I have a hard time starting my car when its cold. I have the choke plates wired open, since it runs like crap when I dont. Its a stock 350 with a Qjet. It runs great once its started, but starting it and keeping it running for the first 30 seconds is an issue. Any ideas?
I know I shoulnt have the choke wired open for cold starts, but I would rather have it start hard, then run like crap normally. I am looking for a way to get it to start easier with the choke wired open.
I may be wrong but I don't think it can run good when its cold without a properly functioning choke?Choke should close fully when the accelerator is derpressed when the engine starts the choke should open approx.1/8 and as the choke mech warms the choke will open fully.If you have to wire the choke open its not working properly.I could be mistaken
Pull the intake & clean all the carbon out of the heat riser passage, free up the heat riser, & hook the choke up. Clean the carb while it's off, & make sure the choke break (vacuum pull-off) isn't ruptured..
So wiring the choke open is a great band-aide for a poorly tuned and/or running engine? It seems to me that you are trying to cure a toothache by smashing your fingers. You'd do well to Find the root of your problem over and above resetting your choke to factory specs. .
don't want to use a choke? ok install a computer, throttle body, o2 sensor, throttle position sensor, etc... easy!
...with a Qjet. ^^^^^^^Here is where I'd start, either fix your original problem or do as already stated...get a manual choke kit or a carb with a manual choke. Ain't amazning at how fast the obvious can be pointed out once you ask it??? I'm just sayin...
Three ways to go here. First, make the automatic choke work right. Second, hook up a manual choke and educate yourself on how to use it. Third, leave the wired-out choke in place and pedal the crap out of it when it's cold. The third option is my favorite, I seldom bother with chokes. makes for some nice pyrotechnic's sometimes, though. Smoke and fire! Banging and popping! Lots of fun. All that fire does heat the intake up quicker, though.
Thanks! I dont think that it isnt getting enough fuel. Sometimes I can smell it, of course that means it could be leaking...
Get the QJet choke working. I've had the worst condition engines always start no matter how cold it was out with a properly set up choke. Even -15*F they lit right off. Bob
Yea fix the damned choke. Make it manual if you have to to get it rich enough to run for the first 30 seconds.
Uhhh, you only wired the front plate open, right? ....Cuz the back ones aren't a choke... Like everyone else said...get the choke working right. That's what it's there for, or live with it.
You can use an oil pressure switch to provide power to the choke once it is running. Or get a manual cable.
i never run a choke because i'm to cheap to replace the bi-metalic coil, bi-metalic coils have a life span measured in cycles of operation, they will open and close so many times and then will loose so much of there travel the choke will not open all the way or it will not close all the way, so you have to buy a new one, i have found after market coils to be hit and miss, they never seem to have the same life span as a stock one, so i dont run a choke on my own vehicles, i just keep a light foot on the pedel giving the engine the extra fuel it needs with the accelerator pump and power valve till it will stay ideling on its own, the other day i watched a guy start a vehicle i had the choke wired open, he held the pedel to the floor and only lifted it maybe one inch and then right to the floor again, i guess he was thinking the accelerator pump would be adding fuel, well the pump will pump more fuel on the first half of it stroke then on its last, so he had to pump the truck like 30 times, i didnt say anything i just let him do his thing.
I started running electric chokes in the '90s. I still have a bunch of the old stoves for the old manifolds laying around that still work. But I discovered that I like an electric better. I go out on any cold morning, stroke the gas once hit the key and then relax until it warms enough to run. It gets down into the single digits here in the winter sometimes. I am putting an engine together that will run a pair of choke delete carbs. I don't really plan on driving it in the winter much but it will get started and warmed at least once a week. I'll have to get cold and baby it until it reaches temp but that's just the price you pay for not having a choke. I ran without chokes for years, too cheap to fix them or too lazy. Now I'm older and unless its just a balls to the walls runner I figure it ought to have a working choke. Its just not that big a deal to make one work right.
You have to have a choke to start the engine period . If not start stomping the gas peddle to death to get enough fuel on to the carb to get that choke less carb to start . Then keep feathering the gas peddle for a while till you might get lucky enough to keep it running . Also take the Quadrejet and rebuild it ! They aren't that hard to do if you follow the instructions . When they are built right , they are a very good carb . Since I doubt if you are going to do that , then go to you local auto parts store and buy a universal choke kit and then that will fix your starting problems . I have been using a hand choke forever . I always ordered my Holley's with a manual choke and if I bought a carb that came with a auto choke , that was the first thing I took off and replaced with a hand choke . The only other thing that is better than a manual hand choke is Fuel Injection ! Retro Jim
I like the electric chokes too, a simple bolt on and easy to wire in. I think they came on GM QJets as early as 1979 or 1980. Bob
Another vote to fix the choke, or convert it to a manual one. You said it runs like crap when you DON'T have the choke wired open, so I assume the reason it runs like crap is because the choke is partially closed after it warms up, hence the need to wire it open fully. Better to not run them at all in the winter than to start them once a week and "warm" them up. Unless you're doing a real warmup, which means driving them for 15 miles or so, to burn the condensation out of the engine. If you just let them idle in the garage until the thermostat opens and the temp gauge shows 180, it's really not warmed up.
