Carb/parts cleaner

[Russ Smith]

What do you folks recommend using for a GOOD parts and carb. dip/cleaner? I'm looking for something like Berryman's B-9 in the 1 gallon size but I haven't been able to find it in any of the local auto parts stores. All that seems to be available is the EPA approved crap.

[Willie Yaw]

Autozone
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/access ... 39313_0_0_
oreillyauto
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0126

If you're cleaning carburetors I found boiling them in lemon juice works wonders, although it will discolor the aluminum.

[Terry Bentley]

Nothing will clean up any corrosion or residual buildup in the very small orfices if carbs have been out of circulation for a good many years. I just soak in lacquer thinner to get bodies clean. But they all get welch plugs removed and every orfice get cleaned with drill bits or blanks

[Russ Smith]

The Berryman product that O'Reilly's sells in the 1 gallon can is not the same stuff as the "good old B-9". They have it under special order in 5-gallon pails, though. We don't have an Autozone anywhere near us. And, since I live in California, who knows what restrictions they have. I gotta tell you, we used Berryman's B-9 when I was taking an automotive technology course at our local community college years ago. After you stripped a carb. and soaked it in the solution, it came out sparkling without any residue of anything left behind. Of course, there was that distinctive odor that was impossible to get rid of!

[Jacob Jay]

An ultrasonic cleaner works wonders with old carbs that have corrosion in the fine passageways, especially those that have been used with methanol. I clean my carbs in my ultrasonic cleaner using 10-minute cycles. I fill the cleaner tank about halfway with 50% distilled water/Purple Power and then put the carb in a glass jar filled with clean paint thinner. It seems to work well and the paint thinner becomes discolored depending on how much corrosion the carb body has inside. I haven't had a problem yet with discoloration of the carb body. If you use the Purple Power to clean the carb though it will change the color of it.

Like Russ mentions above, the good chemical carb dip "from the old days" isn't available in the one-gallon size anymore. I worked at a dealership for years and we were able to get the good stuff in the 5-gallon pail. This was the stuff that would completely dissolve small magnesium and aluminum parts if left in too long. A machine shop here in town had a home-built hot tank with their own special brew, and a carburetor left in overnight would be gone the next morning.