The infamous carb Pine-sol soak...7-20 update*

[garrethr]

My bike recently bit the dust and it seems most of it was due to my petcock valve having a cracked o-ring

1. Fuel leaked all over the carbs
2. leaked into air box ruining left filter.
3. Not to mention my tank has too much debris in it and now I need to do a tank seal kit.

So here are pictures of the carb cleaning session, and a pic of the last little bit I drained out of my tank and the pulp that came with it as an added bonus

Before



After a night in Pine-sol






....and here's what came out of my tank

[Bearded Biker]

how long did you leave carbs in pine sol to soak? somebody put on her about useing pine sol long time ago.you might wont to look into boiling you tank out, but i dont know what it will do to your paint. gayland

[garrethr]

I let it soak overnight.

[Bearded Biker]

was this the first time you did it?

[Blaine]

Feb 6, 2011 21:52:58 GMT -6 garrethr said:

My bike recently bit the dust and it seems most of it was due to my petcock valve having a cracked o-ring

1. Fuel leaked all over the carbs
2. leaked into air box ruining left filter.
3. Not to mention my tank has too much debris in it and now I need to do a tank seal kit.

So here are pictures of the carb cleaning session, and a pic of the last little bit I drained out of my tank and the pulp that came with it as an added bonus

Before



After a night in Pine-sol






....and here's what came out of my tank

I just noticed,in your last picture of the carbs,you have the fuel hose & filter on the wrong fitting.that fitting is the carb vent.Your fuel hose needs to go on the lower tee.

[garrethr]

Good eye
I probably would of noticed when i set the float heights....
Or spent an hr scratching my head over it

[garrethr]

Feb 8, 2011 19:46:44 GMT -6 Bearded Biker said:

was this the first time you did it?

This was the first time I've done anything for a bike.

[garrethr]

Ok so I was checking the floats and the fuel inlet valve needles. One carb set was perfect the other however was not. The fuel inlet valve needle tip would not depress like it was supposed to. I assume it was my petcock side carb but I don't remember at this point. It took a lot of fiddling but I was finally able to get it to loosen up and work properly. Being the novice I am I was just wondering what this was doing to my carb? I would assume it was making one pretty much worthless but I don't know much.

[Blaine]

Feb 12, 2011 18:40:41 GMT -6 garrethr said:

Ok so I was checking the floats and the fuel inlet valve needles. One carb set was perfect the other however was not. The fuel inlet valve needle tip would not depress like it was supposed to. I assume it was my petcock side carb but I don't remember at this point. It took a lot of fiddling but I was finally able to get it to loosen up and work properly. Being the novice I am I was just wondering what this was doing to my carb? I would assume it was making one pretty much worthless but I don't know much.

You stated that your left side carb flooded the air box and ruined the filter.That is the part of the problem,the needle sticking and flooding the carb.I would install new carb kits.New kits come with new needles,idle mixture screws, and float bowl o-rings.

[garrethr]

Feb 12, 2011 19:17:32 GMT -6 Blaine said:

You stated that your left side carb flooded the air box and ruined the filter.That is the part of the problem,the needle sticking and flooding the carb.I would install new carb kits.New kits come with new needles,idle mixture screws, and float bowl o-rings.

Everything else was in good shape...o-rings-N-such. I had the rebuild kit put on the petcock and I have new air filters on order. I also found a reservoir for my radiator for 30 bucks and am curious to how that fares. This has become a project bike which I don't mind I just want it running again soon.

[joenson]

I'm amazed..! No more polishing and hurting fingertips.. ;D
Does anybody know if it is possible to buy Pine-Sol in Europe..?

If not: does anybody know if there is anything in Europe that works just as well..?

[johnn8]

I'd be interested to know how this affects the diaphragm, o-rings and gaskets in the carb. I would think that a soak in cleaner would dry out the rubber.

[Blaine]

Feb 19, 2011 8:35:18 GMT -6 johnn8 said:

I'd be interested to know how this affects the diaphragm, o-rings and gaskets in the carb. I would think that a soak in cleaner would dry out the rubber.

When cleaning the carb It should be completely disassembled to do a proper job.If you don't it will harm the rubbers.

[garrethr]

Doing so in pine-sol has proven not to harm the plastic/rubber pieces at all when we are speaking a relative 1-3 day soak (even though over night was more than enough for my case) Diaphragm and what-not were just fine on mine.

[Blaine]

Feb 19, 2011 21:56:27 GMT -6 garrethr said:

Doing so in pine-sol has proven not to harm the plastic/rubber pieces at all when we are speaking a relative 1-3 day soak (even though over night was more than enough for my case) Diaphragm and what-not were just fine on mine.

I stand corrected.Just by looking at your pictures,it looks like you had everything dissembled.I don't see the point of going to all the work of removing and soaking the carbs if you are not going to dissemble them,so passages & jets get cleaned.The Pine-sol does a great job.Thanks for the tip!

[garrethr]

I definitely feel like i know more about the ins and outs with a carburetor now
considering I'm so not a mechanic. Friend is bringing the tool to sync them
today. Hope it goes smoother than getting them off and on the bike.

