Cleaning a Carb

[smitty55]

I can remember when it was suggested to use Easy Off oven cleaner on carbs back before it became more environmentally friendly.
Good luck with that one, patience will be your best tool I think.

[MikePal]

Pretty sure the mechs used to soak carbs like that in a bath of hydrochloric acid....Drain cleaner.. for 15 minutes.

[Fenelon]

I'd be really careful using anything acidic as it will remove the surface of the body housing. Take the advice of the vintage car restorers/hot rodders and old tractor restorers. Google it and you'll see tons of advice. PineSol mixed with a bit of Dawn dish soap in an ultrasonic cleaner is the preferred way of a friend of mine that does vintage Mopar and UK motorbikes. You can do a full immersion this way on unstripped carbs and it won't eat the rubber or plastic parts. If you can strip all the plastic and rubber, then a MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) soak will clean anything. Laquer thinner is a second best. Just be careful these two products are nasty. Gotta avoid all skin contact, breathing fumes, etc. You can also get cleaners like Gunk carb cleaner at most auto stores. If you don't want to spend 200 bucks on an ultrasonic cleaner from EBay then call any auto or motorcycle/chainsaw repair shop and ask how much it is to get it ultrasonically cleaned. Shouldn't be much, If you want to do it on the cheap and assuming you can't strip the plastic/rubber:
Immerse the entire thing in a bucket of PineSol with almost boiling water so that the carb is just covered. Pick up the bucket by the handle and agitate the buck for 15 mins. Leave it to soak overnight then another agitation in the morning. Rinse the piss out of it under warm water. You could prob even gently power wash it. You should be able to strip the carb now. Blast out with compressed air then if it was me I'd take it to be ultrasonically cleaned. Otherwise buy something like MEK or commercial carb cleaner and do it yourself . Get a carb rebuild kit to put it back together (new rubber seals, needle valves, jets).

[greatwhite]

Will try it tonight.

[terrym]

What’s a new carb worth?

[greatwhite]

Not sure probably 500.00

I know the complete carb kit is 100.00. I'm just buying the parts I need.

What’s a new carb worth?

[terrym]

Not sure probably 500.00

I know the complete carb kit is 100.00. I'm just buying the parts I need.

Check Amazon. I think you’ll be surprised.

[warpipe]

Check Amazon. I think you’ll be surprised.

I was looking up a carb kit for my old Yamaha Moto 4, found a complete replacement carb for about $50 more than the rebuild kit. Took a chance, its been working fine for two years. Still have the old one just in case!

[greatwhite]

No I checked they didn't have it the kits are about the same price on there. I am just going to buy the two of each low and high Jets and 2 float needles. Assuming I can get the two low jets out and I will.

Two many projects on the go. Moving some firewood each day from the barn to the house (in my new shed), waiting for chainsaw parts and just ordered a new carb for a Honda Generator I was giving that needs a carb and a tank.

Plus a patio door waiting for me and a buddy to install and 2 windows someone else is suppose to install.

I was looking up a carb kit for my old Yamaha Moto 4, found a complete replacement carb for about $50 more than the rebuild kit. Took a chance, its been working fine for two years. Still have the old one just in case!

[Stu]

In the future use ethanol free gas in small engines. Can't promise it won't EVER cause a problem but it will store much longer than anything with ethanol in it. The carb in my Briggs & Stratton generator was ruined in 2 seasons because of ethanol. I was running it about every other month for 1/2 hour in the hope of keeping it tuned.