Carb cleaning Options ?????????????????

[john82q]

what part of;
-- fully dissassemble
did you miss?

usally the screws are rivited or loctited so removing the butter fly can be hard, and you need new screws.
if you have no idea how to remove a screw thats riveted or loctited,, this is not for you.

since removing the throttle valves is not recommended.

Just where do you get a statment like that?
Just how are you going to inspect the shaft for wear and replace the seals, and thus eliminate a most probable air leak if you dont. it is detailed in service manuals...Must voice caution, not all carbs are the same...

Alot of the crap people soak carbs in could swell the seals to.

not sayin one ways better, or anything, just another way.

[Nessism]

what part of;
-- fully dissassemble
did you miss?

usally the screws are rivited or loctited so removing the butter fly can be hard, and you might need new screws.


Just where do you get a statment like that?
Just how are you going to inspect the shaft for wear and replace the seals, and thus eliminate a most probable air leak if you dont. it is detailed in service manuals...Must voice caution, not all carbs are the same...

Alot of the crap people soak carbs in could swell the seals to.

not sayin one ways better, or anything, just another way.

In my experience having hung around here since 2006, I can only remember one instance of a throttle shaft seal failing, and have never heard of a worn shaft. There is far greater risk with removing the butterfly screws than leaving them alone. If commonly available carb dip is used there is virtually no risk with damaging the seals so why mess around with trying to remove the shafts and using acetone?

[exdirtbiker]

No one has mentioned Simple Green ???
a gallon super-hot water and a cup of SG did about 80% of what Berrymans did.
AND it worked better at getting the bowl gasket off the bottom.
AND it revived the original orange rubber cap gaskets ( if I had known the aftermarket gaskets were sooo crappy, I could have re-used the originals.)

[Nessism]

Carb dip is significantly more effective at removing varnish and grease/grime than Simple Green. It also smells worse and is very harsh on skin so always wear gloves when messing with the stuff.

[exdirtbiker]

Oops, I failed to mention I did the hot SG ... then berrymans. the bodies were dirty enough to need a "pre-clean" so I didn't get my bucket-o-dip full of dirt on the first use.

[john82q]

not as common or as cheap

If commonly available carb dip

not as common or as cheap,how often do we read about people that cant find the brands mentioned on this site in California, Canada or Australia. 500ml nail polish remover $14 is more than enough any, supermarket

I can only remember one instance of a throttle shaft seal failing

that you know about, read all the posts about people that dip their carbs 2 or 3 times and still have trouble and give up.

why mess around with trying to remove the shafts and using acetone

my answer

and you want it done by lunch time

[hjfisk]

The carb bodies smell even after you rinse them with water,,,, when I put my nose next to my carbs I can still smell the carb bodies year later, its as if the carb cleanner became part of the carb bodies.... if the bike sits in the garage for a while I can smell the carb cleanner in the garage. The carb dip can is no problem that is left outside and closed, and I clean the carbs out side so no worries on that....

Pinesol works great, it brakes up a lot of dirt in the passages but not in very small passages, non of the suzuki gs carbs have such small passagess as the honda cbx carbs, the honda cbx carbs are the only carbs that I have not been able to clean with pinesol mix, all the suzuki gs carbs never gave me a problem when I clean them with pinesol....

I guess I'm just looking to see if there is any stuff out there that does magic on the carbs, sometimes people have great mixes of weird chemicals that end up working great.....

What about the $2000 utlrasonic machines? not the $100 cheep machine, that works like crap, I know from experience since I bought the $100 crap machine

What are you doing sniffing your carbs??

[Toasty]

+1 on using Carb Dip. It's not that expensive and if you're going to take the time to strip the carbs you might as well do it right the first time. You're not saving any time or money of the simple green/pine sol dip doesn't clean out the tiny passages and you have to do it again.

[Nessism]

not as common or as cheap,how often do we read about people that cant find the brands mentioned on this site in California, Canada or Australia. 500ml nail polish remover $14 is more than enough any, supermarket

that you know about, read all the posts about people that dip their carbs 2 or 3 times and still have trouble and give up.

Good gravy man, the reason people have to tear into their carbs two and three times is because they short cut the cleaning process and don't do it right the first time. Pulling out the throttle valves would roughly double the complexity of a procedure that many people struggle with as it is. When you consider that carb dip doesn't hurt the seals, and the seals rarely cause problems, then the decision to leave them alone is a no-brainer.

