question.....does anyone know what ingredients are in it and how it works? if it works on cars does it work on bikes?if put in a bikes fuel tank will it clean the carbies?the questions come about as my car was using excessive fuel and running rough. plugs were good so left the injectors as a problem. and in the car it worked so why not on a bike?i was sceptical at first and as it helped have bought some to put in the bikes fuel tanks.will it work?
Hey risky When I had my cbr1100 I was advised by my mechanic to put a small container of fuel injector cleaner in my bike every 3 to 4 tank fulls. The concept is that it keeps all foreign matter clear in fuel lines and keeps injectors in top order so as to atomize the fuel. I did this religiously for 3 years and never had a problem. As for the content, I couldn't say???
That three bond carbier conditioner is great stuff. My NSR carbies came up a treat after I used it on Phil's recommendation. Perhaps they do an injector cleaner as well?
In Canada and the US. we don't have access to your Threebond Engine Cleaner. I believe our equivalent would be Seafoam. Now in answer to the question "What's in an engine cleaner?", I found an interesting article entitled "Homebrewed Sea Foam Motor Treatment Recipe" on the web. It was interesting reading, and states the main ingredients to these engine cleaners are light oil, naphtha, and isopropyl alcohol...Bab
yeah it works well in bikes...but if your using BP 98 and I think shells 98 its already in the mix so a waste of money... 1/2 a cup of ethanol(E85) every so often will help with water contamination, metho use to be good for this but these days its full of water if you can get pure/industrial metho then use that....See if anyone in your area does a injector clean and service, the pintal caps and filter screens get crap in em and nothing but a good strip and clean will work....Oh and never put castor oil in the fuel if you have injectors dont ask how I know ..
@Bab try asking at your local Honda dealer or Subaru dealer and see if they sell it or can get it. Subaru have a decent cleaner too, can't think of the name of it atm. Yamaha also sell their Yamalube Carburetor Cleaner Dip, it's good stuff as well, you can use it straight or dilute it to 30% as well
Wozza's observation about the Shell 98 is worth noting. I always said my bikes ran best on it. A conversation with a fellow who runs a fleet of trucks, and his chosen mechanic both agree with the statement that Shell burns the cleanest. my67xr has a point about sourcing Threebond at the Subaru dealers. I believe I read a statement relating to Threebond's engine cleaner being developed specifically for cleaning Subaru's intakes. I've worked in purchasing, and sourcing items, and always maintained you need to be creative in problem solving, but often you can get tunnel vision, or have a brain fart, and walk past the obvious...Bab
The more I read about your Threebond, the more it sounds equivalent to Seafoam, right down to the feel of it on your fingers. I'm hoping I can get things opened up with it so I don't have to tear the carbs down. I've made some progress, but I fear the worst...
Hey bab Cleaning carbs is not that hard, the key to it is to set your self a clean work area and work one carb at a time. Your bike sat for 2 years so it is expected the carbs will be full of junk. Here is how I would approach it 1. Remove each float bowl and clean 2. remove main jet and clean until you can see though it 3. remove slow jet and clean until you can see a sliver of light through it 4. Remove the fuel valve ( needle and seat), clean 5. Reassemble the carb 6. blow out all the areas with compressed air 7. flip over and remove the top 4 screws holing the cap on, 8. remove the cap and spring , then carefully remove the diaphragm 9. remove emulsion tube , clean and make sure you can see through the tiny holes on the side 10. clean the needle and make sure the chamber where the slides goes up and down is clean and free of any junk 11, reassemble, fit to bike and hopefully she fires. Use an external fuel tank to feed some fuel into your carbs to allow a test run as you may have dried up fuel in the tank which will just dirty your carbs again. If it doesn't work then move into checking your air fuel mix screws, choke plungers etc. That would be a basic clean that should allow the bike to run, please check your spark pugs as they have fouled. Take loads of photos so you have a reference point for reassembly. also Japanese bike use JIS screws not phillips heads, be gentle or you will strip the heads.
Thanks kiffsta, for the short version. I am about to surrender to removing the carbs for cleaning. I had high (fumes?) hopes that I could get things opened up enough to run, but upon further observations and messing around have decided to pull the carbs and do a good cleaning. I did get the bike to fire by injecting fuel directly down the throat, even with the oil in the cylinder from the compression checks. This leads me to suspect everything is gummed up in the carbs from old fuel. I previously drained the tank and flushed it out, and surprisingly discovered it was clean, meaning no rust, gravel, bottle caps. I pulled the petcock and checked the screen and again found no large debris, so I cleaned it of any residual gum and replaced it. The slides in the carbs were stuck when I first started to survey the bike and I began to soak / loosen things up piecemeal. The choke was very stiff to actuate, and I have it loosened up, finding the cable was in need of realignment. I did fashion a temporary fuel reservoir to use knowing full well there is going to be more work ahead and access will be an issue. I have filled the fuel line expecting the fuel to run into the carbs to begin to fill the bowels, but little if any is finding its way into the carbs. That has convinced be its time to face the inevitable. In the mean time I've been reading, and reading, and... I have been aware of the difference between Philips, and JIS for years, and for years I've threatened to add a set to the tool crib, so now is the time. I have always subscribed to the adage of the right tool for the right job. With all the time I've spent poking around carbs on the Slingshot, I have yet to find any identification other than Mikuni on them. How does a person distinguish which model / generation carb they have on their bike? I'm beginning to sound like a broken record but again, ...thank you...thank you...thank you...
I'm guessing you have the GJ74 Bandit, so should be Mikuni BST. Parts are shown here http://litetek.co/Carb_Kit_Suzuki_GSF250_GJ74A.html and my guide will be useful, although not identical carbs, http://www.litetek.co/Guide_MikuniBDST_Rebuild.html Take photos before you pull things apart, where cables, brackets etc go.
I have these ... the P2 driver is the most used tool in my shed http://www.toolpan.com/Vessel-Tools-700KIT-P123--3-PC-Gel-Grip-Screwdriver-Kit_p_3793.html
Batteries in the camera are charged, screwdrivers are on there way (Canada Post!), and I'm wound...Ta
We've strayed from the original topic of what are the ingredients of Threebond Engine Cleaner, to the actual cleaning of the carbs. The discussion of carb cleaning was a surprise advantage to me, but it was not my intention to highjack risky's thread. For the sake of continuity I'll continue with my efforts with the carbs on the Slingshot thread....Bab