The diaphram in the choke "pull off" is most likely the cause. It pulls the choke open slightly with engine vaccum when you start the engine, enough to allow it to run smoothly until the engine warms up and the bimetal spring opens it fully when you reach operating temp. Those bowls are also notorious for bleeding out through the lower welch plugs over night, leading to an extended crank issue. Check your vacuum source to the pull off, if you have vacuum, then replace the pull off and I'd bet that corrects your problem.......
Great answer I'm sure that will help him fix his problem Did it ever occur that he posted the question not knowing the true importance of a choke and or the basic knowledge of how one is supposed to work? Some members wonder why some people just view the sight and don't ever post.Duh If your going to post smart ass comments why bother? I've said my 2 cents worth I'll step down off my soap box now
Quick and dirty solution? Add a manual choke (if you know how to use it) and make sure the fast idle cam is adjusted properly. The "set it and forget it" solution? Get the automatic choke working properly. Though this can get a little more complicated depending on your carb and intake combination. There's divorced chokes (choke stat mounted to the intake) and integral chokes (choke stat mounted to the carb). The divorced style requires exhaust heat passing thru the intake crossover passage. That means the crossover passages have to be clear and you should probably have a working heat rise valve. The integral style hot air choke also needsd a heat source. This was usually air heated and drawn thru a loop of tubing mounted in a well cast into the intake near the heat crossover passage. Might be a little tricky locating all the pieces to make it work if you don't have them already. But luckily a lot of integral chokes used an electrically heated thermostat. Even if you had a hot-air integral setup, you may be able to convert it to an electric stat. This is probably the easiest solution to getting a working automatic choke. Oh, and if you haven't already, get some epoxy and seal the well plugs in the bottom of the float bowl to keep the fuel from draining down after you shut off the engine.
I assumed any one with 1500 posts would have been smart enough to have searched this problem. Certainty on a traditional site we would think hot rodders know that a traditional car has a choke. Choke is on the car for a reason. He knew when he wired it open that he should not have done it. From what I read for the OP is he wanted to fix the hard start with out fixing the choke which cant be done with out ruining the hot driveability. If I was having a problem like this I would have asked "that I have a 73 SBC that wont run hot with out wiring the choke open, All the linkage is there but it wont open on its own. What do I need to do". Thank you for being the post police. BTW you did not add to this post either. No offence to anyone else here who posted.
I think if you're going to have a soapbox maybe you should have been a better steward of the HAMB, hell you haven't even done an intro. No offense taken.
I am not good enough to get an electric choke working (well, I can get them working, it just seems the stupid things don't last for long ... about 1 year based on my experience). I have a quadrajet on my winter beater and I bought a cheap kit that allowed me to convert to manual choke. The wife isn't a fan of it but I won't have it any other way. Ever been driving down the highway at night, in the winter, way the hell up north and just had the choke close on you? I have. Couple winters ago the wife says the brakes aren't working right (and brakes DO come in handy when there is snow on the ground ), well I took it for a test drive and found out the brakes were not the issue, the choke was. It was stuck on fast idle and was "pushing" the car when I approached a stoplight. Needless to say, I may be taking the easy way out here BUT ... when that choke is manually pushed "off" it is truly off and that's the way I like it. I am willing to bet that the electric chokes that are on the market today (as replacements) have been manufactured in China, which would explain to me why the quality (as I see it) is in the shitter. HOLY CRAP .... now just wait a minute. You live in southern Cali and are having choke issues???? Something else is wrong. You should (in my opinion) be fine without a choke in the climate you live in. Wiring open a choke should not be an issue there. Sure, until it warms up it will run rough and will take some "coaxing" with the gas pedal to keep it going but there must be other issues here in my opinion. I think I'd be throwing a rebuild kit into it for starters (but again, the Chinese CRAP comes to mind ... I think the accelerator pump diaphragms are made from some shitty rubber these days and don't hold up to what we now call gas). Also check the overall condition of the carb (is the main throttle shaft loose/worn etc).
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