"Jamie Calder" <jcalder3@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
> I need to clean up a Kohler 14HP carb that's been sitting for a couple years
> and all gummed up. I don't have any carb cleaner on hand. Can brake parts
> cleaner be used without hurting anything? I know it's pretty harsh stuff.
> Besides removing the bowl and spraying liberally, is there anything else
> that should be done to clean it up?
I think the brake cleaner should be OK on the metal parts, though I
don't know how it would react to rubber or cork (gaskets and such).
Then again, most carb cleaners don't play very well with the soft
parts either. If you are familiar with the carb (i.e. you know where
all the passageways are, and what the jets are supposed to look like)
then I suspect you will probably be OK with the brake cleaner; an air
compressor is handy for blowing out passages too.
If it is a carb you are unfamiliar with, you might have better luck
with one of those gallon sized carb cleaner cans where you can drop
the pieces right into the can and let them soak for a while. Maybe
pull them out after a while, blow them out with compressed air, and
drop them back in, etc.
The reason I say that is a while back I was trying to fire up a
wood chipper or something which had sat unused for probably 10 years
at least. I used a spray to clean out the carb but it just wouldn't
run. Further investigation showed that I had missed a small orifice.
I didn't realize there was supposed to be an orifice there, and the
coloring of the varished gas was such that it looked like metal. Once
I cleaned it out, it ran great.
If you've got some B-12 chemtool or sea foam laying around, I think
that would do a good job of removing the varnish. One catch with the
brake cleaner is because it evaporates so fast, it might not sit on
the varnish long enough to dissolve it. I don't think it would hurt
anything to try it though.
--
-Jon-
.- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
| '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars |
`-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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