Acetone safe to use in Honda mower?

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Mower has a Honda GCV160 motor with gummed-up fuel lines and carb from sitting several years with ethanol gas. When I inherited it, it ran adequately with the choke on but stopped without the choke.

So far I've cleaned the float bowl from corrosion with WD40/acetone/a brush and run a tank of fresh gas with a good amount of Techron injector cleaner in it. After running that tank of gas for 1 hour it is now running better. It can run without the choke, but holds idle poorly.

Now I'd like to run a mix of gas + acetone in the tank to dissolve whatever Techron could not.
Will this hurt the fuel lines or tank or gaskets or seals?
I'm trying to avoid taking the carb apart because they are a pain to re-install without damaging gaskets on this motor, and so far I've brought it pretty close to running perfect without taking the carb apart.
 
I have used Berryman B-12 fuel treatment with great success in such cases. It has acetone, among all the other industrial solvents known to western science.
 
Have you done all the other basics like spark plug and air filter?

I would personally just keep running techron through it once all the other maintenance is done. One hour is nothing. I usually do techron on 1-2 gallons which can go for a long time in a mower.
 
Acetone isn't very aggressive - use Berryman's B-12. ...and GOOD LUCK!

For real results:
Get a cheap ultrasonic cleaner and put it in there - with the B-12.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Did you clean the whole carb? Maybe replace fuel line and filter. What about the Jets in the carb?


I repaired a mower for the neighbor last year and it was the carb jets. He had also run ethanol fuel and left in the tank and carb.

Fixed it by spraying Seafoam up and into the jets.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Did you clean the whole carb? Maybe replace fuel line and filter. What about the Jets in the carb?

I suspect the jets are gummed and am looking for a way to dissolve the gum without physical disassembly, hence my question about acetone.
 
If you get to the point of carb stripping, brake fluid seems to work pretty well and because it is water-miscible you can boil the carb afterwards. I wouldn't put brake fluid in the fuel though.

THINK I read of acetone being used in race fuel in a classic 2-stroke tuning bible a while ago, so it should be OK.

Never tried it personally, though.
 
I am not sure why you think acetone would do a better job at cleaning than Techron could.....

That being said, I would use a different fuel system cleaner after you try the Techron. I would try Gumout multi-system tune up and then some Redline SL-1. All of those products contain PEA, are well recommended here and should contain different enough chemistry to remove whatever gunk you have in the carb or elsewhere. If all that doesn't do it, you will probably have to take the carb off and clean it by hand with carb spray and some wire. While they are pretty effective, fuel additives can only do so much.
 
Originally Posted By: AMC
I am not sure why you think acetone would do a better job at cleaning than Techron could.....

That being said, I would use a different fuel system cleaner after you try the Techron. I would try Gumout multi-system tune up and then some Redline SL-1. All of those products contain PEA, are well recommended here and should contain different enough chemistry to remove whatever gunk you have in the carb or elsewhere. If all that doesn't do it, you will probably have to take the carb off and clean it by hand with carb spray and some wire. While they are pretty effective, fuel additives can only do so much.


Carb spray doesn't work very well and is unpleasant.

"some wire" is an absolute last resort, and is likely to cause damage unless used with extreme care.

If you get to stripping, consider a water/detergent jet from a hypodermic syringe, after brake fluid and boiling. Works well with congealed MC carbs here.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
AMC said:
Carb spray doesn't work very well and is unpleasant.

"some wire" is an absolute last resort, and is likely to cause damage unless used with extreme care.

If you get to stripping, consider a water/detergent jet from a hypodermic syringe, after brake fluid and boiling. Works well with congealed MC carbs here.


None of the cleaners are going to smell very good or be good for you.

Another less harsh method I have heard of is a hot soak or boiling with water and a heavy concentration of Pine-Sol. Ultra sonic cleaners also work well but are expensive.

By "some wire" I meant copper wire. You can get an assortment of different gauge automotive wire, strip the insulation and find a size that fits the jets. Give them a light poking and you should be fine.
 
Sonic cleaner with pinesol is a good carb cleaning system. Found this from a small engine forum couple years ago and works well on those nearly all plastic carbs(lawnboy) A 2.5 liter sonic cleaner is $80 or cheaper from HF before discounts. Large enough to do most pistol frames too. The copper wire is a very cheap tool too.
 
For the price of all these chemicals, you could almost buy an ultrasonic cleaner. Ultrasonics is a superior way to clean OPE carburetors. I use it every time there is a carburetor problem. Works every time.
 
Pine-Sol, the actual brand works really well at cleaning up carbs. Just soak for a few days and pull out and rinse it out.
 
Get a set of welding tip cleaners for jets and such. Also berrymans b12 is my go to in tank cleaner for small engines. 3 bucks or so a can at walmart. Boiling works good, ultrasonic is great you can get a small one from harbkr freight. I just use my tip cleaner with some berrymans and air if berrymans through the tank doesnt work.
 
I never considered detergents. Water and fuel don't mix. Pine-Sol probably has a petro solvent in it. Most old school cleaners do. Boil it for a while. Gotta remember this. I have had enough success with spritzing carb cleaner into the throat to keep it running with no gas reaching the it. After a minute or so, the vacuum will start pulling gas through the carb. Then a tank of fresh gas with a dose of Chem- Tool in it. This is about 50 % effective. When it doesn't work first try. Often times, if you get the B 12 into the carb it will loosen the varnish after a few days. So I try this 1st. I'll try Pine- Sol next time I get a stubborn one.

As for a rough idle, the Suzuki 4 stroke lopes at idle. Pull up on the bail to engage the BBC and the wheels and the engine takes off. Its lean at low load and working fine as soon as the governor engages. Its a 20 yr old GTS that starts 1st pull. I'm not fixing a thing
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In addition to cleaning the carburator, I like to wash out the fuel tank at the same time with a garden hose. Let it dry in the sun and overnight and it's ready for clean fuel.
 
Originally Posted By: 2cool
I have used Berryman B-12 fuel treatment with great success in such cases. It has acetone, among all the other industrial solvents known to western science.



This^^^^^^! It smoothed out my $20. Craigslist trim mower.
 
Do not put acetone in OPE fuel! Put a little acetone in a glass, drop a rubber O-ring in it and see what is left of it the next day. This will illustrate why you don't want to do this.
It is a waste of time and money putting something in your fuel to try and remove the gummed up remnants of fuel left in a mower for several years. For this to work to any extent, fuel must be able to FLOW THROUGH the carb and all of it's small passageways, something that won't happen if the carb is well and truly plugged-up with old gas varnish.
The carb will need to be removed and all of the fuel passageways physically cleaned-out. I have done thousands of them and I have given instructions here on how to do this several times in the past.
Also, don't wash your gas tank out with water. This is a bad idea and it won't clean any of the old fuel varnish out of it. Use NEW fuel to clean out a fuel tank. And, hot boiling anything in Berryman's (or anything else flammable) is a VERY bad idea!
 
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