Manual Choke

[SILENT]

I've been having so many issues with my electric choke, I just don't feel like messing with it no more!!! I've talked to a lot of carb guys and they said to go with a manual choke. The problem is I do not know where to buy the manual choke or is there a kit???

[g.frost]

not much is electrical about the choke; The cranking leak solenoid and choke heater.
The rest is vacuum driven.

[lostforawhile]

the choke is electric, the bimetalic strip heats up and the choke opens, it's actually pretty reliable, what issues are you having? I have spare choke parts

[lostforawhile]

not much is electrical about the choke; The cranking leak solenoid and choke heater.
The rest is vacuum driven.
?? the choke opens with an electric coil that heats up and expands,

[g.frost]

?? the choke opens with an electric coil that heats up and expands,

there is also the 'choke opener' that is vacuum driven. The 'cranking leak solenoid' keeps the choke closed (by leaking vacuum) only while cranking. A vacuum port (directly into the carb from the choke opener) opens the choke to first stage as soon as the engine starts. A 2 stage diaphragm, the second stage is tied to high idle unloader, controlled by thermovalve A. These parts are vacuum driven.

[lostforawhile]

there is also the 'choke opener' that is vacuum driven. The 'cranking leak solenoid' keeps the choke closed (by leaking vacuum) only while cranking. A vacuum port (directly into the carb from the choke opener) opens the choke to first stage as soon as the engine starts. A 2 stage diaphragm, the second stage is tied to high idle unloader, controlled by thermovalve A. These parts are vacuum driven.
I know this already I know these carbs backwards and forwards and their control systems, good luck when the diaphragms start failing on yours, they get old and don't last forever. the rubber dry rots

[g.frost]

Already replaced. I think the rubber close in to the carb gets rot faster as it is exposed to fuel drawn in after the engine is shut off and vacuum is lost. The vac lines immediately out of the carb get brittle first. The choke opener is 'normally closed', so when there is a leak, it tends to stay closed. Result is flooded, running rich and high idle.

[Dr_Snooz]

My '76 Accord had a manual choke. It was awesome. I think any kind of manual choke retrofit on a 3g would involve some thought and fabrication though. You might consider a manual choke as part of a Weber swap.

[carotman]

I wonder if the A16A parts could be used for a manual choke conversion on an A20A

[g.frost]

Find a way to fasten the manual choke cable to push/pull the choke opener lever. Plug the vac port in the choke opener to disable(er 'fix' the leak?) . Find alternate vac source for line #18 off the choke opener. (for canister vent and fast idle unloader)

[lostforawhile]

Already replaced. I think the rubber close in to the carb gets rot faster as it is exposed to fuel drawn in after the engine is shut off and vacuum is lost. The vac lines immediately out of the carb get brittle first. The choke opener is 'normally closed', so when there is a leak, it tends to stay closed. Result is flooded, running rich and high idle.

The choke opener only partly opens the choke to allow the car to run while its operating,the choke will still open even with all vaccume add ons malfunctioning, if it doesn't the choke bimetallic strip has failed or has no power, it relieves power from field power to the alternator

[g.frost]

The choke heater checked out easy with multi-meter and function. Lever and spring adds temperature bias to the choke control. My only failed choke component was the opener diaphragm leak. I ordered the OEM part from Majestic.

[lostforawhile]

The choke heater checked out easy with multi-meter and function. Lever and spring adds temperature bias to the choke control. My only failed choke component was the opener diaphragm leak. I ordered the OEM part from Majestic.

I could have sent you a working one

[g.frost]

Better hang on to these rare parts. 2 years ago I could buy the OEM part new. No longer available at Majestic. I figured a used part would be about as old as mine, so go for new. It can be opened up and 'rebuilt', if the diaphragm can be repaired/replaced.

[lostforawhile]

Better hang on to these rare parts. 2 years ago I could buy the OEM part new. No longer available at Majestic. I figured a used part would be about as old as mine, so go for new. It can be opened up and 'rebuilt', if the diaphragm can be repaired/replaced.try import carbs.com he's owned the place since it opened and he does a good overhaul on these, he can also make parts, also see if Marietta carburetor specialists still exist, they were a pretty big rebuilder, and they made a bunch of their own parts to overhaul these. I don't need the stock parts anymore as I don't have the factory POS carb.

[lostforawhile]

http://www.carbspec.com/

http://www.importcarbs.com/

[Keachman1]

I got tired of messing with all the extra crap on these carburetors and stripped it down to only the bare carb. I did the mechanical secondary conversion and it works great. I did the vacuum removal years ago. I then removed all the extra vacuum ports and made small brass plugs for them on the lathe with a small interference fit. Then I made an aluminum cover to seal the air vent diaphragm. The carb looks very small and runs great.

I converted it to manual choke by getting one of those manual conversion kits from Autozone, Advance, or Oreily's in the help section that has commonly used parts. It has a small actuator arm that clamps onto the choke shaft and this is connected to the manual choke cable that is included in the kit which I wound up not using. It also has a couple of different size choke covers that the pivot arm mounts through. I think I used the smallest one. I wanted the manual choke knob to be located in a easy to reach location but couldn't decide on an easy place to install. I then got the idea to use the side vent opening knobs that are located below and to the right of the steering wheel that no one ever uses anyway. I just disconnected the right side passenger vent cable at the vent and re-routed it through the firewall in the center where it comes out behind the carb. Then I used this cable to open and close the choke which also controls the fast idle cam also. You just have to make sure the choke is all the way open when you attach the cable and it closes enough also. The vent knob moves the cable about 1 inch and you only need about 1/2 inch of travel to close the choke so my lever is only half way down when the choke is on. You have to remember to open it back up when the engine warms up or it will be way too rich and waste gas. You can also position the choke as needed when it starts for a smooth, fast idle. And no cheap, ugly knob in the dash and no drilling holes in your dash. I can use the left side vent knob to actuate something else in the future if I ever need it but for now it is still connected to the vent. I also left the right side vent in the open position before I disconnected the cable so I would get air out of it all the time.

I tried a weber carb and it ran good in warm weather but I had icing problems in the winter. If I could come up with some way to use the heated air system on the stock air cleaner, I would convert it to mount to the weber but the weber is too tall for the stock air cleaner

I did leave the A, B, and C jet air controller vacuum ports and the power valve port in place. The power valve is connected to manifold vacuum to keep it closed at part throttle. The C air jet port is plugged with a vacuum cap and the A and B ports were capped for a while but this made the car run a little rich but it still got 32 mpg. I ran a couple of vacuum hoses inside the car to the center console below the radio and attached them to the A and B air jet ports. The I got a couple of panel mount 1/8" needle valves and attached the vacuum lines to on side of the valves and used two of the small air filters from inside the old black box to attached to the other side of the valves. I can use these needle valves to adjust the air flow to these air jet ports for idle and primary jets while driving down the road and as the air temperature changes. I have a air/fuel ratio meter and can watch that also when adjusting the air jets. You can tell when it is too lean because it starts missing while cruising. This is recommended for fuel economy and you need to be careful when leaning the mixture out or engine damage can result. If power is your goal, plug all three air jet controllers and it will run fine, just a little rich.

I've been running this setup for a couple of years now and average around 34-35 mpg combined driving.

[Dr_Snooz]

Pics of work PLEASE!!!

[Keachman1]

I'll take some pics of my setup and post them if SILENT doesn't mind. I didn't want to hijack his thread. I just thought I would give him some more ideas like what I've done.