Well starting im having problems with the choke on my carb. For one my light never comes on in addition the choke dosent kick in when the engines cold. It decides to work after the cars warmed up causing a severe jump in RPMs while driving. Because it dosent kick in on a cold start i blow smoke all over the place till the cars warmed up, plus its difficult to drive because it tries to stall till the cars warm. Ive had it rebulit and even the mechanics are stumped. They cant seem to stop it from running rich. Finally the car severly hesitates when you lay on the gas and the acceleration is sluggish. Its a 4bbl HO carb off of my 1983 Z-28 305. I have completly run out of ideas and money on this car. I need help bad. If you can give suggestions on any of these problems it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Are you getting any power to the choke? grab a testlight and check it.

 

Not to sound stupid but how would i do that. I Know what a test light is but where would i apply it to? (What Wires). Plus i know the choke kicks on just at very random and wrong times.

 

Look at your choke housing: there should be 2 wires connected to it, a power and a ground. Check the power there.

BTW...are you sure that the choke is kicking in during normal operating temperature? If the choke closes when the car is warmed up it would probably flood the engine. Check the power going to your choke tonite, and tomorrow morning before the car has been started, open the hood, take off the air cleaner, press the gas once or twice, and start the car. When the car starts, watch the choke and see what happens- this will give you an indication of what's going wrong rather than speculating.

 

Oh that makes me remember. My temperature gauge has had a history of problems. Looking back at all of the records, my uncle has brought it into the shop to be fixed 4 times over the years for that problem. Every time they released the car stating it was faulty and was not repaired. I was told the car has trouble reading out its temperature. could it be that the ECM is getting improper readouts and kicking in the choke at improper times? Or do i just sound like an idiot? Im 17 and build computers for fun; this is my first car and learning expierence so i guess i have no idea what im doing. BTW thanks for responding everyone.

 

The ECM does not control the choke. The temp guage sending unit is also separate from the temp sensor that the ECM reads. The guage being faulty has no bearing on your issue.

Follow 85's advice and observe the action of the choke mechanism.

If it just started happening it could merely need a good cleaning with carb cleaner. What kind of mileage are you getting?

 

im getting around 17-20 mpg. i also failed the emmissions test by 150 pts and was putting out more than double the hydrocarbons i was supposed to be. i just had the carb rebuilt. i cant find anyone that wants to touch an 83 camaros carb. Most say they cant do it. I know the thing is clean.

 

Check your choke action and report back.

 

I did check it. When the car is off if i put the petal all the way down the choke closes like it should. Then when you first start the car it runs like garbage. It blows smoke all over the place and dies if you dont give it gas. finally much later as the choke opens more it gets to a point where the rpms spike to 1500. then the car behaves. Finally the rpms gradually go down to about 700 once the car warms up. Thats all i can give you. Other than i have never seen the choke light come on once in my ownership of the car. As of now i have about $2000 invested into the carb alone; im out of ideas and money.

 

Sounds like your choke linkage is not adjusted properly or you've got problems with your electric choke. While it's warming up you should see the choke plate gradually open. Once it's warm it will kick out of high idle after the throttle's been blipped. There should be a wire running to the choke housing on the passenger side that provides 12 volts. This heats the coil inside the housing which opens the choke. Make sure it's connected and is 12 volts (+/-) to ground.

The choke light will not come on during normal operation. It should only light when the electrical system is not providing a minimum voltage level. It's more of an "alternator" light.

There are other possible causes of your problems, but if you start with the basics above we may be able to narrow it down.

 

I hope that's only $200 invested in the carb.

 

This is a computer controlled carb, correct? I'm going to assume all of the electronics are hooked up, and nothing has been modified, bypassed, etc.

The first thing I would check is the vacuum break for the secondaries. It is a little round vacuum can with a single hose coming out of the front, and a rod going to the rear top butterflies. With the car off, disconnect the hose, push the arm that the rod connects to all the way in. Cover where the hose goes with you finger, and let go of the rod. The arm that comes out of the back (with the rod on it) should stay where it is, and then come out when you remove your finger. That means the vacuum break is holding vacuum. If it doesn't get a new one. It might be the cause of your bog when going WOT.

Next, I would try and fine tune the choke. There are two adjustments for this. The screw on the vacuum break which opens or closes the choke flap, and the fast idle screw. I would start the car cold with the air cleaner off. As soon as you get it running, play with the choke flap a little with your finger (open it a little) and it should smooth out the cold idle. Adjust the screw on the vacuum break to get the choke flap to the position where it runs the smoothest. Next adjust the fast idle screw (below the vacuum break from the front) as necessary to set the fast idle. Do this a couple of times when cold to get it where you want it.

 

Unfortunatly that would be $2000 invested in this carb. Yes it is computer controlled and thats why many mechanics wouldent touch it. (or so they said). I do believe i have the choke problem worked out though. Last night i made some adjustments and when i started it this morning there was no problem. But i still have a major acceleration and hesitation problem. I will try what lo-tec said and get back to you. By the way as for the wiring; some squirrles had a field day before i got the car. They chewed through more than 12 seperate wires under the hood and i dont know how many more. I have an aftermarket air conditioner that hadent run in years till i spent three hours finding and reconnecting the wires. A few wires are still unconnected because who knows where they go. Its a work in progress. Anyway thanks for the help so far.

 

Is your mixture control solenoid functioning (ticking sound at carb when ignition is turned on)? Is your TPS wired up? Post a picture of this baby. Let's make sure all the electronics are able to function.

 

ok i know there is a ticking whan the car is turned on so i assume that the mixture control solenoid is functioning. i will get a picture asap.

 

A bad, or disconnected, TPS can cause your problems (other than choke). It can be checked with a voltmeter. It's easy to break it when reassembling a ccc-qjet, and they do go bad over time.

