# carb cleaning



## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

i was wondering what people use on stubborn carb deposits. i got my neighbors snow blower running for them last year and i thought i got things clean out running pretty good but after watching a video on youtube i now realized the emulsion was still a bit more clogged than i realized. the snow blow sat for 2 years without running before last year and the jet was clogged solid when i first took it apart last year. you couldn't even see the jet inside emulsion tube with how bad it was. i ended up using oven cleaner to break most of the crud free because carb cleaner was just not getting the job done but for some reason i have a feeling oven cleaner should probably not be used. any advise?


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## KaRLiToS (Nov 21, 2014)

carb jet cleaner | eBay

Called "*carb jet cleaner*"


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

the only issue i got with one of those is the hole i would be cleaning is gumbed up good and i am not sure what size it would be.


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## greatwhitebuffalo (Feb 11, 2014)

crazzywolfie said:


> i was wondering what people use on stubborn carb deposits. i got my neighbors snow blower running for them last year and i thought i got things clean out running pretty good but after watching a video on youtube i now realized the emulsion was still a bit more clogged than i realized. the snow blow sat for 2 years without running before last year and the jet was clogged solid when i first took it apart last year. you couldn't even see the jet inside emulsion tube with how bad it was. i ended up using oven cleaner to break most of the crud free because carb cleaner was just not getting the job done but for some reason i have a feeling oven cleaner should probably not be used. any advise?



soak it in a bucket of gas and mineral spirits. if you really want to get it freed up, add some diesel fuel. oven cleaner is just fine. but you have to find every passage and clean each one with a pin or torch tip cleaner or tiny drill bit per previous post


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## 43128 (Feb 14, 2014)

i just use torch tip cleaners, same exact thing and 1/3 of the price


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## Chuck2 (Feb 7, 2014)

Would it be ok to soak it in CLR?


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## Motor City (Jan 6, 2014)

Chuck2 said:


> Would it be ok to soak it in CLR?


I wouldn't use that, it would probably eat the metal. Get an Ultrasonic cleaner. That's what I use. And I use Simple Green as the cleaning solution. I also use Motorcraft Tune Up liquid to soak the jets and the low idle screw in.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Carb cleaning*

I have been using brake cleaner along with a strand of phone wire. The wire is fine enough it goes through any hole I've tried, it's copper so it won't dig into the carb alloy material and it can be bent for those awkward angles.

Just don't get the carb cleaner on painted or plastic parts you don't want damaged.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

Motor City said:


> I wouldn't use that, it would probably eat the metal. Get an Ultrasonic cleaner. That's what I use. And I use Simple Green as the cleaning solution. I also use Motorcraft Tune Up liquid to soak the jets and the low idle screw in.


a ultrasonic cleaner would be nice. i have been temped over the last year buy one but not pulled the trigger yet.


HCBPH said:


> I have been using brake cleaner along with a strand of phone wire. The wire is fine enough it goes through any hole I've tried, it's copper so it won't dig into the carb alloy material and it can be bent for those awkward angles.
> 
> Just don't get the carb cleaner on painted or plastic parts you don't want damaged.


i have found brake cleaner not strong enough. i did also read that using copper wire to clean out the holes helps but i first got to get the 1 hole open. can't even see through the hole at the end of the emultion tube


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## RoyP (Oct 16, 2014)

My Honda dealer told me to go to NAPA and buy their Carb cleaner......let it soak overnight......should take care of all Carb problems......of course you have to remove all jets prior to soaking it....then reassemble in the morning.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

you mean that carb cleaner stuff than comes in a pail? i don't know if that would work on this carb since the carb is a composite or something. it is definitely not the typical type carb that i am use to working on. i ended up using some copper telephone wire and it was smaller than all the holes in the emulsion tube but seemed to clean a fair bit out of it. all the holes flowed a lot better after and the machine ran a bit better. hopefully whatever i missed gets cleaned out by the fresh gas. i know i warned my neighbor last year about running cheap gas in small engines so hopefully he is still running ethanol free gas. 

after watching a couple video's on youtube i am starting to really think about buying a ultra sonic cleaner. i got a couple thing that could use a good ultrasonic cleaning


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

That would be a good harbor freight purchase for $35 when on sale. They carry two sizes.

Search results for: 'ultrasonic'


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

no harbor freights up here. i might try finding one locally first but i have a feeling i might have to order one on ebay. there is one similar to the $85 harbor freight one on ebay for about $120 Canadian shipped which don't seem too bad.


