Hot Rod Forum banner

Carburetor electric vs hot air choke?

21K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  against all odds 
#1 ·
is there advantages and disadvantages to a Carburetor electric and hot air choke?
 
#6 ·
Manual choke is probably the simpliest.
With a hot air or electric choke, you never know the position of the choke plate at any particular time. I prefer to know, so I always use a manual choke and mount a small on/off microswitch on the linkage that illuminates a small bulb on the dash. Light on, choke on. Light off, choke off. If you wanted to get fancy, you could include a flasher in the circuit.
 
#7 ·
I've been running electric chokes on various cars for the last quarter century and never had a problem. One big advantage over hot air is that headers often eliminate the choke stove where the hot air comes from. No need to cobble together some half-***** fix, just hook up one wire. I've never needed lights, horns, buzzers, or anything else to tell me the choke was working - it always does.
 
#8 ·
Something to watch out for on electric choke carbs in general and Rochester carbs in particular is the ground for the choke heater.

In the case of the Rochester, the ground path for the heating element is through the choke housing to the carb, then to the intake, etc. until it eventually reaches the battery. The heating element is attached to the choke housing by three rivets or screws. If these aren't tight and the housing free of corrosion, paint, etc. the ground can be intermittent or absent altogether.

Another possible trouble spot comes from the popular modification of converting an integral hot air choke to an electric choke. This is an easy mod, but the gasket used between the choke housing and the hot air choke coil assembly has to be removed to provide the ground path for the electric choke's heating element described above.

Also, rebuild kits supply a hot air choke gasket regardless of the type of choke used and this is sometimes mistakenly used on a carb w/an electric choke.

Unfortunately, choke heaters do fail. I recently sent one out to a member here to replace his burned out unit on his Q-jet equipped Corvette. GM considered the possibility of a choke heating element failure (as well as the rest of the electric choke circuit) enough of an issue to put a choke warning light on some models to indicate such a failure.

Now, for a hotrodder type, the idiot light might not be needed- hopefully the lack of the choke opening as it should would be noticed right away. But for the non mechanically inclined soccer mom types, engine damage (washed cylinders causing bore and ring wear) from driving the vehicle w/the choke closed is almost a given.

 
#9 ·
One wire plus a ground back to the choke housing screw for an electric choke - and they work RIGHT if set up according to instructions for the carb. No cable through a hole in the fire wall for a manual or extraneous bracket hanging off the carb. Then the hot air - no choke stove or bimetallic spring in the intake or tubing line to the exhaust manifold to carbon up or rot off from extended heat cycles.

How much simpler can they get then this on an Edelbrock 1405 w/accessory electric choke:

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top