Cleaning a carb.
Cleaning a carb.
I have an old motorcycle that I need to take the carb apart and clean.
What is a good product I can buy to soak the carb in to get into all the nooks and crannies?
What is a good product I can buy to soak the carb in to get into all the nooks and crannies?
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 1,416
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From: CA
Brake cleaner. Not a typo. One of the most useful substances on the bench. Aerosol. No need to soak - just spray out the parts and use a magnifier if needed to see that all the holes are clear in the jets.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: Frozelandia, Minnysota
I've used a gallon can of parts cleaner with the basket inside for decades, just get what's cheap at an auto parts store. I've had some real crud filled carbs come out shiny after an overnight soaking. DON'T put any plastic parts in that stuff, though, metal only. Rinse with water and blow out with an air compressor, easy cleanup. I've done a few carbs with plastic fittings that wouldn't come off the carb body, used brake cleaner on those, won't hurt plastic. I don't think it cleans out the passages as easy, but several squirts followed with compressed air did finally clear the worst of them, and some passages you can poke a thin wire or tiny drill bit through to get it started.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 21,173
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From: South Carolina
Spray carb cleaner may not dissolve old gunk in a carburetor that has sat for a long time, especially the real tiny passageways.
I`ve had good luck with Berrymans.
https://www.berrymanproducts.com/pro...parts-cleaner/
I`ve had good luck with Berrymans.
https://www.berrymanproducts.com/pro...parts-cleaner/
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,727
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From: Brighton, MI
I like brake cleaner also, but stay away from plastic parts and wonder what it might do to rubber parts.
The nice thing about carb cleaner/brake cleaner is you can usually use the straw and blast out passages. Compressed air is good but keep the pressures low. You can "bend" the plastic straw using a bic lighter and warm up the pastic straw to put a bend in it for tough to reach spots.
A thin wire is a good idea but should be a last resort. I like to use a wire loaf of bread twisty tie and strip the paper off of it. Ruse a rag with brake clean to clean the residue glue off the wire before probing. Makes a good probe and is not too stiff. Just have to be careful not to scratch the inside of jets and bleed holes. YD
The nice thing about carb cleaner/brake cleaner is you can usually use the straw and blast out passages. Compressed air is good but keep the pressures low. You can "bend" the plastic straw using a bic lighter and warm up the pastic straw to put a bend in it for tough to reach spots.
A thin wire is a good idea but should be a last resort. I like to use a wire loaf of bread twisty tie and strip the paper off of it. Ruse a rag with brake clean to clean the residue glue off the wire before probing. Makes a good probe and is not too stiff. Just have to be careful not to scratch the inside of jets and bleed holes. YD
Last edited by Ed Ramberger; Nov 25, 2017 at 09:27 PM.
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well, it depends.
gunk works well, especially if warm to hot but does attack certain non metal parts. aerosols whether brake or carb is the last in my book except for external cleaning. the #1 issue is that it flashes off too soon and may even add to a clogging issue. #2 is that a carb is a dirty port devise, aka, has air passages and these are extremely calibrated and some are too small for that approach.
now for the down and dirty: the above is for a fairly clean carb but remember, the body is aluminum and subject to blooming, aka, corrosion where the oxidized metal swells, killing the passage. sometimes, this makes a carb a great paper weight. so what is one to do???
i like to do the warm gunk bath first to clean the varnish that cakes the passages and then follow with a mild acid aluminum cleaner like used for air conditioning coils, preferably a hot solution and agitated if possible to clean out the bloom. remember, if the bloom was severe, the carb might not ever function correctly. after this, a rinse and the blow out with compressed air. sometimes, the process must be repeated and it still might become a paper weight.
gunk works well, especially if warm to hot but does attack certain non metal parts. aerosols whether brake or carb is the last in my book except for external cleaning. the #1 issue is that it flashes off too soon and may even add to a clogging issue. #2 is that a carb is a dirty port devise, aka, has air passages and these are extremely calibrated and some are too small for that approach.
now for the down and dirty: the above is for a fairly clean carb but remember, the body is aluminum and subject to blooming, aka, corrosion where the oxidized metal swells, killing the passage. sometimes, this makes a carb a great paper weight. so what is one to do???
i like to do the warm gunk bath first to clean the varnish that cakes the passages and then follow with a mild acid aluminum cleaner like used for air conditioning coils, preferably a hot solution and agitated if possible to clean out the bloom. remember, if the bloom was severe, the carb might not ever function correctly. after this, a rinse and the blow out with compressed air. sometimes, the process must be repeated and it still might become a paper weight.
It is on my 1970 Honda Mini Trail 50.
I rebuilt everything down to the frame in 1998 and ride it about every 6 months. A couple of years ago, I put stabil in the gas.
I rode it about 6 months ago and I went to start it last week and it wouldn't start. Once I found the slide the cable pulls was frozen, I figured after 20 years, it was about due.
I rebuilt everything down to the frame in 1998 and ride it about every 6 months. A couple of years ago, I put stabil in the gas.
I rode it about 6 months ago and I went to start it last week and it wouldn't start. Once I found the slide the cable pulls was frozen, I figured after 20 years, it was about due.