Choke Issues

[Stormhawk]

So starting about a week ago my truck (83 K20 350/TH400) has been having severe cold starting issues.
It will literally not stay running unless I manually hit the choke kick off, start it, then run back under the hood and hold the choke plate all the way open.
If I bump the throttle and let the choke fully close the truck will sputter and die.
If I try to restart it with the choke fully closed, it will refuse to start and spells strongly of gas.
If I reset the choke kick off, start it and keep it running while manually holding the choke open till it warms up it will run great. But this is a large type pain in the ass. I checked the choke spring and dialed it back slightly to set a dimes width gap on the choke plates, but the truck refuses to start. It seems over fueled. No clue what’s happening.

 

[Ricko1966]

Make sure non of your linkage is binding. Check that the choke pull off is connected and working. Make sure the diaphragm on the pull off isn't ruptured.

 

[mtbadbob]

Make sure your float isn't sticking, or maybe somehow the needle and seat are worn. There is a fine line with those choke adjustments, maybe open it so it has about 3/16ths gap when completely cold, or even stick a medium sized screw driver in between the plate at start up to see if that helps. If that helps, keep opening the choke until you find the sweet spot.

 

[Ricko1966]

Make sure your float isn't sticking, or maybe somehow the needle and seat are worn. There is a fine line with those choke adjustments, maybe open it so it has about 3/16ths gap when completely cold, or even stick a medium sized screw driver in between the plate to see if that helps.

That could possibly hide a bad choke pull off. The pull offs job is to pull the choke plate open as soon as there is vacuum.

 

[fast 99]

Think an 83 would have both a primary and secondary pull off.

3/16" gap on the choke plate is a good starting point for pull off adjustment. Use a drill bit and slide between the rear of the plate and choke horn. I do this engine off cold choke and a vacuum pump on the front pull-off.

 

[Stormhawk]

So more on this.
I went out this morning after the truck had sat outside overnight. It was about 30 degrees out, so not terribly cold.
I adjusted the choke, checked both kick offs for function, checked linkage and vacuum source, reset the choke and before I started the truck I gave the front of the carb a few sharp taps with my universal carburetor adjustment tool just in case the needle and seat were the culprit.
When I went to start the truck it fired up right away and idled strong. Goosing the throttle resulted in strong engine response with none of the bogging and stuttering it had last time and no overwhelming smell of gas.
Pretty sure the choke was never the issue and rather the cold has been causing the needle to not fully seat. Does this sound reasonable?

 

[Snoots]

So more on this.
I went out this morning after the truck had sat outside overnight. It was about 30 degrees out, so not terribly cold.
I adjusted the choke, checked both kick offs for function, checked linkage and vacuum source, reset the choke and before I started the truck I gave the front of the carb a few sharp taps with my universal carburetor adjustment tool just in case the needle and seat were the culprit.
When I went to start the truck it fired up right away and idled strong. Goosing the throttle resulted in strong engine response with none of the bogging and stuttering it had last time and no overwhelming smell of gas.
Pretty sure the choke was never the issue and rather the cold has been causing the needle to not fully seat. Does this sound reasonable?

Have you ever run anything like Seafoam? That should help prevent the needle from sticking. There are a multitude of things that are involved for a proper response. That's my 2 cents.

 

[Ricko1966]

So more on this.
I went out this morning after the truck had sat outside overnight. It was about 30 degrees out, so not terribly cold.
I adjusted the choke, checked both kick offs for function, checked linkage and vacuum source, reset the choke and before I started the truck I gave the front of the carb a few sharp taps with my universal carburetor adjustment tool just in case the needle and seat were the culprit.
When I went to start the truck it fired up right away and idled strong. Goosing the throttle resulted in strong engine response with none of the bogging and stuttering it had last time and no overwhelming smell of gas.
Pretty sure the choke was never the issue and rather the cold has been causing the needle to not fully seat. Does this sound reasonable?

Reading your post above it says you have to hold the choke plate open,if you let it close fully it dies.If the choke pull off is working and adjusted correctly the choke plate won't close fully it will be open about 1/4 with the engine idling.How did you test your choke pull off?