my choke butterfly closes, but the idle doesn't increase. im assuming the linkage to the throttle is off or something. anyone have a clear pic of how the choke should be setup? i have searched and read through several threads.

 

Make sure your fast idle arm is installed properly.

 

ok, my fast idle arm is connected properly. what the hell is going on with this thing? is there a way the arm can move, but not increase the idle? another thing is the screw that adjusts the idle doesn't do anything. i need the car to idle about 100 rpm higher.

 

the arm moves freely from the throttle. is that normal? i figured turning the throttle is what gave it more gas?

 

Are you sure that you're moving idle screw and not the mixture screw? Idle screw is the one nearest the firewall

 

No the arm is supposed to push against that lever on the throttle shaft, and open the throttle. You'll probably need to bend it so that it pushes at the right point when the choke cable is pulled. IIRC there's meant to be a little free play but if you pull the choke out all the way it should open the throttle.

When I was running a broken choke, I just pulled the butterfly out and used the fast idle arm by itself to increase rpm on cold starts. Needed to bend it quite a bit for this though.

 

yeah im 100% sure im turning the idle screw. when i turn it, the idle should change immediately, and be noticeable right? because i turned it almost 3 full turns and nothing changed, so i turned it back.

Oneiros:

do you mean i need to bend the arm on the throttle, or the lever its connects to on the throttle? the arm seems pretty loose on the throttle. ill go look at it again

 

Yeah, you should notice measurable RPM differences even with fractional turns. Sounds like maybe something is plugged up.

 

http://sterlingmetalworks.com/tuning_the_nikki.htm

That is Sterling's writeup on tuning the idle...



.

 

Hey bud it's the fast idle arm, marked on 74RX4's pics above. If you don't wanna use the choke butterfly I'd bend it so there's no freeplay and the arm pushes the throttle open basically as soon as the choke cable is pulled. Pull the choke cable by hand and you should be able to see what happens.

 

If the idle doesn't increase when the choke is pulled out, it may be that the tab/arm that goes into the choke unit isn't catching the bi-metal spring where it should be. As DivinDriver said, small changes in the throttle screw should show immediate changes in rpms, unless that screw is backed out way too far. Download the factory carb manual and check to make sure everything is connected the way it's supposed to be.

 

sweet. i read that and got enough courage to crank on that screw a little more. it was backed all the way out lol. no wonder it idled so low. now she idles smooth as can be at 800 rpm.

on the choke, how can i check to see if its catching the bi-metal spring? what does the spring look like?

if its not obvious already, i know nothing about carbs. i have looked over the sterling tutorials and stuff, but i don't really have a basic knowledge of carbs, so its like reading another language. sorry for all the dumb questions, just remember everyone has to learn some how, and im a visual/hands on learner. what i really need is someone who knows what they are doing to come show me what to do.

 

Alrighty, you said the butterflies close so you must know where they are. See if you can find a way to move the choke shaft with your hand while looking at the carb - this is the shaft that the butterflies are on. You can do this by pushing against the butterflies and then you'll see various things move, just grab hold of something and push the shaft all the way so the butterflies are closed.

Even if there are problems with the bi-metal spring, you should still be able to fix it by adjusting the fast idle arm. This basically just opens the throttle a bit when you pull the choke out. Have a look down the rear side of the carb while you're pushing the choke shaft. You'll hopefully see that arm indicated in 74RX4's pics. Make sure it's connected to something, if it is there. See what you find..

 

My 5 cents worth- but I had a problem where although choke **** was pulled on dash-no choking occured and I found that the butterlflies were not activating because of corrision at the pivots-a quick WD40 lube cleared it.
Also its well worth taking out mixture and air screw needle valve and gently clean up with carb cleaner Do Not Scratch or use abrasive wirewool/sandpaper , also put a squirt of carb cleaner inside -cleared my lumpy idle and made for smooth throttle response.

 

when i bought the car, the butterflys didnt move because there was a butt connector where the nut was supposed to be on the front of the carb lol. i fixed that and though sweet it should be good now, but nope. no raised idle .

Oneiros:

i did what you described, and that's why i'm confused. everything is connected, and moves freely.



in this pic you can see the arm coming down, and where it attaches to the throttle. that's all connected on my car and the part that's on the throttle moves but the throttle doesn't. so whatever connects that lever to the throttle is missing or broken. the only thing i can guess would be the bolt on the end of the throttle is loose. in the pic its the 10mm(?) you can partially see on the bottom left.

 

Alright sweet as, looks like you've found the problem. Had a closer look on mine. The fast idle arm is connected to that long lever thing you can see in the pic, which sits on the throttle shaft. It should move freely without affecting the throttle. Below it there should be a tab kind of thing (on the throttle shaft) which it's meant to push on to open the throttle.

What you'll probably need to do is pull the fast idle arm off and bend it, so that when the choke is pulled out, the lever it's connected to pushes against the tab on the throttle shaft and opens the throttle. Looking at that pic, the little bit which turns in an L kinda shape needs to get bent downwards more.

Let us know how you go.

 

ok. if its the weather cooperates i'll go out tomorrow morning and disconnect the fast idle arm and mess with the linkage and try to get it to rev. now its bed time. 3rd shift sucks

thanks for all the help guys. i really appreciate it.

 

anyone have closeup pics of how all the throttle stuff connects to the carb. i took it apart to get to the fast idle arm and now i cant figure out how to put it back together. if i cant figure this out, im switching to a holly. its a shame because it runs great, but it wont start worth a crap without the choke.


i need to see how all the stuff on the bottom left of this pic goes on.

 

If you need more info check out the carby manual from foxed.ca

Or here for some real pics

BTW you can remove the choke butterfly and just keep the fast idle arm, with a slight adjustment (bend it) can be used to REPLACE the choke in terms of operation.

 

Not sure if these will help, but there are more pictures here...
http://intertron.com/ron/carb.html

 

dude you are the man. thank you!!!

 

omg i think i fixed it!!!!!! the throttle return spring bracket was bent and not contacting the fast idle arm. the only problem is yesterday when i gave up i left the key on and drained the battery. i guess i have to wait till next weekend ti find out if i put everything back together right. thanks a lot guys!!

 

ahh this piece of crap still wont start!!!! i have to crank it for 20 minutes, then it runs perfect. anyone have a pic of the throttle linkage from the passenger side? all the pics posted are from the drivers side.

 

it was flooded so i did the procedure to de-flood it and it still wont start.

 

Check the condition of your ignition system. Weak spark, or lack of spark, can mimick all kinds of carb issues. Poor carbs get a lot of crap blamed on them.

Also, what is the level of fuel in the float bowls? Look through the little windows on the front and back of the carb to find out.