I'm not sure if there is a choke in all 1st gen's but i am guessing so. Anyways if not mine is a 85 gs. Now the question I am wondering is when I start up the car I have to use the choke and it makes the rpm's go to abot 3,000. I leave it for a while then try pushing it in to make the rpm's lower and see if its warming up and i do so a few times then it dies so i start it back up again but realize i am late for work so I push it in a bit and it brings the rpm's into the 2 grand range somewhere. Well to make a long story short as I was driving I forgot I had it on and heard a pop. I didn't know what it was at first then i realized that the choke was all the way in so does this mean my choke is automatic and that I should not be pushing it in all the way? I am hoping I was not hurting my car by pushing it in. Please explain.

 

On my 79 I pull the choke all the way out for about :30 seconds then I push it in half way and forget about it. It has an electric choke that turns the choke off when the engine is at operating temperature.

 

First of all, when pulling out the choke you should do it only until the engine reaches around 2000 rpm. Second, no, it doesn't damage it if you push it in. 3rd, the choke will go in by itself as the engine warms up.

 

Yep, and the popping noise you heard was the magnet releasing the choke pull ****. Don't worry about it, normal...

 

How do I know how far to pull it out to reach 2000rpm when I had to pull it out to start it or am I supposed to be starting it and pulling out the choke at the same time (oops)?

 

Yep, and the popping noise you heard was the magnet releasing the choke pull ****. Don't worry about it, normal...

 

Okay, pull the choke out about 3/4 of the way, then start the car. Once it is running, slowly push the choke back in until the RPMs are at about 2000. Enjoy...

 

Alright thanks for the info! Greatly appreciated.

 

All the 12a in the Americas have a choke. The 13b is fuel injected so it doesn't have a choke if I recall correctly.
And that turbocharged 12a in Japan, I dunno if it had a choke or not, but I'm guessing it did.

- Jeff L.

 

From my owners manual:
1. Turn key to "ON" position
2. Pull choke **** out fully
3. Turn key to "Start" until engine starts
4. After about 15 seconds, from engine starting, push choke **** in to allow engine to run
at 2000 rpm range
5. After about 2 minutes from engine starting, push the choke **** in completely

CAUTION - in extremely cold weather, the choke **** may be continuously used to assist engine warm up. However, do not use the choke konb in any cases for more than 10 minutes to prevent damage to the exhaust system due to overheating.

That's what I always do, but I let the choke turn itself of, which happens to be about 2 minutes after I start driving.

 

I am looking at an 85 GS (manual) on eBay. It is located in SC and I am in MA. I owned an 85 S, 5 speed, for 7 years (from new until 1993, sold with 223K miles running like a top - have kicked myself since!)

So this car looks nice, 92K miles, but seller(a dealer of some sort) doesn't seem real RX -savvy as he did not know it should have a choke. While I was talking with him, I told him where the **** SHOULD be - he said there is only a hole there. He says it runs fine. Is this possible because he is in warmish weather? When I had my RX, I had to use the choke to start it except in summer; so I know I will need one if I buy this car. Is this a big deal to replace? and should I be worried that it is currently missing????

I've looked around on the forum and there is claerly lots of RX knowledge, so sorry for the dopey chick question and hope someone can help?!!!

 

Your choke is definitely automatic.

Mine goes in after about 4 minutes of warming up, when the temp needle goes into the "operating range" area of the temp gauge. There is a heat sensor which activates this.

I usually let the car warm up fully and pull its own choke in before leaving, but I've sometimes been known to start driving before it's fully warm. In that case I try to keep the revs under 3.5k until it warms up.

As for saabski, the choke lever and cable I believe are pretty easy to install...beyond that it depends on how much of the choke stuff was taken out. I can start my car without the choke, but I have to keep my foot down on the pedal to keep it running. The choke is just an aid.

If you get the car, post pics and we'll give some advice.

Jon

 

Well I usually let start the car with the choke on and it revs up to about 3k then i bring it to 2k for a little while then bring it down to 1.5k and then start driving to work. At first it seems like it is shittier going into gears when I first start driving but once the choke pops and goes in it is all good. I don't think I am hurting my car doing this, hope not.