For countries where carb dip is unavailable, Yamaha sells a water soluble concentrate that mixes with water. There are also various other alternatives as mentioned in this thread. Bottom line: stay clear of acetone to clean carbs.

[Big T]

i use an ultrasonic cleaner for carbs and other bits and pieces and get very good results. i am however still experimenting with different solutions to obtain the best and most economic results

I just used an ultrasonic filled with petrol to boil out the stuck slides in my latest VM set

Set it outside and didn't use the heater (since the ultrasonic genrates heat) Took about 1+ hour /each to get them free. Not much petrol left when we were done

My friend, who's ultrasonic we were using, is still experimenting with different solutions also

To the OP, the reason the carbs still smell after a dip is that the zinc alloy the bodys are made from is pretty porous. I'd rinse in hot water, then gently boil the bodies in hot water with a dash of SG to finish. The heat moves the solvent out of the pores and the SG surfactants whisk it away. Boil for 10-15 minutes and rinse again

[john82q]

Heavens to Murgatroyd Mr Nessium!
Are you so set in your ways you cant even consider an alternate route to the same destination. (clean carb)
Removeing the butterflys is just 8 screws, talk about making a mountain....

You can sit around for hours while your carbs soak, making incorrect blanket statments, and pretending the insides are a mystery.
While I will just put my clean carbs back together actually knowing its right the first time, and use the saved time to go for a ride.

Guess what I belive I am right just as much as you do, but I wont get into a internet tit for tat about it. awww ****, perhaps I just did.

[SVSooke]

It is not just 8 screws John as those 8 screws are swagged on the ends.Not easy to get out at all.

[Nessism]

It is not just 8 screws John as those 8 screws are swagged on the ends.Not easy to get out at all.

JIS phillips head screws. You need to press really hard to get a good bite on the head, and pressing too hard can bend the throttle shaft because it's small diameter and has a slot cut in it. Even knowing this I managed to strip the screws on one carb I was taking apart for parts. Also, in order to remove the butterfly you need to drive out a split roll pin on one end of the shaft which holds on the sync bracket pieces, an assembly which is under spring load (need to count the turns so it can be assembled back the same way). When reassembling, you need to make sure the butterfly disc is properly centered in the carb bore or it won't close properly. The entire business is a pain in the butt. I've done it myself but wouldn't even suggest this to others unless they are very detail oriented.

BTW, Nissan built a bunch of engines in the mid 2000's where the butterfly screws used to work their way loose and get sucked into the combustion chamber. They farted around with loctite and different types of screws but couldn't seem to fix the problem. The proper fix is to swedge the screws after assembly, but this requires special tooling which Nissan didn't want to invest in. An alternate method was to use a laser to melt the screws to the shaft. I mention this because after those screws are removed they are no longer locked to the shaft and could work loose in time, even with loctite. The original screws on GS Mikuni's are physically locked to the shaft and should be left alone unless a know problem exists.

[azr]

Heavens to Murgatroyd Mr Nessium!
Are you so set in your ways you cant even consider an alternate route to the same destination. (clean carb)
Removeing the butterflys is just 8 screws, talk about making a mountain....

You can sit around for hours while your carbs soak, making incorrect blanket statments, and pretending the insides are a mystery.
While I will just put my clean carbs back together actually knowing its right the first time, and use the saved time to go for a ride.

Guess what I belive I am right just as much as you do, but I wont get into a internet tit for tat about it. awww ****, perhaps I just did.

uuummmmmm.....wow. SVsooke and Nessism just let you know 'why' removing those butterfly's is such a problem. I'm guessing you've never actually tried or you wouldn't have made such a statement.

[john82q]

Let me say I have done this many times, thats a fact.


I'm talking genericly here, the shaft comes out by drawing the other end with the nut and flats thought the body, theres no need to touch the roll pin. If however your specific carbs need to remove a roll pin (most commonly one of the middle two)thats not hard at all, if you use the proper tools and techniques, ditto the screws.

Also I never said this was for everyone, it was directed at those that understand, or want to.

If your level of skill with tools involves using the wrong ill fitting screwdriver applying excessive force and pressure,not supporting half shafts, and not taking note when you dissassemble things... Then you dont understand, and this not for you!


I am not going to disscuss this any further, right now,it will only get insulting. and tit for tat...
Readers can make their own mind up.