muriatic acid and carbs dont mix

[Ken Black]

ooo boy... how stupid am i .. i watch this guys video on utubers. mix 1/3 acid to the amount of water you use. i think it was a holly double. my carb came out great he says. DONT TRUST HIM no more.. grrrrrr
carb is toast...
its black and gunked and i brass brush it.. its still black in color... it cooked... and it cooked to well done ...
so ive learned from my mistake..

here is my ? tho... i see it so many times. do this do that try this . this works purfect. no this works.. we all know the story ...

what works ?? i figure ask the board as iam sure 1 or 2 members have had carb issues somewhere down the line..

thanks

 

[mfrade]

For soaking a carb, I like the "Gunk" brand carb cleaner pail with the basket. After disassembly, set the parts in there and drop the basket down and come back an hour later, maybe 2 if it's really gunky. Always worked good for me. For a rinse, I use the carb choke cleaner spray, chase out all the ports and parts.. some compressed air to top it off. easy peazy.

 

[bwstevens]

The muratic acid is only good for cast iron carbs. Holley is mostly aluminum .

 

[mgonitzke]

Have to be careful with the pail-o-carb cleaner too....that will do the same thing if you leave it in there too long.
As long as looks are not important, you can generally get one clean enough to be functional with a spray can of carb cleaner. I usually pre-wash in my ultrasonic cleaner with some "aircraft" simple green, which is safe for aluminum (if not mixed to too strong of a concentration) and then blow all the passageways out with carb cleaner.

1 part muriatic acid to 2 parts water is an extremely strong concentration that I would not want to leave a steel part in much longer than a few minutes. Anything aluminum would be rapidly destroyed.

This is the problem with getting advice on the internet. Some of it is good, but a lot of is is pure BS, and if you have enough background knowledge to tell the difference, you probably wouldn't be searching for the answer anyway.

 

[Ken Black]

The muratic acid is only good for cast iron carbs. Holley is mostly aluminum .

here ya go.

 

[Ken Black]

Have to be careful with the pail-o-carb cleaner too....that will do the same thing if you leave it in there too long.
As long as looks are not important, you can generally get one clean enough to be functional with a spray can of carb cleaner. I usually pre-wash in my ultrasonic cleaner with some "aircraft" simple green, which is safe for aluminum (if not mixed to too strong of a concentration) and then blow all the passageways out with carb cleaner.

1 part muriatic acid to 2 parts water is an extremely strong concentration that I would not want to leave a steel part in much longer than a few minutes. Anything aluminum would be rapidly destroyed.

This is the problem with getting advice on the internet. Some of it is good, but a lot of is is pure BS, and if you have enough background knowledge to tell the difference, you probably wouldn't be searching for the answer anyway.

most times carb cleaner did the trick.. 53 here played with a few carbs over the years...
these carbs are bad tho.. never had them this bad.. the wonder goooooo was soooooo thick in the bowl like a swamp ..
it was covered all up in the float needle was soild like it wasnt even there...like the goo just grew all up inside of it.. crusted soild.. maybe someone who does know would lol and say nope grab a new one.. maybe someone who knows would give it a go. one can never say what someone else would do .. even if they know what there doing..
i figured id give it a go to see if i could get it back..

 

[bwstevens]

It is an acid so it will dissolve what it can so careful use is required. If you have followed my 106 posts you will see that I can be impatient . I just cleaned two Marvel-Schebler #'s 78 and 81 carburetor bowls and main jets with straight Muratic acid right out of the jug. at most they took ten minutes.

 

[dschwandt]

I do it all the time with my carbs.
You MUST dilute it a lot!!
And just dip for a few minutes at most, put it in and pull it out several times and then rinse well w/plenty of clean water and then polish with a stainless steel wire brush and they will come out looking like new.
This one was for my 126 restoration 5 years ago.
Remember that one Harry??

