So about a month ago, I noticed my car didn't have as much power as it had when I bought it. It seemed kind of sluggish, and seemed to hesitate and surge a bit, but I thought nothing of it at the time since it's very cold out.
After a while it got worse... and worse... and even more progressively worse.
After Google'ing for an answer, I found changing the spark plugs solved some people's problems. I changed the spark plugs with brand new iridiums. This seemed to help a little but not a lot. This lasted for about a week until the CEL came and LHM (limp-home mode) came.
Everything sounded the same engine wise, so I figured there was nothing wrong with the engine internally. After Google'ing my CEL codes and lots of searching, people were constantly mentioning throttle body issues. People were saying they needed a whole brand new throttle body unit, and things were starting to look bad for my case.
Since P2135 is TPS (Throttle body positioning sensor) not agreeing by 4.5 percent or more for 1 second, something must be wrong with my throttle body. I searched high and low for SOMETHING on how to clean my model and year's throttle body on the internet. Absolutely nothing, unless I'm terrible at searching, but I think that's not the case.
This is how I cleaned my 2007 Saab 9-3 2.0T's throttle body, and solved all of the mentioned issues.
1.) After taking off the black cover on your engine, you'll see a huge black hose going into your throttle body. This was EXTREMELY hard to get off, and took quite a bit of prying. It seemed as though it had never been taken off.
![Image]()
2.) If you look inside, you can see the carbon buildup on the throttle body flapper, which I believe is called the butterfly flap(per?) It's all around the edges, and that is what makes it stick or get blocked if not cleaned.
![Image]()
3.) This is where it gets kind of weird. We used CRC Throttle Body cleaner, but it specifically states on the back NOT to use it on cars with turbos. So make sure you're careful. My Dad put a rag inside the throttle body itself to soak up extra fluid as he sprayed it in. After a fair amount of spraying and rubbing, it looked shiny again. But, I should mention that these rags were white when we started... Throttle bodies get very dirty over time.
![Image]()
4.) Finally, the results. Clean as can be!
![Image]()
5.) After we finished cleaning the throttle body, we moved to the MAF sensor, for which I bought CRC Mass Air Flow sensor cleaner. To be honest, it didn't look like the MAF sensor was even dirty, unless it always looks that way, so I believe the throttle body was causing all these issues.
6.) We put it all back together and let it sit for about 30 minutes in case there was extra cleaner that needed to evaporate yet. We took a battery cable off for those 30 minutes to reset my CEL and codes that were stored so we had a fresh start. People claim to pull fuse 17 as well, but that wasn't necessary for us.
7.) Here's another part that I found to be weird that we also did just for additional steps. While searching on the internet, people claim you can reset or re-calibrate the throttle positioning sensor by...
a.) Holding the key fab in your hand.
b.) Pressing the accelerator ALL the way to the floor with the key in your hand.
c.) Putting the key in, and turning it to on.
d.) WAIT for it say "Check OK." like it normally does, with your foot still to the floor.
e.) Start the car, and wait for it to idle like normal before taking your foot off.
The engine will NOT race once started. It will idle just like normal with your foot all the way to the floor. This apparently resets or re-calibrates this sensor.
I don't know if anyone can confirm or deny this, but it would be nice to know.
After that, I fired it up and there was no rough idle anymore to start. After a minute or so of sitting, it took it out and let it warm up at lower speeds. Once it was warmed up, it took off like a bullet without even the slightest hesitation. When I'd go up a hill before the cleaning, my turbo and RPMs would surge and flutter constantly. After the cleaning, it moved smoothly and not even a flutter at all. I drove around and tested it for an hour and nothing seemed to be wrong at all.
I hope someone finds this of use, as I couldn't find anything about cleaning or locating the throttle body for my year.
After a while it got worse... and worse... and even more progressively worse.
After Google'ing for an answer, I found changing the spark plugs solved some people's problems. I changed the spark plugs with brand new iridiums. This seemed to help a little but not a lot. This lasted for about a week until the CEL came and LHM (limp-home mode) came.
Everything sounded the same engine wise, so I figured there was nothing wrong with the engine internally. After Google'ing my CEL codes and lots of searching, people were constantly mentioning throttle body issues. People were saying they needed a whole brand new throttle body unit, and things were starting to look bad for my case.
Since P2135 is TPS (Throttle body positioning sensor) not agreeing by 4.5 percent or more for 1 second, something must be wrong with my throttle body. I searched high and low for SOMETHING on how to clean my model and year's throttle body on the internet. Absolutely nothing, unless I'm terrible at searching, but I think that's not the case.
This is how I cleaned my 2007 Saab 9-3 2.0T's throttle body, and solved all of the mentioned issues.
1.) After taking off the black cover on your engine, you'll see a huge black hose going into your throttle body. This was EXTREMELY hard to get off, and took quite a bit of prying. It seemed as though it had never been taken off.
2.) If you look inside, you can see the carbon buildup on the throttle body flapper, which I believe is called the butterfly flap(per?) It's all around the edges, and that is what makes it stick or get blocked if not cleaned.
3.) This is where it gets kind of weird. We used CRC Throttle Body cleaner, but it specifically states on the back NOT to use it on cars with turbos. So make sure you're careful. My Dad put a rag inside the throttle body itself to soak up extra fluid as he sprayed it in. After a fair amount of spraying and rubbing, it looked shiny again. But, I should mention that these rags were white when we started... Throttle bodies get very dirty over time.
4.) Finally, the results. Clean as can be!
5.) After we finished cleaning the throttle body, we moved to the MAF sensor, for which I bought CRC Mass Air Flow sensor cleaner. To be honest, it didn't look like the MAF sensor was even dirty, unless it always looks that way, so I believe the throttle body was causing all these issues.
6.) We put it all back together and let it sit for about 30 minutes in case there was extra cleaner that needed to evaporate yet. We took a battery cable off for those 30 minutes to reset my CEL and codes that were stored so we had a fresh start. People claim to pull fuse 17 as well, but that wasn't necessary for us.
7.) Here's another part that I found to be weird that we also did just for additional steps. While searching on the internet, people claim you can reset or re-calibrate the throttle positioning sensor by...
a.) Holding the key fab in your hand.
b.) Pressing the accelerator ALL the way to the floor with the key in your hand.
c.) Putting the key in, and turning it to on.
d.) WAIT for it say "Check OK." like it normally does, with your foot still to the floor.
e.) Start the car, and wait for it to idle like normal before taking your foot off.
The engine will NOT race once started. It will idle just like normal with your foot all the way to the floor. This apparently resets or re-calibrates this sensor.
I don't know if anyone can confirm or deny this, but it would be nice to know.
After that, I fired it up and there was no rough idle anymore to start. After a minute or so of sitting, it took it out and let it warm up at lower speeds. Once it was warmed up, it took off like a bullet without even the slightest hesitation. When I'd go up a hill before the cleaning, my turbo and RPMs would surge and flutter constantly. After the cleaning, it moved smoothly and not even a flutter at all. I drove around and tested it for an hour and nothing seemed to be wrong at all.
I hope someone finds this of use, as I couldn't find anything about cleaning or locating the throttle body for my year.
