I have a 78 F150- 300 I6 stock. I have had problems every winter with hard starts. I think I have finally found out what is wrong. The choke plate seems to get stuck in one place on cold starts. After the truck warms up the choke plate seems to dislodge itself. It is just a pain, because I have to foot feed the truck until it warms up. After a closer inspection I noticed a wear mark on the inside of the carb throte. The throttle plate shaft has about 1/8 of an inch play, is this to much? Could the throttle plate be binding with the carb throte? Has anyone ever had this same problem. Can the Carter 1 bbl choke plate and shaft be repaired?( new shaft and bushings?)No matter where I have the choke set, the truck either gets to much air or not enough! I am sick of playing with the choke, it's been to many years. However I think that the throttle shaft is worn causing the choke plate to bind against the carb, thus starving the truck for air. What do my fellow Ford Truck extrodinaires think?

 

I had a similar problem with my 68 240, so I replaced it with a remanufactured one from J.C. Whitney. It worked great no more leaking throttle shafts or loose chokes. :P