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Cheapest Way to clean carbs

  • Thread starter Thread starter GSJake
  • Start date Start date
G

GSJake

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Is there any cheap way to clean the carbs? and i mean really cheap i'm going to school full time and working part time so i'm pretty much broke as a joke. so if anyone has a cheap way to clean the carbs i would love to hear it
 
Bucket of carb dip $25 and o rings from Robert Bar < $10 on this site. It's about as cheap as it gets.
 
Find 4 other people near you that need to do the same thing and everyone chip in around $15-$20.

Cory
 
You want the ones for the BS series carbs, item #1. You will also do well to get the intake o-rings, item #3.
If you really want to go whole hog, get the stainless fasteners for the intake tubes (lower down the page on item #3).
Won't add much to the cost, and makes the job so much nicer.

.
 
GSJake, if you would take a few moments to add a little to your profile, we can see what you ride and what little corner of the world you call "home".
There is a decent chance that there might be someone in your area that would be willing to help you, too. 8-[

Edit: thanks for the location update. \\:D/

.
 
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i cleaned my carbs for .. uh. 2 dollars or so. used an old toothbrush and a solution of very hot water and vinagar/very hot water and barkeepers friend.
 
watch out, anything that is acidic will corrode them, making them a dull greyish black colour. you CAN remove it.. i boiled the first carb in a baking soda solution with the same results, barkeepers friend DID remove the corrosion for the most part, but i'd say stick with elbow grease personally.. cause it's free and won't hurt the bodies!
 
also, don't use an aluminium can or pot if you are boiling with baking soda or anything, as the can itself will have a reaction and blacken the carb

Use a steel can or pot

(don't ask me how I know)
 
It's important to clean the inside passages of the carbs, so that means soaking the carbs in something. The lemon juice idea sounds interesting...
 
Lemon juice or vinegar = acid.
Dishwasher soap = alkali.

Either one will disolve gunk without destroying plastic or rubber. Petroleum based solvents will degrade rubber and plastics by breaking down the molecular structure. Plastic will become fragile. Rubber will dissolve.
 
loungeguy69 said:
Lemon juice or vinegar = acid.
Dishwasher soap = alkali.

Either one will disolve gunk without destroying plastic or rubber. Petroleum based solvents will degrade rubber and plastics by breaking down the molecular structure. Plastic will become fragile. Rubber will dissolve.
Click to expand...

seuadr said:
i cleaned my carbs for .. uh. 2 dollars or so. used an old toothbrush and a solution of very hot water and vinagar/very hot water and barkeepers friend.
Click to expand...

Stay the heck away from both acids and bases. Neither one is friendly to aluminum or zinc. On aluminum, you could get pitting inside those tiny passages, and if you do, the carbs are almost certainly shot, forever.

The cheapest way is to put some of the carb cleaning gas additives into your gas, and hope that it works. Might, might not. If that doesn't work, use the dips as described above. Those will destroy almost all plastic and rubber components. But many types of plastic and rubber survive quite well in most hydrocarbon solvents. General rules will get you into trouble!
 
loungeguy69 said:
Try Harbor Freight for a set of metric nitrile o-rings.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96282
Click to expand...
Not sure if you want to go that route. They say that they resist heat and most petroleum products, but you might want to check to be sure. And, even though you have a large selection of sizes, there is no guarantee that you will have what you need.

Robert Barr has collected all the right sizes in the right material (mostly Viton, I think) that works well, and for about $15. Some kits might be a bit more, others a bit less, but you will probably spend that much to get a large assortment of o-rings that you won't be able to use. Contact Robert at www.cycleorings.com

.
 
themess said:
Stay the heck away from both acids and bases. Neither one is friendly to aluminum or zinc. On aluminum, you could get pitting inside those tiny passages, and if you do, the carbs are almost certainly shot, forever.

The cheapest way is to put some of the carb cleaning gas additives into your gas, and hope that it works. Might, might not. If that doesn't work, use the dips as described above. Those will destroy almost all plastic and rubber components. But many types of plastic and rubber survive quite well in most hydrocarbon solvents. General rules will get you into trouble!
Click to expand...

It's a tradeoff. Solvents will affect rubber and plastics while acids/alkalis will affect metals. My approach is that solvents will affect plastics and rubber quicker than acid/alkalis will cause oxidation on aluminum or zinc.

My experience with cleaning parts in an adgitated soap bath leaves no degradation on aluminum or zinc as long as parts are rinsed after the wash.
 
Steve said:
Not sure if you want to go that route. They say that they resist heat and most petroleum products, but you might want to check to be sure. And, even though you have a large selection of sizes, there is no guarantee that you will have what you need.

Robert Barr has collected all the right sizes in the right material (mostly Viton, I think) that works well, and for about $15. Some kits might be a bit more, others a bit less, but you will probably spend that much to get a large assortment of o-rings that you won't be able to use. Contact Robert at www.cycleorings.com

.
Click to expand...

I have a Harbor Freight store near me and purchased a set of nitrile o-rings. The sizes in the kit work well with the carbs and the price can't be beat. Quality is good too. I have o-rings in the carbs that are over 2 years old with no degradation.
 
It's not really a trade off at all. You keep the plastics/rubber out of the carb dip, problem solved. They should be removed when you are cleaning anyways - otherwise you're not really cleaning.
 
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