'74 Dart, 225 /6, A904. Sorry for the noob question but this is my first Dodge, first slant six and first divorced choke. Just put a "new" Holley 1945 on her and would like to make sure the choke is working properly. PO had a Holley 1920 on it and the choke rod from the manifold would not fit so he left it loose. Hooked up the choke rod to the 1945. Fast idle kicks in appropriately but the choke does not back off when warmed up. Inspecting everything I notice a wire disconnected at the resistor(?) and showing cracked insulation. First off, is the vacant terminal (labeled choke control) I have on the resistor where the loose wire should be plugged in? Should it be hot in "run" only? What resistance should I be reading hot or cold? Is the resistor assembly still available out there somewhere, mine looks pretty sad. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated!
Divorced choke resistor
- Thread starter sargentrs
- Start date
-
Plug the wires in, there should be a heater in the choke housing that should help pull off the choke. If I remember correctly, the choke controls are the same except for 4 barrel engines so I think you can use one from a 318. I do not have as much experience with /6.
That ceramic controller for the electric choke assist was never weather sealed, so when you open it you will find its totally toasted inside. Lovely green and black patina on its guts. Throw it away. The electric heating element added in the choke well only made the choke open faster to satisfy the EPA anyway. If the heat activated coil choke is in proper working order and set up right it will function right.
Mine must not be. The choke does not back off even after driving 40 miles so I know it's getting warmed up. Is there an adjustment on the choke element/housing? It's just a spring type heating element, correct? Not much can get out of whack with those. They either work or they don't. I believe everything is adjusted properly at the carb. Clearances look good at the choke plate with the fast idle cam on the second step and choke pull off diaphragm appears to function as it should. Thanks for the info!
Yours cant be the single one different from all others. The choke is thermal/mechanical. If you lift it from the well you will see an adjustment point but that had to be there due to the variance in the metal coils, etc.. It's not meant for repeated/field use.
I find it hard to believe you can drive the car with the choke baffle closed.
The most common fault condition is a change in carb or the base gasket thickness.
One can grab that linkage rod, pull it up and connect it ( it is attached to a spring like coil after all ) but the temp swing would never be enough to undo what was done by hand. To rework the bends in that linkage rod is a more practical method.
And by the way... I don't see the end of the electric assist element sticking out of the choke well in your pic.
I find it hard to believe you can drive the car with the choke baffle closed.
The most common fault condition is a change in carb or the base gasket thickness.
One can grab that linkage rod, pull it up and connect it ( it is attached to a spring like coil after all ) but the temp swing would never be enough to undo what was done by hand. To rework the bends in that linkage rod is a more practical method.
And by the way... I don't see the end of the electric assist element sticking out of the choke well in your pic.
whitepunkonnitro
Well-Known Member
In the past, I've just run a jumper wire directly from one of the Alt. Field terminals directly to the heating element...just like one would do with an electric choke Holley or Edelbrock, and never had any issues.
I hooked it up by operating the choke linkage and it slid in the hole in the linkage easily. I manually set the fast idle screw and cam on the second step, then started the car. The choke plate was sitting at about 3/32" from closing off completely. After idling for about 15 minutes it opened up to about 1/4" but never opened any further. I thought it might just need to warm up some more so I drove it home that way and seemed to be all right although she may have been running a little rich and was idling higher than usual. Even punching the gas, in neutral, did not get the choke or fast idle cam to release. Got home, pulled the rod back out and everything dropped into place normal. Obviously, it's not pulling back as it should so I'm thinking the spring broke? Haven't pulled it out yet so not sure. Just saw that electrical connector, and not knowing about the system, I thought maybe that might be the issue. From what you guys are saying, it's not.
There is a wire coming out of the choke well, it's hidden behind that vacuum line.
-
