Hey all. I have a problem with the choke or something...it's weird, but when I start dead cold, the fast idle doesn't come on at all, and the car has to be "babied" to keep it running. Only idles when cold at around 600 RPM's, and after about 4 minutes or so...and here's the weird part.....all the sudden the fast idle will kick in, and it'll idle where I set the adjustment screw (1500).

It's almost like a delay or something. What do I need to adjust to get it to idle right??

Sorry if this seems stupidly simple to you gearheads - I just never seem to have any luck getting the stupid choke adjusted.

BTW...once warm it idles pretty well at 800 RPM's, and no stalling probs like when the engine's first started.

Anyone??

Sounds like the linkage is physically jamming somehow. When it's overnight cold pop off the lid of the aircleaner. Open the throttle about 1/2 way by hand. Choke plate should SNAP closed. This simultaneously engages the fast idle cam. If the choke isn't getting closed, obviously, the fast idle cam isn't going to engage either. Figure out what's holding it back (choke linkages could just need a good spray-down with carb cleaner) and fix it.

Thanks Damon, that's one thing I haven't looked at! I'll look into it tonite and report back.

UPDATE: I found out that the choke coil wasn't set right, so the choke was not "snapping" closed at all. I guess the screws weren't tight enough and it worked itself loose.

But - I also have some type of screw adjustment on my secondary vacuum pull off. How is this adjusted, and what is it supposed to do?? - Thanks in advance!

Do you have one vacuum pull-off, or two?

If one, the screw is used to adjust how much the pull-off opens the choke when the engine first starts. The butterfly should be completely closed b/4 the engine is cranked (after depressing the throttle), when it starts vacuum opens the butterfly a crack. In this condition, the idle should also drop down one step when the throttle is tapped.

Thx for the reply 5-7!!

That makes sense. BTW it's the stock CC Q-Jet, and has one vacuum diaphram on the pass side of the carb and the linkage goes to the secondary AV.

That's most likely why it's running like crap when cold, because the choke refuses to "crack open" after startup. It seems like it doesn't want to kick off high idle until the choke coil warms up enough to force it off.

There seems to be a balancing act going on between the electric choke coil and this vacuum motor, and if either is wrong - it'll run bad until warmup, then it's fine.

I can tell already this will take hours of fun trying to "tweak" this thing.

Anyone have any adjustment tips to save me any headaches (and time?)