 

Ok here is a picture of the carb, sorry it took so long. The pic is kinda bad because i had to kill the resolution to fit it.

 

Do you have access to a multimeter to measure voltage and resistance? A dwell meter would help too.

 

i have the dwell meter but i have nothing to measure voltage and resistance. Unfortunatly when i started my car this morining the choke problem that i thought i had fixed was still there.

 

Connect the positive lead on the dwell meter to the green diagnostic lead near the passenger side firewall. It's behind the strut mount-you'll see about a foot of green wire with a connector on the end. Connect the ground to any metal. After you've warmed up the car check your dwell reading on the V6 scale. It should hover around 30 degrees (50% or half way) if the carb is set up correctly. When you blip the throttle the guage should move and then settle back to about 30. If it stays at 30 and doesn't move or stays pegged to the left or right then we'll have to figure out why.

On the choke check your electrical lead with a test light (one lead to the choke wire the other to any ground) then follow Lo-tec's advice.

 

ok i looked and there was no green wire. could you describe this in a little more detail? I did find 2 green wires and 2 black wires connected to a clip a little behind the carb along the fire wall. the clip was just sitting there unconnected and had junk in it so i suppose that it had not been used in a while. By the way near the driver side firewall behind that strut mount in the far right corner there is a black box or boxes. to it goes maby three clips and one of them is rather large. the large clip has maby 5 wires 4 of which i just noticed have been chewed clean off. do you have any idea as to what the box is? Also did you mean to read the dwell meter on the v8 scale? Or is there a reason to read it on the v6 scale?

 

The wire is taped to the outside of the engine wiring harness (for the ecm-it's the really really thick one). The harness goes down into the rear of the fender on it's way into the pass compartment, behind the strut mount. The wire is just hanging there, out of place. The end is exposed with a goofy looking green connector.

Set the dwell meter on the V6 scale to read correctly.

Did you check the vacuum break to see if it held vacuum?
Also, is the rest of the car in good tune? Does it run fine when warmed up and drive normal but not when you mash it?

 

Um no i diddnt check the vaccume because i dont know which canister you are talking about. And for that the rod and arm i have no idea what you are talking about. The car does run fine i guess when warmed up. it idels around 700 and is pretty consistant.

 

Take a look at your picture. Look at the vac. tee coming off of the front of the carb, directly below the mixture control solenoid (two wire connector on top of the carb). One end of the tee is open, the other has a short hose on it. The hose leads to the vacuum break. The adjustment screw for the choke flap is attached to the short arm that comes out of the other end, just above the electric choke. There is a spring behind the screw. This is the screw to turn to change the choke flap position when cold.

Remove the short hose from the vacuum break, push the short arm on the other side all the way in, and cover the end where the hose went on with your finger. Release the arm. It should come out a tiny bit and stop. Remove your finger from where the hose goes. The arm should come all the way back out to where it is in your picture. If it does this, it is OK. If not, the diaphram is shot and you need a new one.

 

Ok thanks. I now have a reading from my dwell meter. i found a green wire but it went all the way through my firewall. i did manage to find a green connecter with 2 blue wires comming out of it taped and burried in the wiring harness. When i hooked it up and with the car warmed up i started it. For about 2 seconds the dwell meter hovered around twenty and then the needle buried itself all the way to the right. When i reved it it came slighty back closer to 20 but then dropped immeadiatly again to the right. thanks for the vac thing by the way i will try that along with reconecting those chewed wires. i keep finding more every day

 

First follow Lo-tec's advice and get the choke and pull off checked. Then we'll see why your ecm is trying to lean the engine out. Are your idle mixture screw plugs out on the base of the carb? These plugs should be removed in a rebuild allowing access to the mixture screws. Check them and count the number of turns out for each idle mixture screw (2)-screw them in counting turns until lightly seated then put them back to their original position. You may need a special driver available at the parts store for about $10. Borrow one if you can.

 

Might just be the picture, but the fuel line at the carb inlet looks like it's been pinched down - maybe restricting fuel flow. Also is that tee open on the one end - maybe a vacuum leak.

 

oh the tee was me. it was a hose i had to disconnect to get the air cleaner off to show the carb. As for the fuel line yes it is twisted a bit. The mechanics did that when they replaced the fuel filter. We were going to do it ourselfs but couldent get the fuel line off so when they did it well... you know. I am going to test for the leak today so i will get back to you NAF as soon as i can. i have to fix those wires.

 

whats your egr connected to?

 

ok on the vac test the arm when held by my finger slowly let out till it came out all of the way. When i tried it again it once again slowly let out until i removed my finger from the hose and then it shot out faster. Not once did it completly stop even with my finger held on it. Also the box with all of the cut wires has PED 23 stamped on it. What is it. The book makes it almost look like the Baro Sensor.

 

Your choke pull off diaphragm is bad. This affects choke action and secondary air valve opening. Do not make any other adjustments until it is replaced. It should be less than $20 at the parts store. Where is this box with the cut wires?

 

post a pic if possible.

 

i cant post a pic i dont have a digital camera. that other one was taken with my girlfriends camera. I just got done reconnecting the wires to the box. It was located on the drivers side firewall in the top far right corner. It is either under or is the baro sensor. By the way you said i can get the choke pull off diaphragm at a parts store? What parts store are you talking about. I dont think that they would just have one of those at an autotzone.

 

Get the carb # off of the main body and take that info to Autozone. Most likely they will have it.

 

i got the part and put the new one on. yes the old one was bad. When i tested the new one it worked like a charm and the arm diddnt move. Thanks for telling me about that. Now i just need adjustments. The choke works now. Thanks everyone for all of your help and time i appreciated it.