I just installed a Holley Street Avenger 670 on my 400. I had the electric choke off at first but starting in the morning was a little rough so I wired it up. The choke was spun around as to hold the flap wide open so rotated it back to set the flap to about 1/4" open as recommended and it started right up first turn. it was idling high like you would expect.

I backed out of the driveway and once I gave it gas to go forward the engine immediately cut out. I drifted back into the driveway and tried to start it but nothing. I took off the air cleaner and the flap was 100% shut. I have a manual transmission.

Has anyone seen this? Is something broken or is something set wrong?

 

Sound like you lost the 12v power or the ground wire
to the choke.

 

Not adjusted correctly. On a carb, you need to let it cold idle for at least a minute (depending on application and state of tune). It is not EFI.

Even if the choke plate was fully closed as you described, it has a choke unloader that will open the plate slightly @ WOT (if adjusted properly) for a re-start.

 

Also when you adjust the choke make sure it's unloaded, i.e. open the throttle a tad and let it go fully closed.

 

And do it with the engine cold.

All the automatic chokes made by the car companies use a plate pull-back of some sort (usually vacuum) so that even in the coldest conditions, the choke is not completely closed, so the engine can still get some air. I haven't worked with Holley's auto choke kit, so I don't know if they have a similar feature. But I usually adjust the cable on my manual choke so that I get at least 1/4" of gap between the plate and horn at "full close". I think this is the recommended gap for most factory auto chokes if you had to adjust them.

 

Also check to make sure when you turn the cap that the plate moves when you turn it the other direction also. If it does not then the cap was installed incorrectly and you will need to take it off and make sure the rod is inside the the spring eye and not on one side or the other..