Carb with no choke

[Jarrett Melvin]

I have a 350 SBC with a quadrajet carb and electric choke. I want to put it in my project truck, that I plan I using just for summer Sunday/weekend driving. Not daily use but just summer use well say.

I was wondering what would it be like to run it carbed with no choke in the summer time only? I'm in Newfoundland so the summer and spring months are around 15-25 or 30 degrees or so. So it wouldn't be too too cold.

 

[GXPWeasel]

Not sure how that would work. What's your reason for not running a choke? Don't want to run an electrical wire? Maybe try a manual choke. I had a manual choke I installed on a 350 Buick Skylark back in the day, and it worked just fine.

 

[RoryH19]

Not sure how that would work. What's your reason for not running a choke? Don't want to run an electrical wire? Maybe try a manual choke. I had a manual choke I installed on a 350 Buick Skylark back in the day, and it worked just fine.

My thought as well. Just run the wire for the choke and not worry about the outside temp.
I personally don't see any advantages by not having one unless the choke is bad.
Just my .02

 

[82sbshortbed]

I've ran my quadrajet with the electric choke not hooked up. I'm here in Texas so it's not cold for long either. But, I recently went ahead and hooked it up and adjusted it. It was easy to do and I would recommend doing it. Here's a link to the thread.


https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/quadrajet-tuning-made-easy.32119/unread

 

[Ricko1966]

Choke is only there for cold weather starts and drivability once the truck is started and engine warm it should be fully opened anyway.Some people set them fully open at all times. Some remove them completely. If you have it set fully open at all times it will be hard to start, you will have to figure out what it takes. Maybe pump the pedal twice start it,hold the pedal slightly open 1 minute and done. The plus side is it won't be running unnecessarily rich for the first minutes of operation. Which is better for the rings, cylinder walls, plugs and oil. Pros and cons either way. It's your truck your decision.

 

[BKING33]

I don't have chokes on my Chevelle's and they are a bear to start in temps below 50. The electric ones work great. the old mechanical ones like on the
Qjets are fussy sometimes with sticking linkage.

 

[Jarrett Melvin]

Thanks for the feed back, I have been looking into manual ones I think thats what I'm gunna do

 

[SirRobyn0]

@Jarrett Melvin I'm going to add to what folks have said. So years ago I had a dodge based motorhome with the 360, it had the choke stove in the intake manifold and the crossover pipe was plugged, so eventually on a trip I zip tied the choke open, because it kept shutting on me. To fix it properly I'd of had to remove the intake manifold and clean the passage or go to a differant carb. That thing had much bigger issues than the carb so I left it. Starting it depending on weather conditions was anything from a 3 pumps of gas and a little feathering for a minute of warm up, to quite a few false starts and stalls.

Can you run without a choke, sure, will it be a pleasant driving experience no. Further more running without a choke may not be good for the engine long term. All that pumping of the gas, possibly revving a cold engine to keep it running. A properly adjusted choke is best.

If your concerned about running a wire, and I'm not sure why you would be if your thinking of running a manual choke cable, but if that is your hold up some guys will steal power for the choke coil off the wiper motor which has a key on power source. That's not the best way to do it but it is an easy way.

 

[bucket]

I've been running my truck all winter with no choke. It's my daily driver and it's been 5°-20° in the morning for the last few weeks. It's perfectly doable, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it if the carb has a perfectly operational choke. In my case, the choke was hanging up a bunch last year so I disabled it while I decide what I want to do for new carb.

 

[Paladin]

We don't need no "stinkin choke"!

 

[Rusty Nail]

Does your new carb got one - lol?

 

[Paladin]

Does your new carb got one - lol?

Nope, and if it did it would be removed! Got it all broke down soaking in Chem-Dip!

 

[CoggedBelt75]

Y’all have some cold summers over there.
I run 2 Holley carbs without chokes. Daily driven, hot or cold. 1 pump in cool weather, starts and idles fine. Cold winter months while sitting outside at work I plug the block heater in. The heat radiates into the blower case. 1 pump and starts fine on the coldest days. A slight steady rev for around 1 minute and it idles fine.
They came with manual chokes but only used the rear one. Finally figured I didn’t need to use it so I removed both of them all together.