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My 73 has an electric choke, it was hooked to the alternator, which was externally regulated, I swapped it all out with a G3, the choke has no place to attach, because it's not supposed to be hooked to 12 volts if I read right, is there another way to make it work? I replaced the heat pipe with a new one, cleaned out the exhaust manifold mounting hole with a drill bit, it's getting to it but when I accelerate from a stop, the choke turns back on, engaging the fast idle, which is a bother when stopping, having to hold it back, fighting the brake, getting tired of putting it in neutral to rev the engine, disengaging the choke. I am to the point of hooking up a manual choke, but I don't want to do that just yet.
I hear the electric is to help it, like when you shut it down for a short period. I have it on the lean side already, it's starting to look like a lost cause, I do have a new Motorcraft choke spring that is without the electric hookup, maybe I'll just swap it on as a last effort before calling it quits, tired of adjusting it only for it to work until I put the doghouse back on and go for a drive. I don't think I had this much trouble before, dad swears it's the same as all the others but if that were true he would be saying they never work because it's off until you accelerate, driving around with the idle hung at 1200 RPM is insane. I had hoped my issue was the electronic choke.
How about changing it over to manual?
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Does the housing on the choke, look like a regular black plastic one, with 3 screws around the edge? If so, can they be loosened and the housing turned?
I know when I was doing the DSII conversion on my 85 that the choke heater connected to the S terminal on the back of the stock alternator. There is a S terminal on the back of the 3G alternator but I do not know if you can splice off of it and add a fuse in the line. Part of the reason Ford used the S terminal was so that the choke heater would only have power when the engine was running.
Other threads I came across said that the choke heater is designed for 7 to 9 volts and will not last if connected to 12 volts while other people say yes it will.
IF you connect it to a circuit that is hot during run, you would need to make sure that circuit can handle the load of the choke heater. A option might be to use a small 12 volt relay controlled by a hot during run circuit and pull the from the battery terminal on the solenoid and fuse it to the wire size you use. You would need to use the normally open contact.
On my 85 the wire to the choke heater was a dedicated wire going from the choke heater to the harness and over the the S terminal. If yours is the same then you already have the wire over at the alternator to connect to the relay. If the Choke heater does in fact only require 7 to 9 volts then you could always add a ballast resister in the line..
I will try to do a little more reading later on the subject as I was thinking about upgrading my alternator one day and that would be good info for me to know.
Yeah, I believe I found where it runs up to the regulator under the hood so I can tie to it there, it's by the wire I to the idiot light, which I hooked up when I changed the alternator, forgot the choke circuit at the time. I don't want a manual choke because I spent money on all of the heat tubes for the choke a few years ago, I'm trying to get my money out of the purchase. Can't say I've ever had one of these that worked right even when stock, but all my vehicles had been hack jobs when I bought them. I can't make up my mind if I should add a ballast resistor or just put the choke spring cap that is not electric on it, I abhor pulling the doghouse back. The new 4 barrels have 12 volt chokes on them, boy I would love a 4 barrel intake and carb but I can't afford the cost, trying to pay off bills to get the transmission rebuilt, shifts tight, but when cold it has a pause before going into drive.
Annaleigh, the swap over to 3G was extremely easy, tape up the factory wires aside one and tie back, run a 4 gauge from the big post to battery, the green with red stripe I believe went to the tab I think, I started with a one wire regulator then swapped to a conventional so parts stores can test it.
I had to take care of some other business so didn't have much time to really search but did find this.. Keep in mind this is a forum post and there is nothing to support it but his knowledge and I do not mean to degrade him in any way..
(we need to research this more)
Mistakenly and Foolishly fried My 4180 Electric Choke
The 3G does, in fact, have a stator terminal, and the entire thing can be wired exactly the same way that
Ford wired the original separate regulator and 1G alternator. Always kinda bugs me how companies that
sell 3G conversions don't seem to understand how Ford wired up alternators, particularly in cars that came
with ammeters.
Running the stock choke off the 3G stator terminal is the correct way to do things.
This video does defiantly show the stator terminal. I do not know what it connects to when you do the conversion since I have not done one... So something else that needs to be looked into..
But if it would work then you should have everything right there....
Interesting, like I said, I ran a wire from the old regulator location to the new 3G alternator to the stator, for the idiot light, if this is correct, I can just tap it and it'll fix it, whats really irritating is I could have just tied it in at the factory harness down at the alternator had it not been all taped and pulled back where I couldn't see the wires. I had the alternator put on in a one wire setup by a shop, and due to some charging issues later, I had to pull it, buy a traditional regulator and install it due to parts stores inability to test a one wire unit, in my hurry, with no help to install it, I rushed, running a new wire down for the stator, totally unnecessary. I am going to make a jumper for now that'll feed into the original 'white' stator/choke wire to tap into the new one, later I'll run the other end of the stock one to the alternator, pulling my wire out, only after testing to insure the end down there is still good. So lesson learned, there are 2 wires in your factory harness that you use (a white black stripe & green red stripe I think), I did not reuse the actual charging wire because it was too small for the output on the 3G, why bother installing a 130/200 amp alternator if it is going through a 12 gauge wire to battery.
