Hi guys my 351 C automatic choke stopped working randomly, worked fine the other day but for some reason it's not working today, on cold start it started and barely idled at 300rpm, so I cranked up the idle screw up to 1000rpm so the thing doesn't stall, can anyone help? Thankyou

 

The choke is fairly complex and can be hard to get right, especially since you can only work on it in the morning for some problems.

The next morning before you start it, take the aircleaner off, go in and stomp the gas pedal once all the way to the floor.

Go back out and look at the choke door on top of the carb. It should be completely shut. If it's not, loosen the round black plastic thing on the pass side of the carb and twist it till the choke door shuts. I would mark the black thing first before moving it. The go in and stomp it one more time and then crank it up and see if it runs better and faster.

 

Still can't get my choke to work ****en pain in the ****

 

If you just come here complaining you can't get something to work, you're most likely going to be ignored.

Franklin already gave you an explicit procedure to try out; did you do what he suggested? Do you see what he says you should see? What were the results of his actions?

Read through these:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...-answered.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ent-101-a.html

Once you read & understand what you're getting yourself into and can talk at least semi-intelligently about your problems, then come back here and give us something useful to help you with... what, exactly, are the symptoms (pictures are good)? What have you tried to adjust, and what were the results?

Merely whining that you can't get something to work isn't going to help you, most people here aren't going to spend their time on something like that.

 

In the "stickies", I found this: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...-answered.html

 

Okay so tomorrow I will get some pictures and try to put a voltmeter on the electric choke assist to make sure it's getting around 7 volts what's next step after that

 

And when I take the choke cap off and twist it till the choke shuts, which way do I twist it? Clockwise or anti clockwise

 

Don't take it off, just loosen it. If it doesn't have screws but rivets, then the carb has never been rebuilt and it's locked by the factory setting.

If you can loosen it, reach around and hold the throttle open(engine off) and while holding it open, turn the black round piece, you will see the choke door move. If it doesn't move, you have more serious problems.

7 volts on the choke helps open the choke. If your choke is closed and won't open, then it will run rich and blow black smoke. Sounds like you do not have enough choke from your first post, I would skip checking for voltage for now.

 

So should I just turn the black cap clockwise till it lines up with the next bolts?

 

I'm just not sure which way to turn it to tighten the choke spring

 

Like I said, loosen the screws so you can turn it, hold the throttle open, and turn it. If you turn it the wrong way, the choke door will open more. That's when you say "whoops!" and turn it the other way till the door closes. Just make sure you are doing this in the morning after it has set all night.

Apparently you checked and the door is not shut all the way in the morning after you hit the pedal once?

 

Sometimes it pays to pay someone who knows what they are doing........ Myself, when my electric choke was acting up I did what any shadetree mechanic would do, I threw the son of a bitch away and installed a manual choke setup... fixed!

 

AMEN Brother ! Can I get a Hallelujah ?!

 

LOL!

I got so sick and tired of how finicky the electric choke was on my new carb I did the same thing. I never looked back. Especially when I can go most of the year without using the choke and it fires right up like it was on.

 

Really? My automatic choke works great.

What "new carb" did you purchase? And was the choke fully electric, thermostatic, or...?