Lemon Boil

I dont know if this has ever been covered here, but I read on a motorcycle forum about boiling Carb parts in lemon juice to clean them. I am trying it as we speak on the carbs for my Yamaha Seca and it seem to work VERY WELL.

Just go to the Goodwill store, buy a cheap pot, pick up some lemon juice, bring to a boil, insert your parts. Cook as needed! Rinse well and blow out all passages!

Your parts will be clean and the lemon smell will cover the smell of carb cleaner in your dining room....

It's the acid doing it. Recently tried a rust removal trick I read someplace. Just leave rusty bits immersed in white vinegar for 24 hours and the rust will rinse right off. I tried it on some old brake rotors that were encrusted in rust. It all came off readily in 48 hours.

DeadSkunk wrote: It's the acid doing it. Recently tried a rust removal trick I read someplace. Just leave rusty bits immersed in white vinegar for 24 hours and the rust will rinse right off. I tried it on some old brake rotors that were encrusted in rust. It all came off readily in 48 hours.

Vinegar will do wonders on rust. Had a rusty motorcycle tank and put vinegar in it for two days. Smells a tiny bit funky but that tank looks like the day it came off the assembly line.

Im sold on using vinegar.

Interesting and as an added bonus it is much better for the environment.

I've heard of people using Coke for rust removal too. Never tried it, but the vinegar does work.

I worked as a short order cook in high school. We'd clean the grill with vinegar at the end of the night. Poor it on a hot grill and the grease just begs to get off the grill.......but avoid breathing the fumes, they'll clear your sinus out for sure.

Will wrote: I've heard of people using Coke for rust removal too. Never tried it, but the vinegar does work.

Coke does work incredibly well but you might want to check local laws before using.

I have to admit I first thought this thread was about a terrible new ordeal at the 24 Hrs of Lemons...

ansonivan wrote:

Will wrote: I've heard of people using Coke for rust removal too. Never tried it, but the vinegar does work.

Coke does work incredibly well but you might want to check local laws before using.

lol.

I left an engine mount bracket with some particularly stubborn gunk on it partially submerged in a small tub of vinegar for about 72 hours (whoops). The portion of the part that had been submerged appeared untouched, but the vinegar etched a "water line" into the part.

Also, for some applications, vinegar makes a great alternative to paste flux to clean parts before soldering.

yeah coke works really well, did that one as a science experiment as a kid. Patch cut from an old pair of jeans, and a rusty nail, both dissappeared over weeks time frame, refreshing the coke every night.

Also works exceptionaly well on corroded battery terminals. MT Dew works even better.

Something I've heard mentioned for cleaning out gas tanks is drain cleaner since it's a strong acid. In fact the acid wash in a Kreme kit is supposedly muriatic acid which is a common drain cleaner ingredient.

DO NOT use vinegar on an aluminum carburetor, though!

I learned this the hard way. Soaking a carburetor in vinegar seemed like a good idea to me, since it worked so well on rusty fasteners, tools, and other iron/steel parts.

It pitted and corroded the carburetor, though.

Clem

Will this work to clean pilot jets out, etc?

Yep, boil those jets in lemon juice!