I meant to comment on the choke heat tubes. I don't know how well it will hold up in the long run but on my 85 I made my own from brake line tubing from NAPA. I used the softer tubing and a little hand bender. I did have the old one to use as a pattern. I was replacing the exhaust manifold at the time so it was easy to check to see if the tubing fit in the hole in the manifold. I used a a clamp tool like you use when flaring copper tubing to clamp around the tubing and then hit the clamp with a hammer to drive the tubing down into the manifold.
maybe that will help someone in the future..
Yes the Dog house,,, I hate removing it too. I have swivel seats so the last time I just went a head and removed the seats from the pedestal and that was so much easier.. It was extra work removing the seats but made it so much better for working space too..
I have been thinking about the house batteries for my van, maybe 2... I think I would have to do the 3G upgrade in order to charge them when they run down. I don't know if the stock alternator will do it or not.
The choke tube has insulation on it, I swapped mine around when the end rusted off, so not any now, need to get some, not that I can tell any difference without it, I now wish I had used brake line like you, stock lasted 40 years, the Summit replacement rusted off in the exhaust manifold before making it 2 years, I had to mod one to fit.
One thing people don't realize about deep cycle batteries is that they do not like fast charging, it leads to premature death from the heat created by charging, thats why at most, a deep cycle charger is rated at 5 amp hours. I went through 2 over a few years, the shop that did installed my handicap equipment put a deep cycle battery in the rear, hooking it to the lift, I hadn't given it a second thought till I replaced the battery a second time. Reading a sportsmans magazine, was on tournament fishing, I saw an article on charging the batteries during the event, they haven't time or ability to use chargers, they have an on board charger that is specially designed for the high amperage charging of the deep cycle batteries, it's on a timer, giving a full charge from the alternator for no more than 15 minutes, then cutting off allowing the batteries to cool down before coming back on, it's not cheap tho, was almost $300.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, a matter of how you look at it, I have no passenger seat, in a 68-74 Econoline it sits back into the side door, where the wheelchair lift is mounted, so it had to be removed permanently, so getting the doghouse is easier, I slide the drivers seat back, custom mount allows it to slide about 2 feet back, yet sliding it forward one has to be careful, it hooks the choke tube, dipstick, and plug wires.
I have a 2 gauge ground wire from battery to engine block, it's well grounded, I over killed it, want to pull the 4 gauge charging wire to put a fuse on it, but the alternator builder told me it was unnecessary as he's never done it.
Thanks for the info about the deep cycle battery.
SO installing a deep cycle house battery and charging it off the alternator is not a good idea unless I find a way to reduce the amperage going into it?
I was originally thinking about a solar panel and installing a switch so I could swap from alternator to solar panel for charging the battery. After having bought the new tires and alignment, I will have to wait on the solar panel perhaps...
I was also thinking that since I like camping in the mountains, there are lots of trees and I am not sure a solar panel would really provide what I would be wanting..
So what do you use for a battery now or to charge it? I have the spare battery out of my 85 that AZ replaced because it had sat and discharged all the way and would not take a charge. It is in my spare bedroom with one of those little solar maintainers on it... well not for that last month as I had company for a week and haven't reconnected it yet.. But it is a standard car battery..
I put a standard battery in the rear, it's separated by a relay, it's linked to the front only when the engine is running, I am doing the same for my other van.
Well I did hook it to the stator wire, the alternator idiot light came on, it's 13.75 volts too, so I pulled it off, everything is back to working, but the choke, yes it's worn out so I'm obviously wasting my time but I don't want to throw more money at it in hopes it'll function as it should. I do have a NIB Motorcraft non electric choke spring, I might try that to see if it's any better, but I am mad enough to manual choke it, I don't want to spend $20 on another electric just to be in the same position.
Gary that link added to what I found today with my volt meter, where everyone assumed the stat on the 3g would be the same voltage, it isn't.
Not to make you more upset,,, but just curious, i guess you saw the note on the diagram about the excitation resistor in the line to the no charge light?
Your volt meter pretty much verified the voltage. I still keep coming across threads that say to use the stator for the choke even if it is a stock ford heater.
You said "I started with a one wire regulator then swapped to a conventional so parts stores can test it." Perhaps that has something to do with why the light came on when using the diagram?
