Vinegar as a cleaning agent?

Someone suggested that I use distilled white vinegar to clean my carb. I have used vinegar to clean hard-water marks off paint, has anyone else heard of this before? I'll probably give it a try, it couldn't hurt it much!

I've heard of it too. If it works, sounds like a friendlier alternative to carb cleaner.

del

If you add some dill relish to that concoction, I think it is called Thousand Island dressing!

I gave it a try; I wouldn't taste what was left in the bucket, I stripped the gunk off pretty thoroughly.

Hey Skitch,
Did it clean the metal at all?
KZCSI

I'm kinda surprised that nobody's brought up Ibsen's "Ibby-izeing" method. Take some hot water (I put the kettle on and boil it), some baking soda, and a container that will handle the boiling water, add carbs and voila! CLEAN carbs! I have had some great results with this combo.

Oz


PS: I just re-read this and realized that I was prolly a wee bit vague! 1.) put parts in container. 2.) sprinkle copious amounts of baking soda on parts. 3.) put some HOT tap water in container---fill till parts are 'bout half covered. 4.) when the tea kettle is whistling, sprinkle more baking soda on parts and pour the boiling water into the container 'til the parts are submerged. 5.) let stand for an hour or two, rinse, repeat if necessary.

note: there will still be some schmutz on the carbs that needs to be scraped off ( I used dental picks, steel wool and compressed air ) but the results were great! When I first got my bike, the carb slides wouldn't budge. After a soak in the solution, the slides moved freely.

Good Luck!

I let it sit in the vinegar over night. Then put it in a bag full of vinegar and shook it for a while, and finished with a soft toothbrush an Qtips. It cleaned out the innards of the carb rather well. It didn't do anything for the baked-on stuff on the outside, though.

I'm tellin' ya...Give the baking soda a try and you'll be very happy!


Oz

I used the baking soda (Ibby) method last year. Works very well.

SOmeone suggested I use distilled white vinegar, diesel fuel. Leave for an hour and most of the stuff comes clean. But the vinegar will leave a "dusty/dirty" residue, ie, will dull the alunimum but can be lessened by using compressed air to blow it the solution off.

If you leave aluminum parts in the solution too long it will eat away at the parts a bit.
michel

ketchup is good for polishing copper/brass parts its acidic,but non abrasive you add a little salt to make it more abrasive(i posted this a while back)good luck,happy wrenching!