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how long for choke to fully open?

B

bobct

Advanced Contributor
I really need to take the boat out for a while and THEN check the position but I have to move stuff out of the way.

After about 10-15 mins at idle the choke is not quite 1/2 way open. Does that sound about right?

I replaced the choke springs but the linkage connection was on the opposite side. That didn't really work out so I pried the springs out of the casting and turned them around. They're in the right position now and move just fine if I manually move the linkage.

Wondering if it needs to get really hot before they fully open AND does it ever go all the way, the same as moving it by hand?


Bob
 
I too would love to read this answer... My chokes are zip tied open for lack of a 12 volt ON source and that I never knew if they were open or closed. Since it starts and runs great without chokes for the last 4 yrs....so be it. BUT, never say never, I could still break down and connect them if I knew what was normal to compare against
 
I know you won't like this but the answer is "it depends". What has to happen is the cast iron needs to get hot enought to warm the coil. the bulk of this heat comes from the exhaust cross over passage in the intake. So, depending upon how hot the exhaust is and how clean (open) the cross over is, the faster the choke will open.

They should be open by the time the thermostat opens. You should be able to adjust the pulloff lever, if needed, to get the choke to open after the engine starts. On many, the spec value will let it run but much richer than necessary.
 
The spring is called a "helix"!
There are two types of operation!
**Heat from the cross-over, like Mark suggests.....
**And heat from a 12 v electric heating element......

Which style do you have?

.
 
My electric chokes on 300 HP XL classics are adjusted to be fully opened in less than a minute.

And yes, I have confirmed that one does not fully close the way they are set now making the first start a challenge unless I give it a little "help".

JD
 
I plan on re-visiting this choke stuff again. I have 12V heaters on the Edelbrocks but they are not wired. Thanks for the little time detail Mark. I still like that way things run and you know that " if it ain't broke" thing, of course.....it IS broke!
 
My description was for the MV style (aka divorced), heated by the cast iron....oh yeah, you need to have the cover on it or it won't heat up real good. Some will go on crooked and bind on the link or the coil.

The electric ones are pretty quick. Skytow indicated under a minute; I was gonna say under two minutes if the connections are clean. I've seen a couple electric ones that took several minutes - due to bad electrical connections.

Al - in my old age (where time goes tooooo fast), I've modified that phrase to "if <it> is functional, I'll spend my time fixing something else that isn't" - several years without starting issues is functional to me.
 
Thanks guys, I'll take it for a good run and see if they open up all the way. I don't idle all that long at the dock so as long as they fully open at speed I'm ok.

Rick - I have the divorced choke on the block.
 
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