[themustangkid]

i have a climatic choke (the kind that heats up from a manifold heat riser) and it has been acting up ever since i got the car a few months ago. the main problem is that when i press the gas pedal to set the choke when i start the car, it doesn't close and i have to manually close it.

i still don't know a lot about this particular choke, but going off of this, what might be the problem?

thanks for your help!
- John

[Tominator]

Have you tried adjusting the choke butterfly?

See that black cover over the mechanism? Look closely and you will see a couple of arrows and the words rich and lean. Loosen the three screws and turn the cover a little towards the rich side and re-tighten. Now see if depressing the throttle does not allow the choke to close.

There is a bi-metallic spring under the cover and it is not uncommon to find that the spring is broken. Or the cover just might be installed incorrectly.

[t.ramsey]

In my experience, these springs tend to wear out on older cars and cause problems on cold starts. Adjusting the choke to open sooner is a band-aid repair because the spring will continue to weaken. The easiest and, in my opinion, the best fix is to just replace the thermostatic spring housing. Make sure the choke plate is free and not binding then set it back to factory specs. You should be good to go.

[themustangkid]

so i removed the spring and housing, its in fine shape, but how "free" should the choke plate be? right now it puts up a bit of resistance.

[Boomyal]

Originally Posted by themustangkid

so i removed the spring and housing, its in fine shape, but how "free" should the choke plate be? right now it puts up a bit of resistance.

It should be totally free. Use a good penetrating lubricant on the plate pivot shaft and all the linkage. Work them all back and forth till it frees up.