03' suburban won't start after I sprayed cleaner!

Hello everyone,
This looks like a great forum. Ive got a problem on my hands and hopefully someone here can help me out. I've got an 03' suburban, 5.3 liter with 55,000 miles. I just took it to the dealer (where everything has been done in the past) today for a check engine light. It was diagnosed to have a leaking intake manifold gasket, they wanted $500+ dollars to do the job. I opted to do the job myself with a friend using an OEM gasket. All went very well and was done in about 2.5 hours. The truck started just fine, seemed to run good, no more rough idle.Then we decided to spray some throttle body cleaner into the TB plate area (dealer said it needed to be cleaned). When we removed the intake tube the motor shut off. After trying this several time, trying to give it a little more throttle, we decided to spray it into the TB while it was not running, we then reinstalled the intake tube and the thing would not start. I now keep getting a reduced power display on my dash and we can't get the things started. Weve been trying for 3-4 hours.

Things we tried:
1. Disconnected the battery to try a clear any sort of fault.
2. Installed fuel pressure gauge (35-40 psi)
3. removed plug wires held close to contact to check for spark (none evident)

It just seems like something is not enabling it to start (security?)

I'm sorry for the long 1st post, but it's 1:10 am and I'm really in need of someones advice. Any help would be very apreciated. Thanks:banghead:

You said you were showing a reduced power display? Is your battery charged enough to start motor? Maybe something drained the battery while you were working on the burb for those 2.5 hours. Interior or hood light?

The 1st time we started up the truck after we installed the new gasket was great/perfect ran great. We didn't have any problems until we sparayed that TB cleaner in the intake. With that said the battery is ran down now from all the cranking.

Removing the air intake from the throttle body would bypass the MAF sensor. That could be why it died. Try connecting everything normally and cranking the engine for about 15 seconds with the throttle 100% open. This tells the computer to shut off the injectors (flood-clear mode). Let the starter cool off, and try to start it normally. Intake cleaner can make it very difficult to re-start an engine sometimes. I usually stuff a rag in the bottom to catch as much liquid as possible.

To check for spark, use a spark tester. They are cheap and will give you a better idea whether or not you have spark.

The security light should be flashing if that is the reason for not starting.

Thanks for the help guys. We recharged the battery this afternoon after work(dead from all the cranking last night). She started right up. Cleared all the codes and after several test drives and engine starts/shut off's, it seems to be runing great. The intake manifold gasket job was pretty straight forward and not too difficult, definitly not worth $500 the dealer wanted. :grinno:

Are you saying that you would just clean the throttle body area and not try to spray up into the intake? Also...the pcv valve, we pulled it and inspected it, there's nothing inside, no ball, is this right?

Thanks again

Are you saying that you would just clean the throttle body area and not try to spray up into the intake? Also...the pcv valve, we pulled it and inspected it, there's nothing inside, no ball, is this right?

I don't spray anything that I can't wipe off. I don't want that crap running down into the cylinders all at once. I will wrap a rag around a long screwdriver and reach in as far as I can if I have to. If you decide you want to spray the intake out, I would remove it to do so. Carbon in the intake won't cause much of a problem, probably none at all, if it's in the throttle valve area it can cause problems.

I don't think you can usually see anything inside a PCV valve. Try blowing through it both ways (wrap your hand around it and blow into your hand, oil tastes terrible). It should only allow airflow out of the crankcase.

The 1st time we started up the truck after we installed the new gasket was great/perfect ran great. We didn't have any problems until we sparayed that TB cleaner in the intake. With that said the battery is ran down now from all the cranking.


this no start after cleaning TB is most likely a flooding of cylinders problem. too much cleaner especially with the winter temps less evaporation of chemicals. i also use rag to absorb excess, and also use tooth brush, with an extention handle ,made of stiff electrical wire ,taped to brush handle. after cleaning wait a half hour before starting if necessary use hair dryer to dry off excess chemicals in the intake..........