Stuck choke flap wide open

First of all, I don’t know much about cars and I apologize if I sound like the noob that I am when it comes to this, I just don’t have the money to take it to a mechanic right now.

Ok, so I noticed that I had trouble starting when cold and when I accelerated the car stumbled (or just died).

So I got a replacement choke adjuster (the circular thing on the side with the spring inside)

When I pulled the adjuster off it looked ok, the spring was hooked in properly and there was still a lot of spring left in the spring (wow, that sounds kind of weird to say)

So I decided to check the choke flap to make sure that it would close. Upon pusing back on the accelerator and trying to spin the flap it moved a little and then stopped.

By a little I mean maybe a few degrees, if I push hard it will move a little more but I am afraid of messing something up inside if I force it to much.

So, my problem is that I cant get the choke flap to close, it is stuck wide open and I was wondering if there was something I could do (as a noob) to fix this problem.

I feel certain that I can do minor repairs but I think I would probably mess up a full carburetor rebuild.

Any help would be appreciated.

Welcome Aboard!

The choke linkage, high idle cam and adjuster, choke pulloff/unloader, and choke thermostat are all on the right side of the carburetor. If you lubricate the pivots and linkages with a light penetrating oil, then hold the throttle wide open, you should be able to work the choke plate open and closed with very little effort. This may help identify what may be sticking or binding:

http://mysite.verizon.net/strey/files/E4ME-CExplodedParts.gif

My guess is that the choke has been stuck open for some time, and now that cooler weather is here, you are noticing the effects. The choke thermostat spring you bought may not be necessary.

Wow, thanks for the reply (and the detaled picture)

upon further review today i notice that the flap is rubbing against the side of the carburator on the drivers side.

I am thinking the best option may be to remove the plate, grind a hair worth off on that side, and put it back in. it dosent look like there is enough build up to just be gunk that is causing the problem or i would just wire brush it and see what happened (although i am using a solvent to see if it will help but i dont think it is going to)

does anyone know how much of the carburator i have to pull off/apart in order to get to the two screws holding the choke plate on (the guy at the auto parts store refered to it as a butterfly plate, is that correct?)

Thanks for the help

Unless something terrible has happened to the carb air horn (like being hit with a hammer, etc.), there should be no reason to grind or file anything. You can use a feeler gauge or even a piece of paper to determine how much clearance exists on the opposite end of the choke plate. If there is any clearance, there is no reason to grind anything.

ok, but how do i go about shifting the plate back over towards the other side so that it dosent catch?

The plate and shaft should float side to side. Try applying some oil and working it loose. Make sure the rest of the linkage is free, and the throttle is open so that the linkage doesn't catch on the high idle cam.

Ok, here is a rundown of what I did to get it working again.

I managed to get the screws loose while it was still in there, tried to get it to simply sit better and could not get it to work for me. I eventually just took the top half of the carburetor off and hosed it off with some cleaner and then pulled the flap out of the housing.

I’m not sure what exactly happened to the flap but there were two dings on the edges that made things a bit difficult resulting in the use of a hammer to lightly tap it out of the housing.

Then I took my dremel and stuck the wire brush attachment to it and cleaned the carbon off of the flap and the inside of the carb walls.

When I put it back together to see if this fixed the problem it was still hitting the side (although not as hard now) so I took a paper thin layer off of the side that was hanging and now it fits in and works perfectly.

Now my problem is that the gasket was destroyed while doing this and I need to get a replacement gasket, I think I will need to buy a rebuild kit to get that particular gasket as the three auto parts stored I went to did not have and could not order that particular part outside of a kit.

I’m not sure what caused the trouble but it looks like it should be fixed.

Thanks for your help

Yes, a rebuild kit is in order. As long as it's open, it won't hurt to check the float level, clean the bowls, clean out the air bleeds, set the mixture control solenoid stops, and blast out the main jet wells and exposed passages with a spray type carb cleaner.

yes i agree.

now i got teh "spray out with carb cleaner" but beyond that i hope there are instructions in the kit for the other stuff.....

otherwise it may just get new gaskets and a good spraydown :smokin:

yes i agree.

now i got teh "spray out with carb cleaner" but beyond that i hope there are instructions in the kit for the other stuff.....

otherwise it may just get new gaskets and a good spraydown :smokin:

whenever cleaning dosen't correct the choke plate from moving something is damaged ...

also the plate screws must not be removed...they can be loosened so as to properly center the plate for proper operation..the ends of the screws are deformed so as to not fall off into the intake manifold...

If you don't know much about cars it would be best to find someone to help with knowledge on this repair.