Electric Choke Question

[Kasey 1977 K10]

Hi all,

I am putting a new carb on my 77 k10 that has an electric choke and the previous one did not. I'm trying to determine the best place to wire it. I know it needs a good 12 volt ignition connection. What are your recommendations? Thanks for your help!

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Key on but not sharing a circuit in case of choke coil failure so it doesnt short out something more important. And fuse it as well.

 

[Georgeb]

There should be a tap for fused ignition power on the fuse block. You can run it off of there. A factory install would use an oil pressure switch so the heater won't be on unless the engine is running. This prevent the choke from heating up if you leave the ignition on without the engine running for any reason.

 

[HotRodPC]

There should be a tap for fused ignition power on the fuse block. You can run it off of there. A factory install would use an oil pressure switch so the heater won't be on unless the engine is running. This prevent the choke from heating up if you leave the ignition on without the engine running for any reason.

He's right you know !!!

 

[HotRodPC]

@chengny could probably help with some type of wiring schematic for factory wired choke. You could just run the hot wire, but the oil pressure switch isn't a bad idea and is done for a reason.

 

[Kasey 1977 K10]

@chengny could probably help with some type of wiring schematic for factory wired choke. You could just run the hot wire, but the oil pressure switch isn't a bad idea and is done for a reason.

Got my carb in and the electric choke wired up. Thanks for all the help! Question, I seem to have a pretty high idle when cold and the high idle screw adjustment doesn't seem to be helping much. Also, sometimes when its cold it idles really rough until I rev it a few times and it smooths out to the high idle.. maybe a vapor lock? Could either have anything to do with the choke? I tested it and when the engine is off I get 11.77 volts and when the engine is running I get closer to 14 volts when I connect my meter to the positive and negative of the electric choke. Anything else to consider? Idle when warm is just about perfect. One more question. I put in an in-line glass fuel filter. The metal housing is resting on the intake so it gets pretty damn hot. Should I re-route the fuel line so it is suspended in the air and not touching anything or is it safe as is since liquid gas is tough to ignite?

 

[Georgeb]

The rough running could be not quite enough vacuum pull off. You could try a little adjustment there. Otherwise the high idle is all effected by the high idle cam. The adjusting screw pushes directly on that cam. Check to see if adjusting it actually moves the throttle.

 

[HotRodPC]

Got my carb in and the electric choke wired up. Thanks for all the help! Question, I seem to have a pretty high idle when cold and the high idle screw adjustment doesn't seem to be helping much. Also, sometimes when its cold it idles really rough until I rev it a few times and it smooths out to the high idle.. maybe a vapor lock? Could either have anything to do with the choke? I tested it and when the engine is off I get 11.77 volts and when the engine is running I get closer to 14 volts when I connect my meter to the positive and negative of the electric choke. Anything else to consider? Idle when warm is just about perfect. One more question. I put in an in-line glass fuel filter. The metal housing is resting on the intake so it gets pretty damn hot. Should I re-route the fuel line so it is suspended in the air and not touching anything or is it safe as is since liquid gas is tough to ignite?

Because it's important, I'm not answering your questions and get this point lost in a post. I'd be very careful with that glass in line filter. In fact, I won't have one of those POS. In the mid to late 80's I had 2 buddies have bad engine fires. The metal ends vibrate loose, the tube of gas spills out, the motor keeps running cuz there is fuel in float bowls still and you're then pumping gas all over your engine and with pressure, it shoots gas toward the firewall near the distributor and all it takes is a tiny arc from a bad coil or plug wire and vavoom, there you go. A bad gas fire and your vehicle is engulfed by the time you get the hood open to see WTF. One of the 2 buddies, his car pretty much burnt to the ground as he watched. The other was able to keep his limited to underhood and firewall fire but had to replace all the wiring in the whole car, new front clip, etc, etc. Just something to consider. I know they're cool but they can be pretty damn hot too. If you really want to see your gas in the filter or view the filter, I'd go with one of the cheap plastic ones. I've never heard of one of them coming apart. They're disposable and cheap. Just buy a new one when they start to discolor and you can't see the fuel anymore.

 

[74 Shortbed]

The plastic ones are even worse than the glass ones, they will come apart with heat the end will fall off, had a friend that had a 67 Chevelle burn to the ground because of them POS, metal can is the only way to go...

 

[Georgeb]

While I am one of the lucky ones that ran a glass filter for 10 years with no troubles. (Yes I changed the element often)
I would not run one again. I would go with a metal inline filter.

 

[HotRodPC]

The plastic ones are even worse than the glass ones, they will come apart with heat the end will fall off, had a friend that had a 67 Chevelle burn to the ground because of them POS, metal can is the only way to go...

I never had a problem at all, and never heard of anyone either until now. There are 2 different plastic see through type that I'm aware of. I'm curious to which one you're talking about. I might see if I can find pics of the 2 I know of.

While I am one of the lucky ones that ran a glass filter for 10 years with no troubles. (Yes I changed the element often)
I would not run one again. I would go with a metal inline filter.

Changing the element often, or like I did, at least opened it up and cleaned it often, could have been what saved us. We made sure it was tight more often cuz we were working with it and paying attention to it.


I do agree, metal is the way to go for certain, but sometimes you want to see the **** or how fast the **** is filling a filter or how well the filter is or isn't working. Proof we can't have the best of both worlds.

 

[HotRodPC]

BTW, didn't mean to derail the thread and change the subject, just thought that filter was worth mentioning.


Soooo Carry on. Back to regularly scheduled programmnig. OP had some questions.

 

[Kasey 1977 K10]

I never had a problem at all, and never heard of anyone either until now. There are 2 different plastic see through type that I'm aware of. I'm curious to which one you're talking about. I might see if I can find pics of the 2 I know of.



Changing the element often, or like I did, at least opened it up and cleaned it often, could have been what saved us. We made sure it was tight more often cuz we were working with it and paying attention to it.


I do agree, metal is the way to go for certain, but sometimes you want to see the **** or how fast the **** is filling a filter or how well the filter is or isn't working. Proof we can't have the best of both worlds.

All great info guys. I appreciate it. The reason for the glass filter is because I believed I had some fuel line issues. The truck sat for 10 years and when I started working on it I replaced both gas tanks and the fuel pump but not the fuel line. My QuadraJet had a built in filter that plugged up a few times before the tanks were replaced and gave me fits even after. I just put in a Holley that doesn't have a built in filter so I put the glass version on so I could check often and see if I had any other fuel delivery issues going on. I think I will leave the glass one on for a couple of months but check it often. If everything looks good I'll switch to a metal one. Thanks again!

 

[74 Shortbed]

I never had a problem at all, and never heard of anyone either until now. There are 2 different plastic see through type that I'm aware of. I'm curious to which one you're talking about. I might see if I can find pics of the 2 I know of.

There's different ones but this is one that I know is bad, the end came off on my buddy's Chevelle and I had one on a go-kart that leaked around the end..

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[HotRodPC]

That looks different than the 2 I had in mind. One of the ones I'm taking about is a really cheapy. The other looks similar to the that, but I think has a metal cap on the outflow side and harder plastic for the rest of it. It actually almost looks like glass. Maybe acrylic or something else.