

Ok. So for the spring that is up at the pivot point of the butterflies assembly, would you just lube the axle that is rotating? I would have thought taking it off the car would allow you access to get some sort of grease or lube to that point. I can see how the valves on the inside (the discs that is) don't need any lubrication, but felt the axle they are on would?

Is taking apart the throttle spool fairly self explanatory? Not hoping it let's go the way defrost switch internals can and I now have parts all over the garage not knowing how to put them back together or what goes where. I can't imagine it is under some sort of extreme tension from the spring that things unload at a given moment (like a torsion bar or garage door spring would).

The throttle spool seems simple to handle. I just look down at the spring near the butterflies pivot point and to me it looks like it could use a good disassembly and cleaning/lube.

[Bitsyncmaster]

You would need to remove the throttle plates to pull the rod out of the casting. Don't do it. You will have a very hard time getting those plates back installed so they are perfectly centered.

[Jonathan]

You would need to remove the throttle plates to pull the rod out of the casting. Don't do it. You will have a very hard time getting those plates back installed so they are perfectly centered.

Yikes. Ok, good advice. I'll stick to working some grease into the spring as is on that one and figure out the best way to dismantle the throttle spool for the other. Thanks.

[cybercusp]

I used spray white lithium grease on mine and it seemed to work well.