How to clean carburators?

Quick search of FCHAT shows

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7070

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36307

 

He, he, he. My brother is a british car mechanic. (John's British Car Garage, Reno, Nevada) I asked him about it. He just laughed and compared it to learning music. But once you get it, it's easy. I've never been able to get it.

He, he, he,

Bob Wassam

 

If you want to do them on the car just use simple green with a brush and wet rag. Plug the carb horns and take your time. Wipe down after with a wet rag and dry off. Takes a few hours but you should get the results you want. Just don't turn any screws and you'll be all right. Stay off of the paint as much as possible but the green stuff shouldn't do any damage .

 

Actually, it's been demonstrated that Simple Green isn't 100% safe on Al, it can oxidize it if not used carefully. Sholdn't be a problem, but I found that carb cleaner did wonders on the outside of the carbs as well! The only issue is the patience to get into all those nooks & crannies...

 

Right. From Simple Green FAQ at http://consumer.simplegreen.com/cons_faqs.php

Aluminum - Is it safe to use Simple Green on aluminum?
Simple Green products have been successfully and safely used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminum items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: Aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green or Crystal Simple Green can accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, contact times of All-Purpose Simple Green and Crystal Simple Green with unprotected or unpainted aluminum surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green/Crystal Simple Green residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminum cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation.

 

WD-40 is corrosive to aluminum. I use mineral spirits (Paint thiner) to clean the aluminum skins and engine parts on my airplane.

I'm in the process of buying a '77 308 and thought I'd do the same thing with it, when I get it, to clean the outside parts of the engine and drive train. I use an air wand that sprits the metal with the spirits while using compressed air to get into the nooks and crannies and blow out the dirt. I use a stiff paint brush to get into the stubboran places. The residual spirits evaprotats away. Make sure you have good ventalation. The air wand can be gotten at Chicago Freight for $5 buck-a-runies. You do need to get an air compressor. Cheap ones can be had for $150 or so. That's all you need.

I make the paint brush stiff by cutting the bristles to about half their normal lenght.


Bob Wassam

 

Hasn't hurt the seals and bearings on my Mooney. It's a 1963 C model. My FAA guy (IA) that signs off the airplane showed me how to use it. The seals on the Lycomming engines are similar to any other engine. All it does to the rubber parts is clean them. Ya gotta be sure to re-lube all your moving parts like linkages and cables.

If you have any doubts get an old rubber seal and wet it down in the thinner to see what happens.

I'd be careful about getting it into your intakes though. I don't think it burns properly for a Ferrari.

I use a Chevron product called "Handy Oil" to lube the bell cranks and control rod ends and joints. It's got good penetration and staying power. It cost about $50 for a five gallon can. You have to go to a distributor to get it though. I also wipe down the insides of the wing panels and tail cone with it help prevent corrosion. After awhile it dries and the residual leaves a nice barrier against corrosion. I don't plan on wiping down the Ferrari with it though. I'll just use it to lube the linkages. Five gallons will last one guy several years. I use it for nearly all my light oil needs.

Any chemical engineers on the forum?

Bob Wassam

 

in the absence of "berrymans carb dip" here in the UK, i am awaiting a delivery of 2 gallons of xylene (preferred to methyl ethyl ketone).

does anybody disagree with my choice ?

cheers, d

 

A bit rambling below...

Both have their downside as far as health risks.

MEK will probably be a better cleaner, but I would still use the xylene myself.

Berryman Carb Cleaner (not the dip) has both, as well other fun chemicals.
http://www.berrymanproducts.com/msds/0101-0105-0116-0155.pdf

Xylene Personnel Exposure Limit is half (twice as bad) the value of MEK.

MEK is a serious paint stripper; xylene much less so. Xylene is in Carb dip, MEK is not. However, the bad actor in Carb dip (and what makes it harder and harder to find, unless you are a professional mechanic) is dichloromethane, a carcinogen. But the other constituents are quite hazardous too.

Xylene (mixed)
http://www.setonresourcecenter.com/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getdoc&DocId=228355&Index=D%3a%5cINDEX%5cHMIS&HitCount=10&hits=3+6+57+dd+3dd+454+492+4c4+4f6+517+&SearchForm=D%3a%5ccrc%5cmsdss%5ccomply%2ehtm

MEK
http://www.setonresourcecenter.com/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getdoc&DocId=209841&Index=D%3a%5cINDEX%5cHMIS&HitCount=30&hits=3+4+5+9+a+b+5f+60+61+11a+11b+11c+143+144+145+471+472+473+4dd+4de+4df+51c+51d+51e+588+589+58a+5ab+5ac+5ad+&SearchForm=D%3a%5ccrc%5cmsdss%5ccomply%2ehtm

Berryman's Chem-Dip
http://www.berrymanproducts.com/msds/0901-0902-0905-0996-0955.pdf


Hope these links work, if not go to http://www.setonresourcecenter.com/MSDSs/comply1.htm

 

thanks bryan ... i am impressed with your data, thank you !

cheers, d