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Old July 15th, 2015, 05:48 PM   #1
Kurgan
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Seafoam in the carb float bowls?

So I finally have the time and money to work on my bike after it's been sitting for 2 years now. Yes the carbs were fubar. No, I'm not taking them off the bike because I don't really feel like it and I don't feel like screwing things up irreparably because that's just my luck lately.

A while back I saw a post from someone saying to fill the float bowls with undiluted Seafoam and let it sit for a while. They didn't say how long.

I tried it and let it sit for just 2 hours and saw a large improvement, but it still cuts out as soon as I give it any gas at all. It now idles at 2500 RPM at full choke, and if I shake the bike just a little it goes to 5000 RPM. Before the seafoam soak it would only idle at just under 1K and jump to 3K if shaken.

How long would be a safe period of time to soak the carbs like this?
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Old July 15th, 2015, 06:03 PM   #2
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Alot of stuff on the internet about how to do it but this one looked the most promising/interesting
http://www.venturerider.org/forum/sh...-Sea-Foam-Soak
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Old July 15th, 2015, 06:53 PM   #3
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I concur w/ Bob. Also works on weed eaters, blowers, mowers, hedge trimmers...
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Old July 15th, 2015, 08:31 PM   #4
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The carburetors should be refurbished after sitting so long. When your ready PM @ducatiman for all your carburetor needs.
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Old July 16th, 2015, 07:49 AM   #5
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Just IMO there is nothing you can put in the carbs that will take the place of a carb tear down and clean up. But ..... if you are not going to take them off the bike, then certainly something like a seafoam soak will not hurt and may help. Good Luck.
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Old July 16th, 2015, 05:22 PM   #6
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Like they said. Clean them!
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Old July 16th, 2015, 07:38 PM   #7
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Sea Foam does wonders for small amounts of varnish or little issues. For a really bad carb, it's really only good for a presoak to make the carbs easier to clean for real later.

Plan on pulling them... IJS.
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Old July 17th, 2015, 05:11 AM   #8
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Pine Sol

For carburetor cleaning I found a really good method is soaking the carb parts (carb completely broken down) is to soak them in diluted Pine Sol. About a 50:50 mix is good and let them sit over night. I also was very pleased with the ultrasonic cleaner I bought at Harbor Freight. It worked really well using the same 50/50 Pine Sol mixture but the added heat and ultra sonic really got the ports cleaned inside the carb body. Inexpensive in the long run and really works well.Wardie
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Old July 17th, 2015, 11:30 PM   #9
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The carbs are soaking now so we'll see how it goes tomorrow night or or Sunday morning.

I tried to get one of the local shops to come pick up the bike and do the carb cleaning the right way, but they were more concerned about their friday and saturday beer drinking and failed to come get the bike. Needless to say I won't ever be contacting them again.
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Old July 18th, 2015, 05:10 AM   #10
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Personally seafoam is a preventive item, not a maintenance item. There's no substitute for a proper carburetor refurbishing, which is far more than a simple cleaning, which after 2 years of sitting they would need, just for piece of mind.

I'm afraid to ask how much they would charge for it., check out @ducatiman his prices are affordable, a lot more cheaper than a dealership I'm betting.

https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=226815
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Old July 18th, 2015, 05:47 AM   #11
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an EX500 owner was recently quoted carb clean $400 at a dealer, i did for less than half that

all ya gots to do is pull the carbs and mail them, reinstall.

PM to go forward.

PS....Seafoam needs a pathway to work at all....its not going to clean a clogged pilot jet, nor path by simple soaking. Adding to a running bike with functioning fuel system it works fine as a preventative.

There is no substitute for physical, comprehensive carb cleaning when called for.
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Old July 19th, 2015, 03:42 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ducatiman View Post
an EX500 owner was recently quoted carb clean $400 at a dealer, i did for less than half that

all ya gots to do is pull the carbs and mail them, reinstall.

PM to go forward.

PS....Seafoam needs a pathway to work at all....its not going to clean a clogged pilot jet, nor path by simple soaking. Adding to a running bike with functioning fuel system it works fine as a preventative.

There is no substitute for physical, comprehensive carb cleaning when called for.
The best advice I've heard in a long while. Chasing down plugged ports after reinstalling is a PITA. Box and ship em' you'll be way ahead in the long run.
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Old July 19th, 2015, 11:06 PM   #13
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I filled the bowls with seafoam and let it sit for 24hrs....then drained them and filled the 50/50 mix of seafoam and gas and let sit for 6hrs then drained and refiled with 75gas/25seafoam mix and ran the bike the bowls were empty.

This helped carbs that sat for a year run better.

Another bike I tried that method on didn't work at all...ended up having to take the carbs off and use the ultra sonic cleaner and remove the epa caps to adjust the mix to run perfect.
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Old July 22nd, 2015, 10:03 PM   #14
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As expected it didn't work, it was worth a shot.

Was there ever a carb rebuild kit released for this bike just in case I screw something up taking the carbs off and attempting to clean them myself?
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Old July 22nd, 2015, 10:06 PM   #15
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Yes, once again PM @ducatiman he sells complete kits, including new stainless steel hardware. Also consider sending them to him for complete refurbishing.
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