I've been having a hard time starting my car now that it's cold and i noticed my choke plate doesn't move much when i press the gas before starting. When it is closed it's closed the right amount. What should I be looking at to fix the choke and get it to close when the gas is pressed? Thanks

 

don't understand really. you say it doesn't move much when you press the gas but you say when it's closed then it's the right amount. so how does it close then in you car?

the way it should work is that when car is cold and you press the gas once the choke plate will close. as the car warms up it will slowly open.

the amount it is closed when cold is regulated by a bimetal spring inside the canister (the black plastic cylinder). when you loosen the 3 screws holding the canister you can turn the canister to adjust the amount it's closing. 2 markings in direction rich should be ok for winter. if you turn the cylinder and choke plate doesn't move at all the spring inside might not be hooked up correctly

 

what i meant was if i'm testing the choke and turn it all the way counter clock-wise then it closes within the proper parameters. then when i move it back and try the car later in the day it won't shut properly it will just stay at whatever position it's in.

 

What do you mean move it back? Set it so the choke closes all the way and tighten it down. If it opens too fast, let it cool off, turn it tighter, and tighten. Also, Have you checked to see if you have the choke linkage attached to the electric coil spring under that black cap?

 

I was thinking the same cowboy, that the spring is not hooked up but that would mean that when turning counterclockwise on the cylinder the chokeplate will not move.
So I would see that the car is cold. and then go from there: turn counterclockwise so you have it in the limits.
What should happen then is during the warmup period of the car the choke should open.
if this is not happening then check where you take the power or make sure the heat riser is properly installed. Once warm the plate should be vertical

once this is working I'm very sure that when the car is cold next time and you hit the throttle then it will move back to closed as this is caused by the spring.

let us know how you get on

 

Andrew, like Kalli states, the choke spring housing has an index mark that you should use to correctly index the spring (somewhere between mid-index and 2 rich). There is also a choke pull off that opens the choke plate slightly so the car will start when cold.

 

it opens fully when the car is warm, i'm pretty sure it's just the linkage binding, because if i move the black cap it will move the butterfly so i'm just gonna work on the linkage, thanks for the help

 

You have a couple of suspect problems, either the choke spring is rusted or broken inside the choke cover, or the linkage is binding. Assuming you have a 2100, 2bbl, see if you can move the linkage freely by hand. If it moves easily, then you probably need to replace the choke spring. The choke spring reacts to temp, cold = it pulls the choke plate closed, and warm = it forces the choke plate open. The fast idle cam and screws are simply adjustments or stops, and normally do not control the physical opening and closing of the choke plate.