Tech Forums > SOHC/4 Bikes

Carb Cleaning/Degreasing

(1/3) > >>

Zeke:
*WARNING*  Long, psychotic post.....

Recently, on the old board there's been many questions asked about carburator cleaning.  I've been the author of some of these questions.

I'd like to spare those of you who haven't done this a fair amount of hassle and explain my experience, which has not been good.

First of all, there's a big difference between cleaning and degreasing carbs.

If you own an SOHC long enough, you're bound to end up with some sort of "top-end" oil leak.  Mine was pretty bad, and as a result, there was a heavy film of oil and grime on the EXTERIOR of my carbs.  The inside of my carbs, were pretty clean actually and maybe didn't need to be rebuilt at all.  I just wanted to do all the engine work at one time.  So I disassembled them anyway and set out to clean them.

First, I tried that stinky gallon Chem-Dip stuff -- I was assuming its formulation to be like spray carb cleaner when I bought it -- well it's not.  It's caustic, and is really only formulated to dissolve varnish deposits which form in your carbs after sitting a long while.  A few hours later it hadn't really degreased, and so I left the #1 body and bowl in there for some time -- maybe a week, thinking this would do the trick.  When I took it out the color of the aluminum of the body was dull, with yucky black spots from the grime.  I was pissed about this, so decided to try again.

Second:  I posted about this on the LUSENET site, and the advice I got steered me to the Yamaha Carb Cleaner.  Someone suggested soaking in a few quarts of this, so I did that with #4 Body and Bowl.  (Yamaha carb cleaner makes no claims to being a degreaser, and in fact recommends injecting it directly into the carb, but at this point I was still trying to clean/DEGREASE the outside...)The result here, was roughly the same as the Chem-Dip, though it didn't dull the metal as much.  But, there are now spots of grime that can't hardly be removed.

Well, now I was really pissed.  Not only was the stock appearance of my carbs ruined, but I'd spent about $40 on a gallon and a half of two different carb cleaners which didn't clean a bleeping thing.  What the fhell was wrong here?  I'd asked how to clean my carbs on the old LUSENET site, and the advice didn't work.  What I missing something?  YEP.

Third:  For the last few years, I've had a gallon paint can in my garage.  Inside, was a miraculous substance that I had used to degrease engines/parts for years.  Um, also your motorcycle also RUNS on it.  Still guessing?  It's gasoline, you big dummy!  I soaked carbs 2 and 3 in this golden miracle elixir and the grime just fell off the carb bodies!!  After drying with Air, they looked as new and shiny as they had 25 years ago.

So where had I gone wrong?  Number 1, it had been awhile since I had worked on an engine.  Number 2, when I was younger I didn't have access to all this special #$%*, so gasoline was a given.  Most importantly, everyone on the Lusenet SOHC forum assumed that I was cleaning the INSIDE of the carbs, NOT degreasing the carbs bodies themselves.

Yes, I feel like a dumbass.  But, I'd like to spare anyone the pain of doing this.

DUMBASSES GUIDE TO CLEANING/DEGREASING CARBS

Degreasing

Take 'em apart, and put each carbs' parts into a beer cup marked 1,2,3,4.(make sure no beer in cup)  Get a paint can (with lid, you can buy them at harware store) and fill with gas.  Soak greasy bodies in gas to dissolve motorcycle muck.  Toothbrush helps.  When done, you might want to use some spray cleaner to make sure that there's no greasy muck hiding in the orifices.  Compress air dry.  They should look real good now.

Cleaning

Here's where you use the Yamaha cleaner.  Only takes about 15-20 mins to clean varnish deposits.  Pour cleaner into plastic container.  (TIP:  the closer the diameter of the container to your carb body the less cleaner you'll need to cover it completely) Soak Carb body, bowl, parts as necessary.  DON'T leave in there, it'll dull the finish if you leave in for days.  Rinse with Carb clean spray or soapy water, compress air dry.

DON'T use these cleaners until you've degreased.  It totally ruins the stock look of the carbs. 

Oddly enough though, the bowls didn't take on the dark look of the bodies -- must be a different alloy or something....

HOW I'M "FIXING" THE RUINED ONES:

If only I had f'ed up 2 and 3, it wouldn't matter as they're on the inside.  So, I still have 1 and 4 looking like #$%*.  Luckily, they look 100% better after a bath in the miracle gas elixir.  The advice I've had here tells me the only way to brighten the appearance is to get the bodies bead blasted.  I'm thinking of trying that, or just cutting my losses.

I'll try to get some pics to post showing the good from the bad.

out,

zeke

Bob Wessner:
Do post some pics when you get a chance, I would be very interested in seeing the diff. though screwing around with gas makes me nervous.

Zeke:
OK, Let's try the pics.  I'm going to link them incase they are too big:

This one is Carb #1, and I used Chem Dip on it.  It really looks alot better now after soaking in gas for a few days and much scrubbing....

http://www.toddbrake.com/cycle/carb1.JPG

Note that the float bowl didn't discolor even though it was in the Chem Dip the same amount of time.

Here's carbs 2 and 3, which were degreased using gasoline.

http://www.toddbrake.com/cycle/carb2.jpg
http://www.toddbrake.com/cycle/carb3.jpg

They look totally stock which is what I was hoping for.

Here's carb 4, which was soaked in Yamaha Cleaner.

http://www.toddbrake.com/cycle/carb4.jpg

Again, this was soaked and scrubbed hard with gasoline to remove all the moto-mung that the Yamastuff didn't remove.

Zeke

Edit to add:

I guess you could say that they don't look horrible -- but definately don't look uniform which is what I was hoping for.  If you'd seen them when I first took them out of the cleaner and prior to gas bath you'd understand why I was so pissed.  Of course, it was my error that I wasn't degreasing them first before using the carb clean to remove any internal mung.

Also, yah don't have to use gasoline -- you could use any other grease dissolving solvent such as white gas, kerosene, diesel fuel, or any number of biodegradeable solvents.  But, I've tried bidegradeable and while it works OK on my pedal bike parts it just doesn't have the "kick" for tough motorcycle grime.

Bob Wessner:
I went through the same routine last summer. First with stinky Chem-Dip. I was warned by folks here, but I already had it when the question came up. I had the same feeling about the outcome. I finally went and got Yamaha, I might be the one mentioned earlier who dipped bodies and parts in the stuff. I was very please with how they turned out (see pic) it's small, should pop right up.

http://home.att.net/~bobwessner/wsb/media/214100/site1048.jpg

By the way, finally got back out in the garage today after a very long winter. The weather has been mild and I can STILL smell that Chem-Dip!!

Terry in Australia:
G'Day Zeke, like I suggested on your original Lusenet post, beadblasting is about all that'll get that horribly ugly discoloration off, just make sure you clean every last bead outta them carbs afterwards, because if you suck them into your engine, dirty carbs will be the least of your worries! Cheers, Terry. 8)

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page