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## Motor City (Jan 6, 2014)

crazzywolfie said:


> no harbor freights up here. i might try finding one locally first but i have a feeling i might have to order one on ebay. there is one similar to the $85 harbor freight one on ebay for about $120 Canadian shipped which don't seem too bad.


Mines a 2 liter, from Ebay. And has a heater, also. The around $100 or so.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

yours is actually a 2.5 liter lol. ya i saw one like yours pop up when i was searching but i think it was like $150 plus shipping and would have been cheaper to get a 6 liter one that would have been about $200 shipped.


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## beardown34 (Jan 22, 2014)

i dunk my small engine carbs in pine sol. good results, and lemon-y fresh!


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

pine sol seemed to pop up a fair bit when searching. i might have to try some. some of the people that were using the ultrasonic cleaners were also using them with pine sol.


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## Motor City (Jan 6, 2014)

crazzywolfie said:


> yours is actually a 2.5 liter lol. ya i saw one like yours pop up when i was searching but i think it was like $150 plus shipping and would have been cheaper to get a 6 liter one that would have been about $200 shipped.


I have a larger one, but I found it to be a pain to use on small carbs. When Yo have to change the cleaning solution frequently, it gets expensive.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

it is so tempting tho. sometimes i might just need that bit larger cleaner. maybe i might have to start small and get a larger one in the future. i do plan on cleaning up my 4 barrel carb again this spring so i can make under the hood of my truck start looking clean again.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

I have heard you can use a large pot of boiling water on the stove for soaking carbs as well. I have never tried.


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## RoyP (Oct 16, 2014)

NAPA Carb Cleaner gallon can......amazing stuff


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Shryp said:


> I have heard you can use a large pot of boiling water on the stove for soaking carbs as well. I have never tried.


Nor should you if your're married or have a girlfriend as you know what will happen if they find out


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

Shryp said:


> I have heard you can use a large pot of boiling water on the stove for soaking carbs as well. I have never tried.





Kiss4aFrog said:


> Nor should you if your're married or have a girlfriend as you know what will happen if they find out


lol i think someone mentioned boiling a carb to me once. i wasn't too sure about it. i know i can get away with it easily. just have to go to the thrift store and pick myself up a cheap pot to use. i would probably use the BBQ so that it is less suspicious . i do enough grilling that it would probably go un noticed



RoyP said:


> NAPA Carb Cleaner gallon can......amazing stuff


i have never seen the stuff at my local napa. i don't think they really cary the stuff much up here.


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## devans (Aug 4, 2014)

My carb cleaning tools are pretty simple, carb cleaner in a can, torch cleaning tips and a campbell hausfeld pistol grip blow gun. The blow gun has a very small nozzle that's perfect for blowing air into the passages. I've also used the needle for blowing up balls that screws into the end of a regular blowgun to get to the passages.
When I find a carb that has dried ethanol in it I use wire end brushes I found at Harbor Freight and my cordless dremel. I once found one that looked as if someone had dumped a teaspoon of powdered coffee creamer in it and closed it back up. The really, really bad carbs go into my blast cabinet and get hit with glass bead. Then I clean them with carb cleaner and air.
Not the end all beat all but it works for me. I have been contemplating an ultrasonic cleaning machine, I just haven't convinced myself I can't live without it yet.


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## Chuck2 (Feb 7, 2014)

How did you make use of the Dremel?

And why are ultrasonic cleaners such a good thing to have? In what way are they ultrasonic?


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

The ultrasonic breaks away the scale and varnish that accumulates. If it can be had cheap enough, they are quite an indispensable piece of equipment. After you have done one carb, you will realize that it cleans into those areas that can not be easily accessed. 

It does not have to be an expensive one.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

i have thought about using soda blasting in the past but i have never found a cheap supply of baking soda but considered it. the stuff is way more expensive than sandblasting.


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## RoyP (Oct 16, 2014)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> Nor should you if your're married or have a girlfriend as you know what will happen if they find out


Just remembered as a kid, going downtown where they were tearing down the old houses in Albany, NY...they had lead pipes.....we would grab as much as we could wrap around our bikes, take it home and melt it, making musket bullets....oh what a mess it made on Mom's stove.......I can still hear her yelling at us. 

Thanks for bringing back that memory.


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