Carb dip alternative?

[Rein]

Before I resort to buying a gallon of carb cleaner online, most of the parts places no longer stock carb cleaner near me, only NAPA does, but it's $90 a gallon! Too much for something that will probably only get used once every few years.

I've heard about boiling them in lemon juice, does it actually work? Short of that? I can try to get the Yamaha dealer nearby to rush out some of that Yamaha carb cleaner that you have to dilute with some water.

 

[fallous]

I've used boiling lemon juice on lawnmower carbs that had plastic emulsion tubes that can't be removed and it worked tolerably well, but for GS carbs I'd opt for real dip. $90 is mighty absurd given that I can get local Gunk carb dip for $30 or so a gallon. The old school Berryman's Chem-Dip that I used to use is pretty much mail-order only, but I find that letting carbs sit in Gunk dip for 48 hours is about the same as 24 hours in Berryman's.

 

[1978GS1000custom]

for a whole bunch less than $90.00! you can ship them to me and i will sonic clean them in my hot tank but you will have to strip them down and send all the pieces you want cleaned and they will be 100% spotless inside and out when you get them back. i am located in ohio 44241. pm me if your interested. cliff

 

[PaulC]

I used the Yamaha stuff. Worked well. But I have no comparison - the first time I had ever dipped carbs. So don't know how bad they were to start.

 

[twiggy2cents]

dipping isnt everything if you do a good job you can use carb cleaner and compressed air.

A plastic brush also helps on orifices and open areas

 

[GQROD]

Auto Zone carries Berryman's and Gunk brand for $20.00 a gallon.

 

[Rein]

Auto Zone carries Berryman's and Gunk brand for $20.00 a gallon.

Sorry, I live in a neglected US territory west of Hawaii, no Autozone.

I'm armed with two cans of carb cleaner, a welding torch cleaner (tons of tiny rods to poke into the carbs), assorted high e guitar strings, and compressed air, I wonder if that'll do the job.

 

[rustybronco]

Sorry, I live in a neglected US territory west of Hawaii, no Autozone.

I'm armed with two cans of carb cleaner, a welding torch cleaner (tons of tiny rods to poke into the carbs), assorted high e guitar strings, and compressed air, I wonder if that'll do the job.

If you scratch (don't use) the torch tip cleaners, you can do a good job with what you have.

 

[Rein]

If you scratch the torch tip cleaners, you can do a good job with what you have.

The torch tip cleaners have rough parts on them, the smallest one gets into the pilot jet holes, and the guitar strings get into the choke circuit holes.

(EDIT) Ok, I see what you meant. I only used the smooth tips of the torch cleaners to test if they'd fit.

 

[Steve]

dipping isnt everything if you do a good job you can use carb cleaner and compressed air.

A plastic brush also helps on orifices and open areas

That depends on how bad they are. If they are relatively clean, sure, a quick squirt and a puff will do just fine. Some carbs have been sitting for years, and all the passages in the bodies between the jets are just clogged with junk. Only a long-term soaking (or maybe an ultrasonic cleaner) will soften that crud enough for it to be removed.

I'm armed with two cans of carb cleaner, a welding torch cleaner (tons of tiny rods to poke into the carbs), assorted high e guitar strings, and compressed air, I wonder if that'll do the job.

As mentioned above, it depends on how bad the carbs are. If you know just where to spray all the carb cleaner and they are LARGE cans, you might be OK. Be VERY carefull with the torch cleaners. They are usually made of steel, which is quite a bit harder than the brass jets you are trying to clean. One thing you don't want to do is to accidentaly enlarge the holes in the jets, you will create more problems than you are trying to solve.

You also want to be careful using the spray carb cleaner. Some of the places you need to spray will blow right back into your face.
One example is the 'choke' pickup in the float bowl. The hole that is just off-center from the drain blows right back up the hole in the outer edge and will get you righ tin the eyes, so wear safety glasses and keep parts pointed away from your face.

.

 

[Rein]

Good info here.

The carbs aren't that bad, they were stitting for about 1 1/2 years, The bike started up and idled just perfectly, however, it revved horribly. Most of the time, it was hesitating. If I were in neutral, bike fully warmed up, and cranked it to even 1/2 throttle, it would bog and almost die, then zoom all the way up the rpms.

Valve shims are on the way, but I thought I'd get the carbs out of the way as well.

Bike is a 1981 GS 650GT that I picked up for parts for my L, but the bike is just fine, seems like it just needs some care.

 

[supergrafx]

I recently broke down a VM set and boiled the bodies in lemon juice. As far as the brass parts I bought 4-5 cans of berryman's B-12 carb solution. It came in the spray can that was California VOC compliant, but I noticed the same size can without the spray nozzle WAS NOT the voc compliant, so got those ones. Soked the parts in a glass jar, twice. Came out really nice. I'm a little concerned if lemon juice might leave a layer of unseen pulp on the bodies, but from eyeview, they look nice. Almost all the brass parts came out pretty clean, but a few look still stained with what looks like green mold. I probably will not use them since I think they might muck up quicker.

 

[Rein]

I recently broke down a VM set and boiled the bodies in lemon juice. As far as the brass parts I bought 4-5 cans of berryman's B-12 carb solution. It came in the spray can that was California VOC compliant, but I noticed the same size can without the spray nozzle WAS NOT the voc compliant, so got those ones. Soked the parts in a glass jar, twice. Came out really nice. I'm a little concerned if lemon juice might leave a layer of unseen pulp on the bodies, but from eyeview, they look nice. Almost all the brass parts came out pretty clean, but a few look still stained with what looks like green mold. I probably will not use them since I think they might muck up quicker.

