32/36 DFEV choke operation question

[nelsonj]

Hi all. I had my mechanic put in a Weber 32/36 DFEV carb about a year ago. Love the carb when driving, but ever since initial installation I have been concerned often the car is often hard to start. Anyway, I currently have the air cleaner housing off the carb so I decide to try and see if the electric choke is working properly.

Good news is I have +12V to the electric choke with the ignition key in and turned one click from "starting" (power comes from the original idol solenoid valve from the stock carb I believe). Bad news is the the choke valves do seem to react when they get power. They just stay in the "down"/vertical position. I expected them to "flip up" to a horizontal position during startup or as soon as they got +12V, but they don't seem to move.

Here goes the questions:
1) Do I have to do anything to activate the choke (like press the gas all the way down, or depress the clutch went staring)?
2) Assume a cold start - what does the proper operation of the choke look like? Should it "flip up" horizontal as soon as I put turn the ignition key and give it +12V? Should it stay lockup up horizontal as soon as I depress the gas to the floor?
3) If I have +12v power to the choke, but it is not moving (flipping horizontal when staring), what else could be wrong? Could I have a defective electronic choke?

Anyway, I am sure there are experts out there that understand this choke. It sure seems to me that, even though I have voltage to it, mine is not working properly.

Thanks in advance for any help/ideas.

[So Cal Mark]

for cold starting, you must depress the gas pedal at least partially to set the choke. Once the choke stat gets power, it will not flip open. The stat is a heating element so the plate will gradually open. If the choke flipped open you'd have very poor driveability when the engine is cold

[nelsonj]

OK - so if I get it, all the +12V does is heat up the choke control. So it will only keep the choke plates "horizontal" if the choke element is cold and has not recieved power for a while. As the control "heats up" via the application of 12V, the choke plates drop down back to a vertical position.

Thus, if I had the key in the ignition so that the element was getting power, the choke control would start to heat up and the choke would drop to the vertical position, even if the engine was not running.

I was doing a lot of work on the car with the key in the ignition, but the engine was not running (trying to figure out why my car died on Friday and won't restart, and first convincing myself I still had a spark...). This may have been enough to "heat up" the choke, even through the engine was still ice cold.

I will take a look at it again tonight and see if it holds the choke horizontal after I depress the gas and with the key out.

Thanks.

[So Cal Mark]

one drawback to just connecting the choke to switched power is exactly that; if you sit with the key on, engine off, the choke will open, affecting cold driveability. When Ford switched to electric chokes, they powered it from the stator terminal on the alternator so it only had power after the engine was running

[nelsonj]

Update: Last night the car was ice cold and the key had not been in the ignition for 24 hours. I pushed the gas pedal down, and sure enough, the choke plates went to the near horizonal position and stayed there. Good news - looks like my choke is working as designed.

Next step is to replace the fule pump and hopefully the car will start (and get better gas milage...).

Thanks Mark.

[Raze]

Thanks for the info, I too have this carb and was wondering exactly how the choke worked, I'll have to do some testing as mentioned to ensure proper operation. Thanks!

[nelsonj]

Car is up and running. I had a bad fuel pump, and replaced it and installed a clear filter so I have better visibility on fuel issues. Fuel pump was pretty easy to install, to my pleasant surprise. Also, my vacuum advance on my electronic ignition was not connected to the carb. I connected it up and the car seemed to be running better than ever. Hopefully this will also improve my gas mileage.