Some years ago my dad had some sort of service on the aging 1983 Olds . Afterwards the carbeurator wasn’t working correctly, causing major drivability problems, rough engine, and stalling. After many trips back to the shop where the same very young, inexperienced mechanic kept being given the task of “licking his calf over” my dad told the manager he also was in business, a business requiring the car be drivable. So finally the task of fixing right what Dad had already paid to be fixed was given to an older mechanic experienced working on carbeurators. Seems the kid had seriously messed up the choke setting and damaged something in the float bowl (if I recall the term correctly.) Dad said the older mechanic voiced some choice opinions when he got a look at what the kid had done.
Several times in the “old days” when I had a problem with a carburetor, I would go to my friendly auto parts store, plunk down $15 and exchange the faulty carburetor for a rebuilt carburetor.
However, in 1974, I decided to rebuild the carburetor on my 1950 Chevrolet pickup truck that I had purchased two years earlier for $115. The rebuild kit was $4. It took me an entire afternoon to rebuild the carburetor, and a one barrel manual choke carburetor is about as simple as carburetors get.
Carb’s can be serviced by most any diy’er or shop tech who studies how to do it first; but they don’t take to being monkeyed with in a random manner. Any attempt at adjusting one component in a carb to counteract the wrong setting elsewhere is almost certainly bound to fail. I’m guessing the float bowl problem was that the tech was adjusting the fuel level to counteract a problem elsewhere. Not gonna work.
I hear you on that, my 86 evinrude is fouling the plugs due to being rich at idle, I would rather replace the plugs every couple of years than mess with a 4 barrel carb.
I used to rebuild my carbs about every 20K or so or when the accelerator pump would cause a hesitation. Back then I think the kits were around $10, including instructions.
My first exposure to an automatic choke was back in 1957 so I was 9 I guess. We were at a resort in Canada with our 57 Ford Fairlane 500 with the T bird engine. It was a steep rocky road up top and dad gunned it spinning the wheels etc. and then it stalled. Back down the hill and it wouldn’t start. The resort owner just fiddled with the choke and all was well again. He said that was a common Ford problem that year and knew just what to do. Same place they sold me my 8" hunting knife for $3.50 unaccompanied by an adult supervisor. Still have the knife but the case is long gone. I think it would be classified as a C&R now with no license required.
A couple months back I checked the adjustment of the fuel level in my truck’s carb – in a grocery store parking lot … lol . .I used a dime as a screwdriver to loosen the four screws so I could pop the top off.
I always hated automatic chokes. To me, they were a solution to a problem that did not exist. I had a 72 Impala that I hated and I think it hated me back. Every time I drove in heavy snow, the snow coming under the hood would close the choke and stall the car. I had to take the air cleaner off and stick a screwdriver down the carb to get home.would have to
@bing. The 6 cylinder Fords had manual chokes through 1964. I know that the Ford V8 cars had manual chokes on the 1955: models. I think the automatic choke for the V8 came along in 1956 or 1957.
I miss Model Garage. No shameless promotions and silly answers from Gus.
Saw semi automatic choke on wife’s 1982 (?) Toyota Starlet. Was a good car to learn on, but a heck of a hard manual gear shifter…my shoulder could not take that these days!
Yeah, it stands to reason that if someone else saw a semi automatic choke it would probably be on another Toyota. The Starlet may have had the same model carburetor for all I know. FWIW, I didn’t have any complaints about the shifter on my 1977 Corolla.
This one is from a long time ago and is only one of many but…
College student at the U of OK had a brake job done on his VW Beetle. The shop hammered the lugs home with an air wrench and on the old VWs this would instantly warp the brake drums. The pedal had a good 2" of pulsation in it.
Us. The rear brakes need to be redone.
Student. Well it’s under warranty. (A 10 year old car…)
Us.No it’s not. You need to take it back to the shop who messed it up.
Student. You’re a VW dealer aren’t you?
Us. Yes.
Student. Well, you’re obligated to repair a factory defect.
Us. Are you crazy?
Student.You had better fix it under warranty or else.
Us. Get lost.
A week later we got a lengthy 2 page sermon in single spaced fine print advising us to fix it for free or get sued.
Called and told him to get bent.
(The student was about to graduate law school so I guess he was using us for a test bed or something. A future ambulance chaser…
A couple of years ago a friend bought a new Mazda 3. In the first couple of months the 6 speed manual transmission developed an oil leak. She actually expected the dealership to give her a different car instead of fixing that one.
My 62 Galaxy used a manual choke. Seemed simple enough to use. The only problem I had was inadvertently not getting it pushed in completely when the engine fully warmed up, which had no effect on drivability, but reduced the mpg. I’ve had a three problems with the automatic choke on my truck over the years.
- A fastener came loose which caused the choke plate to close when it shouldn’t.
- The warm-up tube broke at the exhaust manifold shroud, resulting in me needing to buy parts and do an awkward repair procedure
- The electric heating element failed
So all in all, my trial by fire experiences over the years, manual vs automatic, say the manual choke method is the more trouble free choice. Post the mid-60’s I expect that the feds required automatic chokes to meet the gov’t emissions standards.
Exactly my logic. From when I had money, I started buying new. Current mileage on my car – 247,750 miles. 