Hey everyone, my name is Justin and I am new to Ford. I recently bought a 1982 Ford Stepside with a 240 Straight-6. The previous owner blew up the 300 and replaced it with a 240 out of a ?swather?. It has a 4-spd manual, and when it starts it runs real well.

Here is a pic of it:


Here is the issue. When it first starts, it fires right up and holds idle like a champ. Once warmed up, if I kill it then I cannot restart it. I figured out that the choke was stuck shut, so I had to prop it back open to get it started. I don't know much about the carb, here is some pics of it:



Does anyone know where the red hose coming out of the carb goes to?



I noticed that it has the provisions for a hot-air choke, as well as the electric choke. Where does the hot-air choke hook up at, and where could I buy the pipe?

Here is the electric choke apart, does everything look like it is supposed to? Also, this is the all the play it has back and forth, should it have more?







I also checked the lead heading from the alternator to the electric choke, and it had 8 volts. The alternator was putting out 18V. Why is the choke receiving less volts?

I guess my big question is, what do I need to do to get this choke running correctly? I hope I gave enough info.

Any input is greatly appreciated, I'm new to Ford motors. Thanks!

 

Test Test Test

Sorry, this was a test post and now I can't delete it

 

You have a hot air choke with electric assist. 8 volts in normal, since it's hooked to the stator of the alternator. The hot air for the choke should hook somewhere on the exhaust manifold. You should have vacuum on the choke chamber(that's why it has a gasket on the part you took off). There should be a port on the choke housing somewhere, and if it's open now, it should be sucking in air. This is supposed to be sucking in warm air from the exhaust manifold, and this is what opens the choke up, along with the electric.

You can also adjust the choke by turning the piece you have in your hand. When you re-install the round piece, to make sure it's engaged in the tang, hold the throttle wide open and twist the round choke piece back and forth. When yo do this, the choke door should move back and forth, open and shut.

 

After searching and looking at other people's issues, I see that I really need that hot-air choke tube installed. Does it scre into a small hole on the top of the exhaust manifold? I see one, so I assume that the small hole is where the tube would screw into. I'm worried that this may be the manifold from the 240, in that case would the 240 exhaust manifold still have the provisions for hot-air choke?

Thanks for the help on the electric choke, I will go out and try that this morning.

 

Also, will I see any help from the electric choke when it is below 40 degrees? By what I was reading, the electric choke only helps with temps above/around 50.

 

The electric is not going to do it by itself, I believe that is the problem you are running into now.

The 240 may or may not have had the hot air choke, but if you have a port on the exhaust manifold, then that will probably work. If I remember correctly, it's a hole that goes all the way through the manifold, with a little filter type thing on the bottom. I also believe I remember some of the guys on here saying the parts stores may have a repair kit. I think the exhaust manifold has a nipple or a fitting that always rusts off.

If you get frustrated with getting it working, you could always convert it toa manual choke. This works well, unless you have alot of other people who use the truck, and would not get the hang of using it.

 

I will be the only one driving the truck. The wife won't drive my 87' Cutlass, let alone a rough-looking truck with a stick. It will be used for summer camping and moving furniture/large items. It seems to me that I should just convert it to manual now and save myself a hassle. How complicated is this conversion?

 

"The alternator was putting out 18V"

This is to high of a voltage.
What does the meter show for battery voltage without the truck running?
Also, not running with parking lights on??
Might be your meter is not reading correctly.

 

That is what I thought, seemed high to me. I'm not sure what the battery puts out while the truck is off, I haven't checked. I was getting 12ishV when I was checking volts at the fuse box while I was running wire for the radio.

"Also, not running with parking lights on?? "

Sort of confused with this question, can you clarify what you were asking? Thanks

 

The parking lights just put a little load on the battery. If it is charging at 18 volts when running, when you shut off the truck the battery will be overcharged and will show a higher than normal "static" voltage. Checking static battery voltage with the parking light on will take the off the overcharging effect.

I was just really worried your meter was not reading correctly, but if you got "12ishV" at the fuse box (not running???) your meter is reading correctly.

 

Yes, it was around 12V at the fuse panel while the truck was running and in the off position. As for checking it with the parking lights on, I can't right now. The parking lights/taillights are not working for some odd reason. They worked when I bought it a week ago, and now I have nothing. I checked the fuse and it is good, I just haven't troubleshooted it any further right now.

Thanks for the suggestions

 

The Red Hose is your fresh air intake for the choke stove.

There should be a metal line that goes from the red hose to a port at the bottom of the exaust manifold.

This is where the air is heated, in a special chamber in the exaust manifold.

There is another port on top of the exaust manifold, directly over the bottom port where the metal line comes from the Red Hose.

Another metal line goes from the top port to the fitting on the carb shown in picture #2. This is where the Carb sucks in the heated air to open the choke. There is nothing hooked up to this fitting, so it is actually sucking in cold air, therfore closing your choke instead of opening it.

They do make a choke stove tube kit, it's avaliable in the help section of auto stores, made by motormite.

If the 240 manifold does not have the ports, you can run a tube, from the red hose, and coil it around the exaust manifold and connect the other end to the fitting I described earlier, that's shown in picture #2. That should give you sufficient heat to make the choke stove operate.

As it is right now, sucking cold air in, instead of hot. I'm surprised the carb isn't iceing, along with the choke problems. hope This Helps.

 

Oh, and BTW, Nice 1982 XLS you have there.

The XLS is a rare truck. Great Find!

 

The manual choke is fairly easy to install. It comes with a black cap that replaces the cap that you had in the picture.

The hardest part is drilling a hole in the firewall. I have put many manual choke conversion kits on different vehicles, and I have tried to run the cable through a hole over by the steering column. This works ok, but it doesn't work as good as drilling a hole right behind the carb inline with the cable mount on the carb. After going through the hole, run it down and and mount it at a 45 degree angle pointed toward the driver. This puts only one small 45 degree bend in the cable, and lets you cut it very short. This makes the choke very easy to work. Running it over through a existing hole around the steering puts several bends in the cable and it doesn't work as smooth.

Also follow the instructions and mount the cable end to the choke actuator with the sloppy fitting they give you. This lets you kick down the choke a little bit, even though you have it "on".

 

Thanks for the long, informative post 81-F-150-Explorer. I am going to try the manual choke route for now, since this truck is for recreation and will not be daily driven. I will keep this information handy though, just in case the manual method does not work out.

Do you know what makes the XLS stand out over the other models? I did notice that it has a sunroof, not sure if it is stock. Power brakes and steering, manual locks and windows. No A/C, which IMO is a good thing, helps keep the engine bay clean.