TheSamba.com :: View topic - Here it is

Sat Apr 03, 2010 3:58 pm

Hi everyone Today I had cleaned the carbs on my 72 Honda Cl350 motorcycle.

I have read of this method to clean even the worst carbs. I am planning on rebuilding my vdub carb next week.

here it is

" Boiling in Lemon Juice - There is NOTHING BETTER at cleaning carbs than a giant pot of boiling lemon juice. The acidity from the lemons eats through everything; gas varnish, oil build up, dirt, grime, etc. Sometimes I won’t even bother doing anything but this - I’ll just remove the bowls, remove the caps, then drop everything into the pot and let it sit for 20 minutes (rotate them a few times). The one caveat to doing this is that you’ll want to wash the lemon juice off the carbs as soon as you pull them out. So have a bucket of water ready, or a can of WD-40 to hose them down. Also note that the acidity has a tendency to put a dull finish on the aluminum bodies of the carbs. This isn’t a problem in most cases, but if you must have everything shiny be prepared to do a little scrubbing and polishing afterwards. It may sound weird, but trust me, I just saved you LOTS of time. (Most dollar stores sell 1/2 gallon jugs of lemon juice, so buying a few gallons will only cost you $6. Plus you can put it back into the bottles afterwards and save it for next time.)"""

also throw the jets in with it too!

I let them boil for 4 min and they were BEAUTTTTIFUL

you can use boiling water as well but not as effective.

DO NOT USE THE CARB DIPS. they will ruin a carb.

Sat Apr 03, 2010 4:38 pm

interesting you bring this up. i use lemon juice to clean rust off parts. the other day i had a tub full (room temperature) and i thought i would throw a carb piece in to see what happens. after a few seconds i could see bubbles forming and the lemon juice swirling. seemed to do an ok job on the accelerator pump cover i put in, so i thought i would experiment with larger pieces in the future.
another option is to buy straight citric acid and dilute it yourself. some lemon juice in stores is made up of a lot of water.

and as far as cleaning the jets (brass parts), use white vinegar. here are some jets/carb pieces i just did in vinegar. no scrubbing or sanding with abrasives, just wipedowns with a terrycloth towel after each bath (took 3 baths to get to this level of cleanliness).

Sat Apr 03, 2010 5:24 pm

Ultrasonic cleaning works real well too without using harsh chemicals

Sat Apr 03, 2010 6:56 pm

hazetguy wrote: interesting you bring this up. i use lemon juice to clean rust off parts. the other day i had a tub full (room temperature) and i thought i would throw a carb piece in to see what happens. after a few seconds i could see bubbles forming and the lemon juice swirling. seemed to do an ok job on the accelerator pump cover i put in, so i thought i would experiment with larger pieces in the future.
another option is to buy straight citric acid and dilute it yourself. some lemon juice in stores is made up of a lot of water.

and as far as cleaning the jets (brass parts), use white vinegar. here are some jets/carb pieces i just did in vinegar. no scrubbing or sanding with abrasives, just wipedowns with a terrycloth towel after each bath (took 3 baths to get to this level of cleanliness).

I also use the vinegar method and it works beautifully.

Sun Apr 04, 2010 7:15 am

Herby wrote: Ultrasonic cleaning works real well too without using harsh chemicals

what ultrasonic cleaner can you recommend? i've been looking to buy one.
what do you use in it for a cleaning solution? water?
suggestions appreciated.

i don't consider lemon juice to be a "harsh chemical". coca~cola (which is a good rust remover) is more harsh than lemon juice.

Sun Apr 04, 2010 8:31 am

Do you heat up the vinegar?

Sun Apr 04, 2010 8:44 am

hazetguy wrote: interesting you bring this up. i use lemon juice to clean rust off parts. the other day i had a tub full (room temperature) and i thought i would throw a carb piece in to see what happens. after a few seconds i could see bubbles forming and the lemon juice swirling. seemed to do an ok job on the accelerator pump cover i put in, so i thought i would experiment with larger pieces in the future.
another option is to buy straight citric acid and dilute it yourself. some lemon juice in stores is made up of a lot of water.

and as far as cleaning the jets (brass parts), use white vinegar. here are some jets/carb pieces i just did in vinegar. no scrubbing or sanding with abrasives, just wipedowns with a terrycloth towel after each bath (took 3 baths to get to this level of cleanliness).

That's a nice little pile of carb parts. Do you have any tricks to getting the screws out of the throttle shaft and choke shaft?

Sun Apr 04, 2010 10:44 am

A soak in the vinegar before disassembly seems to make things easier to break loose.
a homemade soda blaster gives the carb body a new look if you are looking for that uberclean exterior.

Sun Apr 04, 2010 11:11 am

delliott101 wrote: Do you heat up the vinegar?

no.