All the brass parts include the inlet valve, needle jet, main jet, pilot jet, starter assembly/choke plungers, needle valves, and the air jet, correct? I have all of those out and organized, I just to get past the caps on the air screws, and if I'm correct, that will be all of the brass parts. All of them are clear, all holes are clean, new orings have been put on. Gumout carb cleaner squirts freely through the passages of the carbs that I can find, new oring also on the fuel tubes and hoses.

Would it be a good idea to boil the body in lemon juice before slapping everything back together? I'm still wainting on an SS bolt set to finish it all off, not to mention I stripped the screws holding the inlet valve in on two of the carbs. still need to get replacements for those.

 

[supergrafx]

All the brass parts include the inlet valve, needle jet, main jet, pilot jet, starter assembly/choke plungers, needle valves, and the air jet, correct? I have all of those out and organized, I just to get past the caps on the air screws, and if I'm correct, that will be all of the brass parts. All of them are clear, all holes are clean, new orings have been put on. Gumout carb cleaner squirts freely through the passages of the carbs that I can find, new oring also on the fuel tubes and hoses.

Would it be a good idea to boil the body in lemon juice before slapping everything back together? I'm still wainting on an SS bolt set to finish it all off, not to mention I stripped the screws holding the inlet valve in on two of the carbs. still need to get replacements for those.

The choke plungers on the VM carbs have rubber that cannot be disconnected so I didn't dip those in the b-12. Just cleaned with some kerosine. But the rest of the brass parts I did. The b-12 warped the original o-rings on the brass parts making them easy to rip off as opposed to before the rubber hit the chemicals.

 

[Rein]

The choke plungers on the VM carbs have rubber that cannot be disconnected so I didn't dip those in the b-12. Just cleaned with some kerosine. But the rest of the brass parts I did. The b-12 warped the original o-rings on the brass parts making them easy to rip off as opposed to before the rubber hit the chemicals.

Already put the rings on the brass parts, and they're plenty clean and clear. I'm just worried about the carb bodies themselves.

 

[bakalorz]

A completely different idea

A completely different idea

Before I resort to buying a gallon of carb cleaner online, most of the parts places no longer stock carb cleaner near me, only NAPA does, but it's $90 a gallon! Too much for something that will probably only get used once every few years.

I've heard about boiling them in lemon juice, does it actually work? Short of that? I can try to get the Yamaha dealer nearby to rush out some of that Yamaha carb cleaner that you have to dilute with some water.

I used to fly model airplanes, and the engines would get all kinds of varnish and fuel residues on them.

The thing we used to do with them is put the whole engine in a crock pot and fill it with ethylene-glycol antifreeze (the old kind, not the new non-toxic stuff) and then turn the crock pot on overnight.

They would come out spotless.

If/when I do my carbs, this is what I intend to try first.

Some cautions:
Ethylene glycol is poisonous, you can't use the crock pot for cooking after this. You can't wash it out adequately, so don't even think about it.

Small children and animals are attracted to the smell of warm ethylene glycol, and will try to drink it. secure it so you don't kill all the neighborhood pets or kids.

(all that said ... I'm pretty sure ethylene glycol is less toxic than regular carb cleaner)

I would either keep the used antifreeze for another cleaning later or properly dispose of it when done. I would not recommend using it as antifreeze in an engine after getting it full of varnish/dirt

 

[supergrafx]

Already put the rings on the brass parts, and they're plenty clean and clear. I'm just worried about the carb bodies themselves.

After seeing what the lemon juice did to the original carb bodies' varnish, I was worried too. They are dull, the clear coat has completely come off. I'm not sure if this will make the carb bodies more suseptable to rust or not. Also, without the clear coat, maybe it's just psychological, but it seems like the metal is more brittle, probably not due to the clear coat, but just the metal used in the carb bodies period. But on a good note, if the lemon juice was harsh enough to remove the clear coat, it seems that it is good stuff. Perhaps dip each body in a jar of that B-12 after the lemon juice boil to get any pulp/citrus residue the water rinse missed. I have seen some key members pics of the carbs on their bikes and they stated that they dipped but their carb bodies are as dull metal looking as mine after the lemon boil, so I think the lemon juice works just as good as the berryman's. I would dip in berrymans though after to just make certain. Perhaps someone has insight on carbs losing their clear coat and rusting or not...?

 

[Rein]

After seeing what the lemon juice did to the original carb bodies' varnish, I was worried too. They are dull, the clear coat has completely come off. I'm not sure if this will make the carb bodies more suseptable to rust or not. Also, without the clear coat, maybe it's just psychological, but it seems like the metal is more brittle, probably not due to the clear coat, but just the metal used in the carb bodies period. But on a good note, if the lemon juice was harsh enough to remove the clear coat, it seems that it is good stuff. Perhaps dip each body in a jar of that B-12 after the lemon juice boil to get any pulp/citrus residue the water rinse missed. I have seen some key members pics of the carbs on their bikes and they stated that they dipped but their carb bodies are as dull metal looking as mine after the lemon boil, so I think the lemon juice works just as good as the berryman's. I would dip in berrymans though after to just make certain. Perhaps someone has insight on carbs losing their clear coat and rusting or not...?

Wouldn't Berryman's also eat away the clear coat?

 

[rustybronco]

Perhaps someone has insight on carbs losing their clear coat and rusting or not...?

They're not made of a ferrous material, they can't rust.

to the OP, clean hot water with a little dish soap, borrow a tooth brush and scrub like heck. rinse well with HOT water, blow dry, make sure the passages and orfices are clear and then assemble.

*** make sure the air box is sealed properly, carb boots attached properly...