The power of Pinesol....

[Snapp600]

Hey peeps, I tried something new last night after pulling my carbs and noticing they have small bits of the gummy stuff and such.
I read someone used pinesol for a soaking their carbs without having to break them all apart, as it does not affect the rubber bits and plastics.
So i went to the dollar tree....

has anyone used this method before?

[steves]

So according to the MSDS PineSol contains the following:
alky alcohol ethoxylates

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_ethoxylate

isopropyl alcohol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol

pine oil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_oil

The only thing I see providing any value is the Isopropyl alcohol. I can't see it why you would want to try this, but I suspect all it will do is 1) make your carbs smell like pinesol and 2)potentially create more blockages from the pine oil drying out in the small passages.

The first chemical there is a suffactant which does nothing but keep things from drying out.

The active ingredient in the Berryman's Chem Dip on the other hand, is 60% http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichloromethane which is a solvent.

[cintidude04]

1) make your carbs smell like pinesol and 2)potentially create more blockages from the pine oil drying out in the small passages.

+1

[Snapp600]

Hmm.. Well i guess i will find out. I was hoping this wasnt going to be one of those things i should have ran by the Katriders community first.
I have read good things about it for MC specific carbs, but honestly did not look into the chemicalities..
I planed on hosing all the passages with a hose sprayer after soaking in water for a bit to clear out all passages. then carb claner and air if needed. air for sure.

you guys think the water will push the pine oils out?

[steves]

I think I wouldn't bother with the $1 bottle of pine sol, and just clean the carbs the correct way... but that's just me.

[Badfaerie]

I also have a hard time with the idea that you can get the carbs truly clean without separating them. Seems to me you wouldn't get all passages truly clean.

But then, I could be wrong. I just know that every time we've tried to take a short cut and not do a complete carb breakdown and clean, we've ended up taking them back off until we did.

[Snapp600]

Ya, i may end up doing that eventualy, If not sooner.. I did see alot of small pieces of dirt and what not floating around in the wash. I cleaned the box out very good before hand to see what shows up during the proccess. So hopefuly something good happens...
Thank you steves for taking the time to search the chem properties for me.

[arsenic]

You know what else doesn't hurt the rubber parts? Removing them.

[Kreylyn]

I remember a thread posted with someone using something like pine sol or ... other household cleaner. Tried soaking the carbs in it and ended up with significant metal corrosion and major problems.

Before you do it, I would start with something small to make sure you won't have the same issue. Use just one of the bowls or something to test with, and check it frequently.

krey

[Snapp600]

Well, i already put them in last night. Took them out a few hours ago and they looked good. Smelled good too! I put 3-1 pine to water ratio so it wasnt all pinesol if that matters.. After spraying and scrubing with carb cleaner through all the ports i hit it all with compressed air and they look good. No residue or chalkiness of any kind. I guess maybe i got lucky, but it seems there are alot of people who swear by it and clean their carbs and other parts using this method.
Couldnt find anything here on search and was curious if there was anyone on KR that has used it.. Seems ok so far. We shall see after everything is put back in and reinstalled...

[loudnlow7484]

Pine sol carb cleaner? Hmmmm. I don't doubt that it could do something (much the same way that soaking them in Windex would do something), but I don't see that getting them very clean. Let's face it, gasoline is a very powerful solvent. Ethanol is a very powerful solvent. If just sitting in a solvent would get them clean, then they would probably stay spotless all the time. It just doesn't work that way. You have to get the crap out that is sitting in the bottom of the bowls. You may have to toothbrush/fingernail some of the very old, very hard fuel deposits. Just sitting in a liquid, fully assembled, isn't likely to do much.

Now if you'd excuse me, I have to find my Murphy's Oil Soap..... I have a tire to mount!

[steves]

I don't see the issue using murphy's oil to mount tires, although I suspect it's much more expensive than just some windex or dish soap.

The issue isn't what you CAN see, it's what you CAN'T see. The carbs have lots of small passages and openings in them that fuel routes through. There's no way to tell whether they are clear or not for the most part.

I DON'T reccomend people use Pine Sol as a carb dip... just buy the $20 can of carb dip.

[loudnlow7484]

I don't see the issue using murphy's oil to mount tires,

...... I wasn't kidding. I really do use it to mount tires.

[Snapp600]

I don't see the issue using murphy's oil to mount tires, although I suspect it's much more expensive than just some windex or dish soap.

The issue isn't what you CAN see, it's what you CAN'T see. The carbs have lots of small passages and openings in them that fuel routes through. There's no way to tell whether they are clear or not for the most part.

I DON'T reccomend people use Pine Sol as a carb dip... just buy the $20 can of carb dip.

i got ya Steves. I will tear them down when i have more down time to seperate them and learn to put them back together.. I went for the quick get em back in, which i guess a complete tear down would have only been a few more steps involved.
I went for it, and figured since there is no discoloration or buildup anywhere on the aluminum the aluminum passages would prob be ok as well. I did spray a cpl cans worth of carb cleaner through every hole and passage along with a thourough compressed air blasting.
I hope, like i said i am one of the lucky ones. If not i will be tearing them down, I plan on buying the dip any how.. or getting a set from arsenic!

Pine sol carb cleaner? Hmmmm. I don't doubt that it could do something (much the same way that soaking them in Windex would do something), but I don't see that getting them very clean. Let's face it, gasoline is a very powerful solvent. Ethanol is a very powerful solvent. If just sitting in a solvent would get them clean, then they would probably stay spotless all the time. It just doesn't work that way. You have to get the crap out that is sitting in the bottom of the bowls. You may have to toothbrush/fingernail some of the very old, very hard fuel deposits. Just sitting in a liquid, fully assembled, isn't likely to do much.

Now if you'd excuse me, I have to find my Murphy's Oil Soap..... I have a tire to mount!

I actualy tore them down to all that was left was the fuel line inlet with seals and the.. Well, it seemed there was a rubber gromet/oring around the shaft where the throttle possitioner device seats.
I removed bowls, jets, needles, diaphrams, screws, choke plungers, as much as possible without individually removing each carb.
Looking back, if its do-able to remove the fuel line seals and fitting without completely seperating and the oring in the TPS shaft i mentioned, i guess i could have used the reg dip... is that right??

[mcssls]

...... I wasn't kidding. I really do use it to mount tires.

I busted tires for many years, before the premix started getting used we go 40 lb 5 gal buckets of Murphys oil soap gel. A lotta uses with one being to mix with water for bead lube, so no, he's not kidding.