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can you buy a new car with a manual choke still?
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Er No. why would you want to?
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I think the last one was a Lada in about 1994 which managed to hang a catalytic convertor on the end of their system with a carburettor. Probably wouldn't pass new emissions test now though.
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I had a Mini Cooper which had both a manual choke and a catalytic converter. With the choke out, it wouldn't accelerate, so you had to juggle the gears and choke control to keep the car idling when coming to a standstill and then slam the choke back in as you brought the clutch up so you could pull away. Most amusing. Praise the Lord for fuel injection, no more worrying if your car is going to start, no flooding the engine, much better economy, no going 'off tune'. Carbs Schmarbs. :-)
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I had to laugh when I saw this thread, it sent a strange deja vu type shiver through me. I?m 37 and I can just about remember fiddling with the choke on a Chevette when I was 17. There must be many back roomers who have never had to use one or don?t even know what one is. I always forget to push it back in and I used to think pulling it out would gve me extra power when I needed it.
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Manual choke! i had one on a 1992 J fiesta popular. Still quite a few about of this type and most i think will have the manual choke. I never had a problem with it - in fact i quite liked being "involved" with the mechanics of the car a bit more.
Thing of the past now though.
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Ah the black art of the choke knob, coupled of course with magical powers of the right foot, all arts required to start (and keep running till hot) cars of that era!
Funny enough, a skill that seemed to eldue women?
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Wasn't the manual choke only pulled out so they could hang their handbag on it......
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"hang their handbag on it......"
Ah the old ones are the best.
Seriously, women had this concept that the choke was all the way in or all the way out. They did not appreciate the subtle movements required in relation to the noises and vibrations the engine was making.,
Choke was aptly named, in the hands of a woman it was more a noose.
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"hang their handbag on it......" Ah the old ones are the best. Seriously, women had this concept that the choke was all the way in or all the way out. They did not appreciate the subtle movements required in relation to the noises and vibrations the engine was making., Choke was aptly named, in the hands of a woman it was more a noose.
Shame on the pair of you!!!
If Nicole failed to understand the sensitivities of a manual choke, perhaps Papa should have explained better....?
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Shame on the pair of you!!!
Sorry milady -Grovels and tips forelock respectfully....It were that RF - he made me say it - honest.
BUT
I remember my BiL telling me about this very thing happening to him in the 1960's or early '70's when he worked in a specialist carb workshshop in South London.
A Hillman Imp came in running very rough and it transpired that the lady owner who had bought it the previous day had no idea of what the choke did. It was full on.
He swore this was a true story.
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I've got a choke on my bike, 2000 vintage. The cable broke over two years ago and I haven't bothered to replace it. Starting needs the clutch pulled in, which leaves one rather short of hands. The procedure is left hand on clutch, reach under tank with right hand to operate choke on top of carbs and press starter button with my right knee.
At my age this is starting to cause problems due to increasing lack of agility, has nearly resulted in a fall once or twice. Still, think of the interest I have earned on that sixteen quid though...
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I can remeberr leaving mine in on my vauxhall viva thinking it would be faster, doesanyone know if it would, ?
also my dad used to say push it in as soon as you cabn so i did before i git to the end of the street ,,, then it would die on me at a busy junction, ahhhhhhhh.
sometimes i would remember, and pull it back out just in time
av you eard the state of me goin on like an old dear, im only 34 !
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I owned an 83A Cavalier 1.6 Estate with an auto-choke. When that started to give trouble I had it replaced by a manual choke, which must have been quite a common problem as I believe kits were easily available for the conversion.
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One point; surely the knob should have been retained, to hang handbags on?
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Great minds think alike Tomo.....
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How old carbs work:
Many chokes are in fact a constriction ahead of the throttle plate which causes a greater vacuum, and thus causes the carb to suck more fuel. Absolutely no increase in power is gained by leaving one of these out. On older motorbikes, this was also refered to as the "air" control.
Some carbs do have a means of introducing more fuel, often premixed with some air, through a auxillary jet. One of these would return more power from a hot engine, but since they are a coarse mixture control at best, you would have to be very lucky to notice an increase, and even then the carburettor would have to be runing too weak a mixture.
I think SU carburetors (beloved of BMC) achieve a coke by lowering the main jet and therefore the contraits would be as abouve. However it is younks since I took one apart (1980 or 91) so I could not swear to this.
However an important point is to remember that when you set the mixture by whatever means the aim is to err on the rich side of complete and perfect combustion. It is true that more power is obtained on the rich side of this, but it is not much.
Where modern injection really win is their ability to get the mixture right throughout the rev range, and not just at a few points. Because of this they don't have to err on the "safe" side to such a degree, and need not admit any fuel on the overrun.
I've got two cars with chokes, one on twin 45 delortos that I can start without the choke provide the air temp is above 7 degrees, and another much older one on an Amal that requires much juggling as it warms up as the carb is a much more basic device. I may not like many aspects of moder cars, but good fuel injection and no choke is a totally sensible idea.
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My 1965 Fiat 1500 had a choke and a hand throttle control. If you pulled the choke out too far without the hand throttle, the engine would stall because of an over-rich mixture. It would then take hours to start again.
I was trying to describe the set-up to my 16-year old son recently. He interrupted with "Cool. You had cruise (control) 40 years ago!" Er, not really ...
Tom, I would pay to see you start your bike with your knee. My Bandit has a choke but the cable is intact (or it was this morning).
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Alfasuds and 33s had manual chokes; but you never had to use them at any time even in the coldest weather. Jump in, press the throttle twice, turn the key and off they go.
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my first car was a 40 years old Riley 9 . It had a choke and hand throttle mounted on the steering wheel. (Paddles are not new you know:-)
My lawnmower has a manual choke. Pain in the proverbial as it only needs full choke on cold days and not in summmer.
I've not driven a car with a manual choke since my 1967 Lotus ELan: whcih having two twin choke Webers did not need it but happily coughed and burped when cold on no choke.
I'll not miss its demise...
madf
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Tom, I would pay to see you start your bike with your knee. My Bandit has a choke but the cable is intact (or it was this morning). Hawkeye -----------------------------
It won't be long now, Hawkeye. Apparantly all the GSX series engines suffer from choke cable demise. First sympthoms are an increasingly stiff action, then kaput.
I'll send you full instructions on knee starting when the time comes.
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I have a friend (tall chap) had a mid 70s mini about 15 years ago, manual choke. Going down the motorway, he'd pull the choke full on, and stick a leg out of each window. Got some odd looks, I can tell you!!
Alex.
--
Dr Alex Mears
Seat Leon Cupra
If you are in a hole stop digging...unless
you are a miner.
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I learnt to heel and toe courtesy of a Hillman Imp and it's somewhat ineffective choke. Still it was better than the automatic choke it came with. Roll up to a junction, left foot on clutch, right foot balanced between brake to come to halt and accelerator to keep the engine running until it warmed up.
John
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Daihatsu used to have a manual choke knob which could be pulled out and used as a handbag hanger. At the other end though, it was an auto choke. Good idea at the time, pull the choke out for full auto operation and push it in and out for manual operation.
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