The previous owner of my truck did some strange wiring. They have a wire running from the electric choke on the carb (Holley)to the fuse box. I'm pretty sure this isn't right, but where is it supposed to be connected?

 

To the stator terminal of the alternator.


Dennis



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I've always called it the center tap terminal of the alternator. It is identified by the black insulator around it. It will not produce 12 volts. It will be closer to around 6 or 7 volts depending on the rpm of the engine and condition of the alternator. So be sure you have an original Ford electric choke and not an aftermarket one. An aftermarket one may require 12 volts. If that is the case then you can use the center tap terminal to power a relay that does have a 12 volt supply for your aftermarket electric choke. It is a little confusing in knowing which electric chokes need the full 12 volts.

Basically you just don't want the electric choke to be powered up with the key just turned on. The choke needs to be setup to get power only after the engine is running. If you had it setup to get power while the key is just turned on then your choke will do you no good on a very cold day if you have a slow starting engine. The choke will have fully warmed up by then and may as well not be there. The alternator may put out a tiny amount of voltage while then engine being cranked, but it is an insignificant amount.

There is another bimetal choke made by Ford. I don't have any information on it.

 

 

I have been having choke problems so I took out the volt meter and ran a test. The line was running 12V constantly. I tract the wires from the alternator and found the correct one. What had happened was the correct wire and the wire that was hooked up both went into the same rubber snap connector. But there was only one wire coming out. The six volt wire broke off at the base of the connector and was never there since I have owned the truck. I spliced in a wire to the choke and it seemed to help.

I am not sure what the other line is for. But the AC has been pulled so maybe it is for that. I can look up the color code in the book tonight. By the way I have a 400M with a 2150 2bbl.

I then looked at the choke setting and compared it to what the sticker said. The sticker said "index" and it was one notch to lean so I set it to the middle mark. Not sure if this will help or not, but all of my emmisions stuff is on and working so I can play with it if need be.

I noticed the carb bolts were not tight due to a small bit of fuel on the block. Snugged them up. It now idles better.

Unfortunately it has warmed up today so I cannot run a true test of the choke until tomorrow.

Thanks for the info.

Jeff