Electric Choke Power

[ReedZ]

My choke isn\'t opening all the way, and i think it is because there is not enough power getting to it. If i put the tester on the choke wire, it is very dim compared to any of the other power cables under the hood.

Has anyone else experienced this? I don\'t think this is normal.

Any suggestions on a solution?



Thanks

[tracker]

have you tried to adjust the choke to the proper specs?

[loweredd]

Where are you running the power wire from? There should be plenty of empty slots in your fuse block under the dash that are ign switched.

[ReedZ]

Would changing the fuse on the existing one help?

[speeder]

mine has a 15amp fuse in stock choke location

[mzoomora]

Check to see how well it is grounded. Is it an external ground wire, or grounded through the carb? It doesn\'t take much amperage for an electric choke, so check for proper voltage. You could run a test jumper straight to the battery to see if the choke opens all the way to confirm that it is a current problem, and not a mechanical problem like adjustment.

[ReedZ]

I\'m not sure where it\'s grounded, i think it may be grounded to the fire wall, but i\'m not 100% sure.

That\'s a good idea though about running a wire from the battery. I\'ll try that tonight.

Thanks

[ReedZ]

ok, the choke is grounded to the carb. i put power direct from battery to choke and it didn\'t do anything. I\'m now thinking i\'m going to drill out the rivets and make sure it is grounded on the inside on the metallic plate. if that is not it, then i think i will throw the carb in the garbage!

[mzoomora]

It takes a few minutes to open. The choke is realy just a spring. The current heats it up and it realxes to open up the choke. Did you give it a few minutes? If so it may be a faulty ground or mechanism.

[ReedZ]

Yeah, i had the truck running for 20 min or so, then took it for a drive, came back and it was still almost closed.

I\'m going to pop the rivets out and check the ground and mechanism. I have a spare choke i can try too if i can\'t get this one to work

[Scotty_S-15]

A few thoughts:

1) Do you have a voltmeter? If not, get a cheapie from Radio Shack or Sears. Just remember, the $9 meter is just as good as a $100 meter after you accidently drive over it... http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_eek.gif http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif you mentioned the dim light on your tester.... that\'s pretty hard to judge, so use a meter for that purpose.

2) You mentioned changing the fuse, a fuse either conducts or doesn\'t, there is no half-way with a fuse.

3) Chances are you just need to make the choke adjustable, and set it properly.

4) Considering the dim light on your tester, I would have thought Mzoomora nailed it, but you already tried that route.......



GL, Scotty

[ReedZ]

Yeah, i have one of the good digital meters with the clamp on amp meter built in. I measured the voltage from the choke wire and i was registering 14.4 volts, so i know that isn\'t my problem.

You\'re right about the fuse too. i think i was on cloud nine or something when i wrote that. I should know that already considering my electrical background

Anyways, i think i am going to just drill out the rivets and see if i can fix it. If not i might see about putting another choke on and see if that works.

[ReedZ]

What a fricken piece of crap i have! I\'m getting really fed up with this thing. I tried changing chokes and that didn\'t work. So last night i changed the whole carb. Well it worked sweet last night, but this morning, i drove it to work with the choke light on and now the check engine light is on too. When i got to work i pulled the air breather off and the damn choke is not opening up again.... ARRRRGGGGHHHHH

Does it make sense that it could be possible that i may not be getting a constant voltage to my choke? I\'m wondering if maybe i\'m not always getting power to it even though i thought i was.



I\'m really at a loss here. I was so happy that it was running really nice again last night and now it\'s running like crap again this morning.



I think i am just going to take a clothes pin and hold the f*$%#@ thing open.

[ReedZ]

Well, i think i figured out the problem finally.

The power wire to the choke does not have enough amperage to heat the coil on the choke. I believe there is a break in the wire somewhere which is not allowing full power to reach the choke. I\'ve pulled the whole wire out, but have been unable to find. I\'ve just turned my choke to fully open for the time being. I think i\'m going to feed a new wire from my fuseblock, or else just splice off another switched hot from somewhere in the engine compartment.

Anyways, it definitely makes me feel more at ease now to at least know what the heck was wrong with it. I thought I was going to go crazy.

With the choke fully open, it just takes slightly longer in the morning before it stays going by itself, but that\'s no big deal.



Thanks for all your input on this topic. It was definitely appreciated.



Cheers!