Carb Cleaner

[kukm66]

I need to rebuild my Carter Yf and was wondering what you are using for parts cleaner. I do not want to buy the deluxe 1 gallon parts cleaner with basket, just a pint or quart to clean out the passages. It seems that the smaller quantities are only available in a spray can which I do not want.

 

[simon]

About any solvent will work to a certain degree. There are a literally a hundred ways how to clean a carburetor.

I let my carb parts soak in diesel for a day or two. Formic acid took care of oxydation byproduct residues, and caustic dish washer detergent and hot water will finish the process. Rinse and dry with compressed air.

A spray can or two of brake cleaner will always come in handy for small passages.

 

[level3porkproducer]

well i learned one thing not to do last night. i decided i would clean my carb in the bath tub. now i owe the army a new bath tub... carb cleaner and plastic tubs dont mix good news is that my carb is clean

 

[fordconvert]

Why not a spray can? Especially if you dont have an air compressor its a good way to get stuff blasted out. Wear safety glasses and protect or work in an area that is not going to be hurt by some overspray, sometimes you dont know where the stuff is going to squirt out.


If you dont like the typical chemicals I have had good luck with the 'purple' detergent type cleaners. Gunk makes one and there seems to be several store brands also. They contain Lye so you dont want to let aluminum soak too long.

 

[frogmn666]

Whatever you do, don't buy the cleaner with the basket. I did many years ago and the smell lasts forever.

I bought a case of spray can degreaser from Autozone. Worked pretty good. When I used denatured alcohol in to spray through the passage ways it took off more of the baked on grease/varnish off. Home Depot has it in different amounts. If I had to do it again, I woulld use the alcohol.

 

[Bort62]

Like stated above, about any solvent will work.

Once you get the grease off, running it through the dishwasher works pretty well

 

[simon]

Bort, lemme guess, you're either single, a true patriarch or you have your own surplus dishwasher just for motor parts.

once confronted with a whole rocker arm assembly in their beloved dishwasher on an early sunday morning, most women tend to develop a nasty habit of resentfulness, and hatred against anything automotive.
Same goes for cylinder heads soaking unattendedly in her bathtub, and deliberately using her loofah sponge for cleaning out the diluted sludge from a valve cover (couldn't find the steel wool).

BTDT

 

[Bort62]

Bort, lemme guess, you're either single, a true patriarch or you have your own surplus dishwasher just for motor parts.

No, I'm just left un-supervised!

 

[66 Fastback]

It's good to see that I am not alone in my peculiar automotive habits. Some people just don't understand when they walk into your living room and you have a transmission in pieces or a carburetor being assembled on the dining table. My wife did not see our Dining table for the first few months because I had the newly painted interior parts laying on it waiting to go back into the car.
Doug