KDX220 just quit making power; baffled. Solved

[billie_morini]

Hurrah for shunpiker! Thank you for sharing this valuable discovery.

[billie_morini]

FYI for All: here's how I clean 2-stroke expansion chambers and mufflers. Following removal from motorbike, I fill them with undiluted Oil Eater (photo). To keep them filled, I temporarily install expansion plugs (generic photo). I'll keep them filled for 1 to 3 days and rock, roll, shake, and reposition them 2x to 4x per day. Once Oil Eater is poured out of parts, then I dry them in strong sun for 1 or 2 days. If no sun and high air temp, then I either connect a shop vacuum or a low volume pump for a day.

The Oil Eater works phenomenally well. You can decrease many things using Oil Eater. I keep a 5-gallon bucket of it on hand for cleaning exhaust system internals and large parts. I keep a 1-gallon jug on hand for spot cleaning and carrying ease to a work location. I'm careful to avoid getting Oil Eater on black plastic. It causes mild discoloration.

[kdxdazz]

The carbon is the issue more than oil , I don't think any degreaser can remove carbon, especially from the perforated sheet but open to being corrected

[billie_morini]

kdxdazz,
good point about there sometimes is a lot of carbon. That thin, well-adhered carbon similar to what one may see on a piston top requires a brush / scrubber and maybe a solvent. But, heavier, crumbly carbon is removed by the surfactants in the Oil Eater. The 2 pipes I filled with Oil Eater for a couple of days each saw lots of carbon and lots of oil & splooge in the removed Oil Eater. The Oil Eater is an effective surfactant and detergent mixture. The pipe interiors looked really good afterwards.

The Oil Eater is water based. I really liked not having to handle or be exposed to the amount of a solvent or gasoline that is needed to fill the pipes.

[KDXGarage]

What is in oil eater? It sounds interesting. I have a lot of pipes to fool with one day.

I once used a long piece of stranded wire cable chucked up in a hand drill to flail around inside a pipe to remove carbon. It was quite long and went out the other end by a bit. It made a TREMENDOUS mess and lots of soot flying everywhere. DO NOT do it in a garage.

I also used a propane torch to remove some of the carbon near the entrance of the pipe, where most carbon builds. That worked OK.

[billie_morini]

Oil Eater is biodegradable and consists of the following compounds. Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) numbers are provided in case anyone wants to look them up in the Merck Index (e.g., "Rubber Book"), CAS Registry, or other technical resource.

Water (CAS No. 7732-18-5), Function: dilution

Sodium Silicate (CAS No. 1344-09-8), Function: soften water, adjust pH, and help in soil emulsification

Dipropylene Glycol n-Butyl Ether (CAS No. 29911-28-2), Function: solvent

Linear Alcohol Ethoxylates (CAS No. “Proprietary”), Function: nonionic surfactant that emulsifies, wets, and cleans (e.g., detergent)

Sodium Xylene Sulphonate (CAS No. 1300-72-7), Function: improves adhesion and bonding between dissimilar materials (like oil [non-polar substance] and water [polar substance])

Tetrasodium salt of EDTA (CAS No. 60-00-4), Function: binds metal ions to prevent interference with degreaser cleaning effectiveness

[KDXGarage]

Thank you, billie_morini!