Carb Cleaning Question

[Anonymous]

Hey,

Recently I took my car to get tuned up at this mustang place. Anyway the guy said my carb is "not in good condition, needs to be rebuilt". I got home and looked at the carb, and it was quite dirty, theres some grease around it. One of my buddies said that he would use some sort of cleaner to clean it up. So my question is, does brake cleanser work on cleaning the carb? and should I really have my carb rebuilt, and how much you think that would run me? Any other thoughts, suggestions are welcomed, and appreciated.

Thanks for your help!

Bryan

 

[TheDude]

Use Simple Green and #0000 steel wool. Simple Green is used alot to clean engines compartments, engine parts, etc. I always hear great things about it.

 

[BIGREDRASA]

Spray carbureter cleaner all over the outside and the butterflies. It will look much better.
On the more serious side, how does the car run? Did he offer to sell you a rebuilt carb or do the job himself?
Get yourself a good maintenance book, and read about the carb. Then, buy a kit, and study it. Find a good, clean place to work. Then, rebuild it. Spray carb cleaner does a very good job of cleaning passages. Be careful not to spray cleaner into something that will shoot it back into your eyes.

 

[pedal2themetal45]

HI
If it runs good no hesataion or leaks. Then I would just use spray carb cleaner and not remove the carb from the motor.. Get a large can or two small ones. spray the out side of the carb untill clean. Don't for get to re-lubercate the moving parts on the carb ie: choke, kick down linkage and such...
1 Then take out the idel mixture screws spray down in the hole and spray off the end of the screws as well.. (check for ridges and build up)
2 screw the mixture screws in (gentaly bottomed) then back them out 1 1/2 turns or as much as 2 turns..
3 Start car
4 put hand on throtal to keep the motor running while you spray more carb cleanner down into the motor while its running.
This well clean the inside of the carb as well as in the cylinders.
NOW to readjust the carb..
Screw the screws out or in one at a time to reach best idle Try to keep them even (turn per turn). to keep it ballanced.
A little goes a long way with the mixtures screws 1/4 to 1/8 turns when fine adjusting. Also for final adjust screw in just till idle starts to drop. Then back out just a hair.
Hope his helps.
Tim

 

[Anonymous]

Just thought I would mention you may want to keep carb cleaner away from any painted metal surfaces that you don't want ruined. It is great stuff for cleaning, but it is hell on paint.

Ryan

 

[simon]

there is not much of a diffeence between carb cleaner and brake cleaner. It´ll work.

If simple green and the big buckets of gunk carb cleaner were available at where I live, I´d go that route. For there ain´t no simple green here, I have to do it like the old timers - barbeque spray cleaner, dishwasher tablets and boiling water, soaking in diesel, thinner or acetone, acid-based toilet cleaners and 0000 steel wool, and elbow grease of course. Lots of it.
After that, I use the regular carb cleaner just for the finishing touches.
just to give you an idea of possible cleaner substitutes...

Take care of the plastic parts on your carburetor - some of them may be fuel resistant, but a 24-hour bath in pure acetone wil mess up even the best plastic carb float to be found.

 

[addo]

If I have the carb off the car, I can plug off the holes and blast it with 100PSI thinners in the spray gun. That comes up beautifully clean. When I dismantle a unit, I use oven cleaner (ethanolamine spray). Scrub it under boiling hot water with a tothbrush or grey Scotchbrite, and blast clean with more air. The hot water means trapped droplets evaporate quickly.

Unless the problem is an obvious one, cleaning the carb won't fix the problem, but it should make you feel more confident about servicing it down the track.

Adam.