I've fitted a 12A w/ Nikki into the FB that I'm giving to a buddy when he gets back from Iraq. It definitely hates being started cold, as they all do, but has no choke. How do I put a junkyard choke into it? I know there's a magnet that holds the choke from sliding, so does it have its own temp sensor or does it plug up to a wire in the dash, or what? Is this something I can grab out of a junkyard and hook up without much trouble?

 

Whats missing? Or whats left on the car?

 

The car has a choke that doesn't hold (just slides freely with the ignition on) and the cable's been cut. I'd like to replace it but wanted to know what I'm getting into.

 

I have the stock choke off of my 81 - I dont use it now because I have a holley with no choke, it worked great warming my car up in the colder weather back in like Oct,Nov. If you still have the hookup under the dash to plug the unit into than its a easy install - took me less than 10 minutes to plug in the unit - mount it in the dash and hook the cable up to the carb. I'll sell it to you if you want. This way you dont have to search a junkyard for something that will be a headache. PM me.

 

Sounds good. How does the choke know when to let go, though? Is it a wire from the ECU or what?

 

Yes

 

Really? mines a manual choke. But its disconnected as well. And it takes about 10 min of me keeping the gas going before it will idle on its own. Pain in the ***.

 

I personally just use a small wooden block to hold out the choke.

 

I just bent the choke **** shaft a little, so it's tight to pull out/push in, then it stays where you put it.

 

And then, there's always keeping a dime, nickel or a penny around to keep it open depending on where you want your cold idle set...

 

Its from the water temp switch in the back of the water pump housing. If you disconnect it and jump the 2 harness wires together, it will never drop off automatically.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the choke itself is held open by an electrical magnet wired under the dash. The choke **** runs through the dash - and runs through a black box behind the dash. The box is connected via a wire connector to the water temp switch. Inside this box/housing - the ****'s shaft has a flat metal plate spot welded onto it - two magnets hold the plate, until the car has reached operating tempature , then it is released. Springs on the carb pull it back...

When you order a choke cable, you should receive a ****/housing with an electrical connector and then the cabling that goes with it.

Brand new, they're expensive as hell ($140) - but you can find one in the boneyard or from a forum member for about $25 bucks...

Good luck!

 

I used a cut-up piece of a credit card with two different notches, folded over so it stayed put. That was on my RX4.
Then one day I was working behind the dash and noticed that the plug to the choke unit was disconnected. Plugged it in and damned if the thing didn't work perfectly. It was really something to have the choke stay out until it pulled itself in, first halfway, then all the way in a little later. When I would drive to work, the choke would pull in in the same 200 yd. stretch of road every time.

I took the choke off the RX7, still starts right up even on cold mornings.