Best Way to De Gunk an old chainsaw?

[Gkiesel]

Hi all. I'm trying to rehab a new to me Jonsered 49sp. It's been running hot so I thought I would tear it down to see what as going on. It'st otally plugged with 35 years of gunk. What is the best way to clean all this out? It has points ignition so i'm afraid to get it wet. Was thinking of carb cleaner, brake cleaner, air? Don't know. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks, G

 

[Warped5]

I had a Dolmar 111 like that once.

Toothbrushes ... popsicle sticks ... Q-tips .... and LOTS of compressed air.

 

[huskihl]

Take the ignition off and power wash it? Seal the exhaust and intake with plastic bags and tape

 

[Bilge Rat LT 20]

Steam works good.

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

One good thing is to remove the flywheel and soak it in some "super clean" for a few. Wooden swabs are great because they don't bend. Toothbrushes, detailing brushes, brass wire brushes. Those long bristle parts cleaning brushes are great for flywheels. The harbor fake one is worthless after a few uses.

 

[SEAM]

Disposable chopsticks...

 

[Poleman]

Some that are bad I apply plent of gunk then put it in a garbage bag for three days then hit it with high pressure (narural) water. I dont use a pressure unit other than a garment cleaner. That work good for me. I do do some dismanteling to get at the fins and inside especially if is a rebuild. The garment cleaner spays a needle streem at 1600 psi so that usually takes care of and really hard stuf and can get in all the nooks and crannys......just have to be a little carefule around decals and such.

I got tires of doing it the old tooth brush way....lol

 

[Gkiesel]

sounds good. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Bobosocky]

If it was me, I'd use brake cleaner. That stuff will shoot the feathers off a bird.

 

[Warped5]

If it was me, I'd use brake cleaner. That stuff will shoot the feathers off a bird.

.... but will remove any 'shine' that's there, too.

 

[Bobosocky]

.... but will remove any 'shine' that's there, too.

I've never had that problem, but I have heard it said before. I used brake cleaner on some 11 year old wheels that looked like they were covered in rust. This only took 10 mins per wheel with a paper towel + brake clean. Shiny enough for me.

 

[emf123]

I'll give out my super secret, low budget saw cleaner recipe
First you need a good hand held spray bottle, not the cheapest one they have, but something that you'd find in the lawn and garden section for spraying chemicals.
The main ingredients are equal parts paint thinner and kerosene, roughly half the bottle each. Top with transmission fluid, just enough to turn it red. Add a couple of squirts of dawn dish detergent, and shake it up. It should foam up a little, have a light red tint, and spray easily. It's much cheaper than a gallon of WD-40. I go through a lot of it, so I buy the kerosene by the gallon from a gas station.
Also, be careful with the compressed air, it's easy to take paint off old saws. And if your blowing out the carb box, put the choke on, just in case so nothing gets blown down the carb. I also use a small screwdriver, putty knife, and a potato brush from the dollar store. Best if you can do this outside, because it'll make a mess in the garage!

Eric

 

[Warped5]

^^^^^ I've used similar ... Good stuff!!

Here's what I did prior to the last rebuild ...

Carburetor was disassembled and went in the USC for about :12. Came out and was sprayed thoroughly with carb cleaner before being kitted.

Saw was nearly complete torn down. Top end went in the scrap bucket (severe scoring).

Coil was cleaned by hand using shop rag soaked in brake cleaner.

Pretty much most of the removable parts went into a bucket with a 50/50 mix of HOT water and Pine-Sol.

Crankcase assembly went with me to buddy's place to use his parts washer. Get the gunked areas soaked with solvent. Have a beer a BS a bit. Return to washer and clean up the crankcase. Blow out well with compressed air.

Return home and patiently clean soaking parts. Flywheels can take a couple days of soaking to get sparkly.

A good day!

 

[glock37]

I dropped the whole thing in a ultra sonic cleaner for a hour then blast with hot water then air


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[1Alpha1]

Not very PC, but I use straight gas, or pre-mix. Does an great job, but use it outdoors and don't smoke.

Make sure you have a good parts brush as well. That's the other half of the equation.

 

[Deleted member 83629]

i use kerosene with a toothbrush and q tips.

 

[Agrarian]

If you do use one of the above processes with water, make sure you don't then leave the saw laying around for a year thinking you will get back to it later. If water gets behind many items or in the crankcase, it can cause a bad case of "white death". On the Huskys I work on, it is common to see it around the coil, behind the oil pump or around the crank bearings internally. Personnally I avoid any water-based process, instead using a small parts washer, picks, brushes and compressed air but I have the luxury of not caring how much time it takes.

 

[MarcS]

I've had good luck with WD-40 and compressed air. The harshest stuff I use is foaming glass cleaner and then blow off after soaking for a minute. Most likely you'll have to get in there with brass bristled brushes and picks for the caked on gunk. No quick and easy way to do it right I'm afraid.

 

[bikemike]

Easy off fume free oven cleaner and plastic bristle brush works good for me. Never damage fuel lines seals or gaskets

 

[pioneerguy600]

From this,

to this, in ten mins,