Tried rebuilding a carburetor with dish soap and hot water. Here's what happened.

I had this old Rochester Quadrajet sitting on my bench for like 6 months. Stuck float, gummed up passages, the works. I watched a guy on YouTube say to boil it in hot water and a squirt of Dawn to break down the varnish. Figured why not, right? So I tossed it in a pot on my camp stove outside. After 20 minutes I pulled it out and the thing was clean as a whistle inside. No joke, the jets were totally clear. But here's the kicker - I forgot to take the accelerator pump out first. It swelled up like a balloon and cracked. Cost me $18 for a rebuild kit just for that one part. So yeah, hot water trick works great. Just don't be dumb like me. Any of you guys tried this or got a better method for cleaning out old carbs?

2 comments

2 Comments

morgan31615d ago

Wait, did you use Dawn dish soap specifically? My buddy tried this with some off-brand stuff and it totally messed up the finish on his Edelbrock. He followed the same exact idea you had, boiled it for like half an hour in hot water and soap, but used like a knockoff lemon scented one. It left this weird cloudy film all over the aluminum that he could never buff out. The carb worked alright but looked like crap. He ended up just buying a remanufactured one from Autozone for like 60 bucks and called it a day. I've been scared to try the hot water method since seeing his fail. But your results sound solid though, maybe I'll give it a shot with actual Dawn.

milar4615d ago

morgan316 yeah that cloudy film thing happened to my buddy too, he used some generic Dollar General brand soap and it left a weird residue on his Holley. Dawn specifically has these surfactants that break down grease without messing with the metal finish. I think it's the same stuff they use for cleaning oil off birds in spills lol. Also 30 minutes might be too long, 20 min max is what worked for me. Your buddy probably cooked it too long too, not just the soap brand. Most carbs have a phosphate coating that can get messed up if you overheat it.