weber choke plate question

[2old_honda]

Hi, I installed a weber carb conversion on my 88 LX a few months ago. Before I start I would just like to say that I know almost nothing about carbs so don't laugh Anyway, when I first installed it I noticed that the choke plate would not close all of the way, it would close about 3/4 of the way but it would scrape on the sides of the carb. I just figured that was normal and put the thing on. Well now that it is getting cold my car is getting hard to start, and when it does start the high idle circuit seems to stay on longer than it should. My question is, should the choke plate close completely? Could this cause the hard starting and the high idle to stay on longer than it should? Should I take the carb off and grind down the inside area that the plate is hitting to let it close all of the way?

Thank you for your help!

[PhydeauX]

If the carb is cold and you push the gas pedal to the floor the choke should fully close. Then once the car starts the vacuume pull off will open it about 1/4 of the way. The fast idle staying too long is probably just a maladjusted choke heater. Loosen the 3 bolts and turn it back slightly.

andy

[79EK1]

Try what Andy suggested. It could just be the choke coil isn't positioned properly. The thing that bothers me is that you said the plate scrapes the airhorn. Can you move the choke plate all the way closed by hand easily? If not, something is wrong. Check for a bent shaft or out of position plate. If everything looks good, but it still scrapes, the quick fix would be, as you said, remove the offending plate and file it down until it clears.

The choke plate should close all the way when it's cold. The vacuum pull-off should open it a few millimeters. You can adjust the screw in or out to fine tune it.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

[2old_honda]

Originally posted by 79EK1
Try what Andy suggested. It could just be the choke coil isn't positioned properly. The thing that bothers me is that you said the plate scrapes the airhorn. Can you move the choke plate all the way closed by hand easily? If not, something is wrong. Check for a bent shaft or out of position plate. If everything looks good, but it still scrapes, the quick fix would be, as you said, remove the offending plate and file it down until it clears.

The choke plate should close all the way when it's cold. The vacuum pull-off should open it a few millimeters. You can adjust the screw in or out to fine tune it.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

First I would just like to thank everyone for their advice!
I looked at it last night and the plate was hitting a metal bur on the side of the air horn. So what I did was I removed the plate, pluged the carb (so I wouldnt get metal into the engine) and filed down the bur. Everything works great now! The plate freely moves from the open to close!

One more question: To adjust the choke heater should I turn it clockwise or counterclockwise and how much? (if I am looking strait at it with it infront of me)

[PhydeauX]

There is a spring in there, which ever way makes the spring tigher keeps it on longer. Its been a while so I forget which way that is, couter clockwise comes to mind for longer though.

andy

[79EK1]

When the choke is set and you fire the engine without hitting the gas pedal, the Weber book I have says you should have a 5 mm gap. Adjust the screw in or out until you get the correct opening. That will get you in the ballpark. You may have to fine tune it to get the car to start reliably in real cold weather.

You can also adjust the choke coil tension to vary the time before the choke fully opens. The tighter the coil tension, the longer it will take the choke to open. If you go too tight, the choke may never fully open. You shouldn't have to go too far from the mark on the cap.