brakleen as a carb cleaner

['79gsowner]

does anybody know if its safe to use brake cleaner to clean out varnish? I had a guy tell me that it works as good, if not better than carb cleaner. I am kind of worried that if I use it, it may do damage to my carbs so I'd like to know before I use it

[Steve]

I don't know for sure, but I do know that it uses different solvents that are intended for brake products, not gasoline-handling products.

That "guy" may have used it on something that happened to be cleaned by it, but that's not saying it's OK to use.

.

[brveagle]

I have used it. Just make sure to keep it away from anything plastic. Also make sure you have your diaphrams far far away.

[Texas Don]

does anybody know if its safe to use brake cleaner to clean out varnish? I had a guy tell me that it works as good, if not better than carb cleaner. I am kind of worried that if I use it, it may do damage to my carbs so I'd like to know before I use it

Yes, it will work just fine. The major cleaning components are Acetone and MEK. Brake cleaner also works beautifully for gun cleaning. Acetone is a universal solvent for gunpowder so it will work exactly like the higher priced gun scrub aerosols.

[Nessism]

Carb cleaner spray is cheaper than brake cleaner and works better for the task. Spray cleaner of any kind is no where as effective as soaking the parts in carb dip, so I hope you are not trying to clean up a set of gunked up carbs by shooting some spray at them.

['79gsowner]

Carb cleaner spray is cheaper than brake cleaner and works better for the task. Spray cleaner of any kind is no where as effective as soaking the parts in carb dip, so I hope you are not trying to clean up a set of gunked up carbs by shooting some spray at them.

well, a guy gave me a couple cans of brakleen so I guess I may as well use them for something, plus the carbs aren't real bad, they just have a few spots of varnish here and there

[Nessism]

well, a guy gave me a couple cans of brakleen so I guess I may as well use them for something, plus the carbs aren't real bad, they just have a few spots of varnish here and there

At the very least I suggest you pull out the pilot jets (small jet down in the recess area) and hold them up to the light to make sure the orifice is open. GS bikes won't run for crap with dirty carbs and unless your carbs have been rebuilt recently they are going to be full of old and hard O-rings, so it's actually easier to clean them right instead of short cutting which usually turns into long cutting. Something to think about.

[Tarbash 27]

I use brake and carb cleaner all the time on my bikes, I buy it by the case. Carb cleaner is stronger than brake clean in general. Brake clean wont take off paint that easy where as carb cleaner will. I think brake cleaner is better for taking off oily and sticky resdue. Carburetor cleaner is better for heavy stuck on grease and road grime. For cleaning carburetors, dipping would be the most effective way, than carb cleaner, I wouldn't bother with brake cleaner.

I think kerosene is stronger and better than carb cleaner and wont really effect the paint when cleaner the road grime off the bike.

[TitanNeil]

As an alternative, I tried using Mean Green, a cleaner I bought at the hardware store. Its in the same category as Windex and the like, but its pretty strong stuff! I pulled the jets and set them in the carb bowl (which had ancient gas that had turned VERY green and gunky) overnight and it stripped the green varnish off EVERYTHING. The bowl was shiny like new and the brass had turned copper-coloured (having stripped the green gunk off them). A few passes with a toothbrush (and a pin and compressed air to clean the jets) finished the cleanup. Worked great!

[Speedo]

trust your eyes. If it looks like it did the job, it did. If not, well, ... not.

carb clean works great (if sprayed properly), and brake clean works great too (if sprayed prop). big diff I have found is that brake clean leaves little to no residue, which is its purpose and its beauty. so I usually try to use it first on most stuff (to answer ur qq). If the brakeclean doesn't work, it's time to spray carb clean and break out the toothbrush and various other brushes...

I am a huge fan of brake clean. It should do an excellent job on 95% of your stuff...whatever "damage" it may do is far less than carb cleaner will- spray, look (is it clean? then leave it alone), and let it dry.

That is not to say that carb cleaner is not good/useful...it totally is awesome. just have a wet (carb clean or EQ soaked) rag to wipe none metal parts as well as 303 Protectant to coat non metal/soft/rubber parts when uv finished spraying with carbclean and everything's totally dry.

That should handle plastic/rubber parts. Spray all the metal parts with S100 protectant.

[chef1366]

I use either/both

['79gsowner]

thanks for the information I found it to be very helpful

[sallison20]

Bike backfires and stalls

I have an 82GS1100G with 12K original miles. Problem is that it has sat in a grage (full of gas) for the past 5 years. i've drained the gas from the carbs and tank, cleaned the petcock, cleaned the carb bowls, air filter box and fuel lines. The bike starts pretty easy with choke on. But when i try to turn off the choke or give it some RPM's the bike stalls out.
When i try to run the bike off of choke even after it has been running for 15 minutes o so, it dies.

Suggestions anyone?

[tkent02]

The thing you can't do is heat brake cleaner, that will kill you very quickly, or make the rest of your life suck big time.

[rapidray]

I have an 82GS1100G with 12K original miles. Problem is that it has sat in a grage (full of gas) for the past 5 years. i've drained the gas from the carbs and tank, cleaned the petcock, cleaned the carb bowls, air filter box and fuel lines. The bike starts pretty easy with choke on. But when i try to turn off the choke or give it some RPM's the bike stalls out.
When i try to run the bike off of choke even after it has been running for 15 minutes o so, it dies.

Suggestions anyone?

That is because the pilot jets are blocked & you need to remove all the jets & clean the carbs CORRECTLY. Ray.