[tinlizzie37]

Hi Garrethr, Before you try to coat the inside of your fuel tank. May I suggest that you clean all the rust out with oxalic acid. This stuff is great, and doesn't harm the paint. It totally cleans the tank and leaves a protective coating on the bare metal. You can get the stuff from a fellow called Greg MacElven. His e-mail is [e-mail]. I think he charges around 5 or 6 dollars a pound. That's enough to do 20 tanks. He sells a 4 pound bag with the instructions. Give it a try. Bob

[garrethr]

I appreciate the info. I actually bought a 3 part kit from kbs coatings. A rust removal is included. Although, I am curious to know if anyone else has heard of or used them.

[lildog]

I have only seen it done once, but soaking stuff in coca-cola will also remove rust. I dont know what im going to use on my tank since I am going to paint it so it doesnt really matter if I mess up the paint or not.

[garrethr]

Ok, new update. Finals are over now so I've come back around to finishing it up. Fixed the tank put it all back together and....can't keep it running. I can get it to start with choke and keep it running. However, even after heating it up a bit if I take the choke off it dies. If i throttle it without really layin on it, it dies. I don't think it's lack of air in the mix but lack of fuel instead. Anyone know of an automatic setting for the pilot needles in the carb or any other possibilities? If I MUST take the carbs back off to adjust it's no bid deal I just want to ride again; I've got the itch.

[Blaine]

May 10, 2011 14:01:20 GMT -6 garrethr said:

Ok, new update. Finals are over now so I've come back around to finishing it up. Fixed the tank put it all back together and....can't keep it running. I can get it to start with choke and keep it running. However, even after heating it up a bit if I take the choke off it dies. If i throttle it without really layin on it, it dies. I don't think it's lack of air in the mix but lack of fuel instead. Anyone know of an automatic setting for the pilot needles in the carb or any other possibilities? If I MUST take the carbs back off to adjust it's no bid deal I just want to ride again; I've got the itch.

Make sure you have no vacuum leaks.A good starting point for the pilot jet is 2 1/2 turns out.Make sure you have vacuum to the petcock.

[garrethr]

I have an inline filter maybe I should check to see if it's clogged. I'll check all those options by this weekend. Thanks for the advice.

[garrethr]

Ok couldnt wait. Tried it out took off the carbs set the pilot at two and a half. Checked air filters andfuel lines...will start up no problem with choke full on(idles at about 3k rpm). If i throttle it still works but shotty, if i turn down choke or move the black adjustment knob on carbs it dies...im at a stand still it seems.

[garrethr]

The only thing i can think of is that my oses arent properly hooked up and i cant seem to double check on my manual.

[eaglerider]

u need to check the valve adjustment, also. Seems like no one reads posts before asking questions. I guess I will have to keep making this post about valve adjustment for the next year or so, like I had to about 2 or 3 years ago, untill members finaly learned what all a good valve adjustment effects on this engine.

[kopcicle]

So do I want my valves open or closed ?







~kop

[Blaine]

May 13, 2011 10:35:01 GMT -6 kopcicle said:

So do I want my valves open or closed ?







~kop

To adjust your valves,the cylinder needs to be st TDC. (valves closed)

[garrethr]

So, ITS ALIVE! Made many modifications to my setup don't know if it was everything or just one. At this point I don't care. I pulled the plugs out and they were black. Made me suspect the float height was off so I took the carbs BACK out for the fourth time. I can do it in 3 minutes flat these days. I adjusted the float height within plus/minus 1 instead, replaced the spark plugs and took an extra radiator reservoir hose and cut it into the right sizes for the petcock setup. She started right up first crank. I have one small problem now. Before the bike is warm it wont idle above 1200 with choke all the way on. If I throttle it will jump up to 4k and stay until I remove the choke and let it die. If I mess with the carb idle screw I can get it to work great and idle around 2.5k full choke. When it does warm up I have to then readjust the idle screw back down to get it to idle at the 1200 as suggested. However, now when I throttle and everything else it works great once warmed up. No longer chokes for air as previously and I would feel comfortable riding it after it warms up. Is there a setup on the system that I can do so I don't have to adjust that idle screw on the carb every time?


....and don't worry after I renew the tag and settle the expenses down valve adjustment is next

[Blaine]

Jul 20, 2011 9:33:08 GMT -6 garrethr said:

So, ITS ALIVE! Made many modifications to my setup don't know if it was everything or just one. At this point I don't care. I pulled the plugs out and they were black. Made me suspect the float height was off so I took the carbs BACK out for the fourth time. I can do it in 3 minutes flat these days. I adjusted the float height within plus/minus 1 instead, replaced the spark plugs and took an extra radiator reservoir hose and cut it into the right sizes for the petcock setup. She started right up first crank. I have one small problem now. Before the bike is warm it wont idle above 1200 with choke all the way on. If I throttle it will jump up to 4k and stay until I remove the choke and let it die. If I mess with the carb idle screw I can get it to work great and idle around 2.5k full choke. When it does warm up I have to then readjust the idle screw back down to get it to idle at the 1200 as suggested. However, now when I throttle and everything else it works great once warmed up. No longer chokes for air as previously and I would feel comfortable riding it after it warms up. Is there a setup on the system that I can do so I don't have to adjust that idle screw on the carb every time?


....and don't worry after I renew the tag and settle the expenses down valve adjustment is next

I would adjust the valves first,this may be your cold idle problem.If not your choke plungers may not be fully moving.

[garrethr]

I would lean more towards the choke plungers not having full mobility. I say this because one of the plungers is slightly bent.