Snort wrote: That's a nice little pile of carb parts. Do you have any tricks to getting the screws out of the throttle shaft and choke shaft?

it can be a royal pain in the ass to get them out. sometimes i will drill off the end of the screw, the part that is peened. this often helps. i find it helps to get a very good quality, correct sized screwdriver and gently tap it in to the screw head. then i use a lot of force, for a long time to try to break them loose, like with a wrench on the screwdriver, or just a lot of arm twisting force. i don't just try to go all crazy and get it to "snap" loose right away. long applied pressure seems to work better until the screw starts to turn.
sometimes i will use a propane torch to heat the screws (not the screw heads, the other side).
sometimes i will also use a long drift that passes through the venturi bore to support the screw/throttle shaft from the other side while i am putting force on the screw, so that the shaft does not bend.
sometimes the heads break off, and that really sucks. then it involves drilling, and usually having to find another throttle shaft.
each one is different. and sometimes they just come loose as soon as i try to turn them.

Sun Apr 04, 2010 8:12 pm

hazetguy wrote: interesting you bring this up. i use lemon juice to clean rust off parts. the other day i had a tub full (room temperature) and i thought i would throw a carb piece in to see what happens. after a few seconds i could see bubbles forming and the lemon juice swirling. seemed to do an ok job on the accelerator pump cover i put in, so i thought i would experiment with larger pieces in the future.
another option is to buy straight citric acid and dilute it yourself. some lemon juice in stores is made up of a lot of water.

and as far as cleaning the jets (brass parts), use white vinegar. here are some jets/carb pieces i just did in vinegar. no scrubbing or sanding with abrasives, just wipedowns with a terrycloth towel after each bath (took 3 baths to get to this level of cleanliness).

Now, what is the secret to getting the piece that the emulsion tube sits in out of the carb ??? :?

Mon Apr 05, 2010 12:19 pm

disneymike wrote: hazetguy wrote: interesting you bring this up. i use lemon juice to clean rust off parts. the other day i had a tub full (room temperature) and i thought i would throw a carb piece in to see what happens. after a few seconds i could see bubbles forming and the lemon juice swirling. seemed to do an ok job on the accelerator pump cover i put in, so i thought i would experiment with larger pieces in the future.
another option is to buy straight citric acid and dilute it yourself. some lemon juice in stores is made up of a lot of water.

and as far as cleaning the jets (brass parts), use white vinegar. here are some jets/carb pieces i just did in vinegar. no scrubbing or sanding with abrasives, just wipedowns with a terrycloth towel after each bath (took 3 baths to get to this level of cleanliness).

Now, what is the secret to getting the piece that the emulsion tube sits in out of the carb ??? :?

Anybody? Beuller, Beuller......

Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:19 am

Would this method work for cleaning up old fuse boxes that are corroded? Or would the vinegar affect the plastic portions in a bad way?
:?:

Thu Apr 08, 2010 6:40 pm

I was wondering the same thing.
Anyone tried this yet on an old fuse box?

Shawn

Thu Apr 08, 2010 7:10 pm

Vinegar would not hurt the plastic... heck it comes in plastic bottles eh? :lol: :wink:

The old trick I use for cleaning fuse box terminals/spade connections etc is get a small jar of that "jewelry cleaner" and dip the wire/spade in it and or use a q tip on the fuse box area... rinse with water to neutralize, then WD 40 so they don't start to tarnish... maybe rub a bit of dielectric grease on the surfaces, again q tips come in handy.

Fri Apr 09, 2010 1:05 pm

Certainly the lemon juice won't hurt the plastic, but I'd be careful boiling it.

Sat Apr 10, 2010 7:38 pm

I'm running into a major corrosion issue with my PICT28 after a soaking in vinegar- an inconsistent pattern of degradation over parts of the carb that has an almost gravel-like finish. There's no rhyme or reason to it.

I'm assuming the carb is made of zinc or zinc alloy.

At this point I have to wonder whether the carb can be saved- parts of the mating surface and the venturi are corroded- a grey slurry formed on the surface of the vinegar and hot-lemon juice solution.

Don't have a camera capable of proper close-ups, but it's pretty dramatic. I hope to get a metallurgist's opinion to determine what in hell happened.

Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:15 pm

I don't think you were supposed to combine the vinegar and lemon juice. They should have been seperate treatments.

Sun Apr 11, 2010 12:44 am

Tasb, the solutions were not combined- they were separate solutions, in separate containers, [neither container metal] with a thorough water rinse in between.
My post did make it look like I combined the two, so my apologies.
On the other hand, both are weak acids and I doubt combining the two would have resulted in damage like this.

Stumped. Normally I use lacquer thinner for a soak, but thought I'd try vinegar this time.

Sun Apr 11, 2010 4:00 pm

I use a wet sand blaster to clean the carb bodies. Here are some before and after shots. I picked the worst carb I had.
Sorry for all the pics.....

Sun Apr 11, 2010 8:19 pm

Very nice work!!