Lemon solution carb body cleaning?

As far as cleaning the carb bodies are concerned, has anyone tried the boil in lemon juice solution method with carb bodies, similar to how bigfitz does to head covers?

Any success? Would it help break up those hidden blockages so many of us talk about, i.e. float bowls and such. If not the lemon solution, what else would you suggest?

I'm going to be taking apart my carbs again to replace throat seals and was thinking about giving an extra deep cleaning.

Why not right? Can't hurt.

 

I do a little "Japanese carb cleaning" Business on the side through craigslist and I swear by it. Never had a problem with seals if I don't break the rack, and really does a good job of getting all the passages. It will not make your aluminum shine though, leaves a dull finish on the bodies.

One tip though, skim off the residue that accumulates at the top of the pot. If you don't, it will get on the carbs, dry quickly, and is difficult to remove.

 

By dull do you mean more dull than original? If so do you know if a method exists which would keep the sheen the same as original or make it shine? I wouldn't want my carbs to be dull.

 

I don't want to say duller than they were, but it is dull. Its almost like you have a matte finish when you take them out that you have to polish out. Doesn't ruin them, just takes some time with aluminum polish to get them pretty again.

 

I used Pinesol 2 bottles (48oz each) and the used one of the empty bottles and got the hottest water I could get out of my faucet and used 2 of those to fill up a pot and then soaked my carbs in that for 2 hours, I swirled them around as much as possible and used a medium stiff brush to brush off any crud that I could get to. My carbs came out nice and shiny, tho a whitish residue was left over after I rinsed them off with cold water. I used carb cleaner and quickly sprayed the outsides and insides and then rinsed again and no residue was left over.

Did not dull any of the surfaces, and pinesol doesn't damage rubber, so didn't have to worry about the diaphragms and shaft seals.

One round of dipping and my carbs work really well.

I bet it would work pretty good on cleaning the engine too.

One important tip, wear gloves, unless you like your hands peeling for the next 4-5 days. It soaks all of the oils out of your hands and causes the outer layer of skin to dry out and flake off.

 

I did a search earlier today (coinsidense) for "boiling carb" (including the quote marks) and found endless info, but the guys seem to have it summed up above.

 

well that definately gives me a stepping block. maybe i'll post pics when i do it to show some before and afters....?

 

Carb bodies and valve covers are made of vastly different aluminum.

The biggest caution I can offer with lemon juice (and this applies to valve covers too) is to NOT overdo it; too long and stuff starts to turn gray.

 

Look in the Yellow Pages for an Industrial Ultra-Sonic Cleaning Company near you.
Go visit and ask if they'll put your Carb Rack in with another big job.

Don't forget to suggest running-out for coffee or tipping the technician for his trouble.

I like the look some have achieved after Baking Soda Blasting the Rack.
There was a LINK floating around on how to fabricate a DIY Blaster.

 

my favorite is a gallon can of carb cleaner that i got at napa. put the parts in the basket and lower into the stuff. Wai a day or so and they come out like new. Don't put rubber or gaskets in, though. I just got done with a set of jets that were so caked with dried black stuff I couldn't even find any holes or see any numbers. Those took three days, now they look like new.

FWIW

Dave Fox

 

Do you need to disassemble, split the carbs, and remove all rubber pieces for an ultra sonic clean?

I'm just trying to eliminate as many variables as possible. The next time these things come off I want them to go back on basically brand new.

 

My tip is... Don't boil external fasteners for too long if you do end up with them in the pot of lemon juice.
Although they look great! Man do they rust with no coating anymore!
Yes... I did dump all my filthy bolts into the lemon juice after doing the carbs and then promplty forgot they were merrily boiling away on the stove.
Now I have some bright, rusty brown coloured bolt heads poking out all over the place after some wet weather...
Just a heads up on that issue!

 

Baking Soda Blaster information.

http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-t ... a_blaster/

I built one of these and it worked great. Just don't do it on the lawn!!!

Stephen

 

Probably.

Remember that each carb has a throttle shaft seal on both sides of it, trapped behind thin nylon washers. ANYTHING you submerge the carbs in can end up trapped in the throttle shaft seals. In most cases this is not a good thing, although I can't say what effect water would have.

You shouldn't submerge carbs that are still joined on the rack and/or still have their throttle shaft seals in them. Keep in mind that pulling the throttle shafts means removing the butterflies, so this isn't something to be undertaken lightly (or unless it HAS to be done.)

 

I use the lemon juice method on carbs and aluminum parts. It works but, as cautioned above, DO NOT leave the parts in for long (about 5-10 minutes in my experience). The reason it turns grey is that the juice is citric acid and it etches the surface of the aluminum. The white stuff you see after rinsing it all off is aluminum oxide (aluminum "rust" for lack of a better term) and lets you know you are exposing untreated aluminum to oxygen. Good idea rising with brake cleaner when you are done rinsing with water. I usually will run the carb bodies through a soda blaster after a lemon juice bath to give them a nice finish (and you are so right about not doing it on the lawn!). The lemon juice will not harm the rubber parts but removing everything beforehand is a good idea to allow the cleaning process to clean everything.
Best of luck with the carbs, before and after pics would be nice!

 

Have you gotten any before/after pics to post yet?

Dave