 

[Ken Black]

It is an acid so it will dissolve what it can so careful use is required. If you have followed my 106 posts you will see that I can be impatient . I just cleaned two Marvel-Schebler #'s 78 and 81 carburetor bowls and main jets with straight Muratic acid right out of the jug. at most they took ten minutes.

lol i sure did learn not to leave it in there... i may try for giggles to see if i can reclaim the carb.. what the heck rite lol .. nothing to lose now from it lol

I do it all the time with my carbs.
You MUST dilute it a lot!!
And just dip for a few minutes at most, put it in and pull it out several times and then rinse well w/plenty of clean water and then polish with a stainless steel wire brush and they will come out looking like new.
This one was for my 126 restoration 5 years ago.
Remember that one Harry??

View attachment 143043

will dang... ill send them to u hahhaa .... very nice work.... i have one left to clean.. ill try the basics 1st work form there.. thats the one thing i have for me.. not care of looks iam goin for function .

 

[tkhoffman]

I never had to resort to soaking. A spray can of carb cleaner on these small carbs with little internal passages has been all I needed on any small engine.

 

[Ken Black]

I never had to resort to soaking. A spray can of carb cleaner on these small carbs with little internal passages has been all I needed on any small engine.

i would call that luck.. the main jet has what 4 holes and the tube seat. forget the name of it. but it has 5 holes. 4 on the tube and 1 for the seat..
i just took other one apart. it was nice n ripe. lovely green in color. used torch tip cleaners works good for them little holes. it seems to be ok. did a fire up with it and it idled and did ok at 3 grand. tho was the last min got to do it before goin in for the nite lol..

probley just grab a few over seas carbs take chances .. seems the ones on fakebook for them with the real ones used stuff.. yep i got them. price and shipping. never hear from them again lol

 

[hydroharry]

I do it all the time with my carbs.
You MUST dilute it a lot!!
And just dip for a few minutes at most, put it in and pull it out several times and then rinse well w/plenty of clean water and then polish with a stainless steel wire brush and they will come out looking like new.
This one was for my 126 restoration 5 years ago.
Remember that one Harry??

Hey Dave - I'm sorry to say I don't really remember. Can you provide some more details about what happened. I must'a helped a little or at least tried.

I've never used Muriatic Acid for anything except for cleaning mortar on some bricks. Doesn't surprise it would eat up these carbs. I see Brian said he used it un-diluted maybe for 10 minutes. Wonder if it was the 30% strength or the 15%.

I actually don't think the original Kohler carbs are even aluminum. To me they seem more like what I call a "white metal". I've only ever used carb cleaner to clean them. I have had a few I've had to soak for while, and then soak again for awhile, generally a few hours at most.

But it also doesn't surprise me that Ken came across one that sounded like something I'd just toss. The more decades these carbs sit around the more chances we'll all come across one similar to what Ken ran into.

 

[bwstevens]

I used 30 percent HCL on cast iron carburetors outside and yes it is rather violent. The aluminum and or white metal would not do so well.

 

[dschwandt]

Harry, That was the Cub that got the hydro lift unit you helped me with.

 

[hydroharry]

Harry, That was the Cub that got the hydro lift unit you helped me with.

Dave - oh yes, I remember that Part No. #19. Worked out well for both of us. Now if I could just find that Part No. #19 you sent me. Had it in my CC stuff, and after moving to AZ I haven't been able to find it. I'll never forget those green bolts you like. They are tuff.

 

[Stevenovick1]

I just soak carbs in Kero/ Diesel

 

[Stevenovick1]

Put ground up Walnuts in a siphon feed sand blaster. 55psi.

 

[Stevenovick1]

Then carb cleaner to rinse

 

[dschwandt]

The acid dip and polish is just for appearance sake.
After the tear down, gung soak cleaner and carb clean spray & rinse and before the rebuild kit installation.

 

[Stevenovick1]

“Gunk “ soak cleaner. Can you buy ?