Pine sol carb clean on 79xs1100fs

[GLoweVA]

Green

Some of my brass parts in the carbs on my project bike were green too.
Of course I've got plastic floats, so mine didn't look as bad as yours.
Bad (5yr old) gas sitting in there. I'll try pine sol. Carb cleaner work a little bit, but not good enough.
I like the pics, maybe when you're all done, the mods can put a tech tip thread together with all this great info.

[old_skool]

I'm far from a novice but the whole point of this carb clean write up is so the average joe who wants to tackle this should be able to safely do it, and it's a little more environmentally friendly than some of the harsh chemicals out there, and readily available and easier to dispose or store, and cheaper. So a layman's carb clean. After removing the carbs, I seen someone was in there before, and not too long ago, or they would have been a lot dirtier, and I would went after it more aggressively, more evidence was the broken float pin ear I have to rebuild....

[natemoen]

There actually is a cleaning thread already, goes through breaking them down and all.

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...b+cleaning+101

[old_skool]

Very nice thread, got tired of looking for threads, the search engine lacks a little, and site times out a lot. Also, a lot of maintenance/repairs/mods post need to be updated, due to the age of some they are useless as many have let their picture hosting accounts lapse, and aren't very informative anymore

[Danny Crawdad]

It is rarely (if ever) a bad idea to do something a different way. Definitely interested in the Pine-Sol results .

My bro in law uses an orbital lab shaker, the kind you find in high school and college science labs that vibrates/oscillates and heats solutions. He puts the carb bodies in a big bowl on top of the shaker with carb/parts cleaner, and lets it go overnight with gentle heat. Heat and vibration are adjustable .

Seems to work well for really gummed up carbs.

[old_skool]

You can also use an aquarium air pump to agitate the solution as well

[fredintoon]

Hi Old Skool,
two add-ons to your carb cheatsheet.
1) work inside a large cafeteria tray so the edges can stop tiny parts falling onto the floor and disappearing.
2) fire the float pins out with a spring loaded centrepunch on the pin's small end. Works as well or better than the ol' sidecutter trick.

[old_skool]

Hi Old Skool,
two add-ons to your carb cheat sheet.
1) work inside a large cafeteria tray so the edges can stop tiny parts falling onto the floor and disappearing.
2) fire the float pins out with a spring loaded center punch on the pin's small end. Works as well or better than the ol' side cutter trick.

I had thought about that, using my spring loaded center punch, but was worried if I had already one broke ear from the previous owners rebuild, I wouldn't know just how much stress or internal cracking on the tiny cast ears there might be from the previous owners obvious lack of experience, and didn't want to push even the tiniest amount of pressure against them, if your an original owner, then prob go ahead without any fear, but I wasn't taking any chances trying something different merely for the sake of trying it, I've used the side cutter method for over ....almost close to 30 years, never broke one!!!
And yes, use a large tray, or like I did, a large table with a cloth so the parts won't roll away quite so easy.

[GLoweVA]

Air Pump ???

What a great idea! That's a perfect example of why this site works so well. All these minds collectively have an endless supply of ideas and techniques that someone can find useful.

I love it.

... now, where is all that old fish tank stuff ?.... Box in the attic?...

[dpotter58]

Not sure if the deep creep made them disapear or they were already gone and it just revealed thier condition after removing the build up or corrosion, thats stuff supposed to be safe for carbs, thier parts and throtle bodies. Sounds like some drilling will be going on. What kind of carbs?

a set of an 80 mns i'm working on.

[LoHo]

The green on the brass means that water was in there for a long while, I believe. Was the bike sitting out for some time?

[GLoweVA]

My project was sitting in the PO's garage for 5 yrs before I bought it.
In my case i believe it was moisture build up.
When I opened up the carbs, they didn't have any liquid left in them so all the fuel and moisture had evaporated over the years.

[old_skool]

don't know, he kept it in his garage when he got it, but he only just got it himself, and when a buddy of his died in a MC accident right after he got it, he decided not for him.

[jetmechmarty]

I haven't done it yet, but I plan to put mine in an old crockpot when I get home. I'll cook them in this stuff:

I expect it won't damage a thing. Of course, I'll dismantle them first.

[old_skool]

Ok, here's my update...SUCKS, don't know what I did wrong, but they are no cleaner than when i started, I think some of the before and after pics i've seen must have been after they polished and even finishes detail cleaning, The dirt didn't even come off, all the grease was still present, oxidation, if this is what the outside looks like, then I have to assume it didn't help the inside either. Everyone's results may differ, but I will not use this method again. That's my review. Now to start over using a different method, mineral spirits, carb cleaner, paint thinner, simple green, Yamalube carb cleaner, not sure which yet, but going to get more aggressive, You don't need after pics, just look at the before twice!!!! It helped a little...very little, on loosening some sludge and dissolving about 60% of the green residue on the smaller parts. This experiment was a waste of my time and money. Hope anyone else who tries this, has better results.