I just picked this truck up for $675. It needs a little bit of work with the most severe being the choke plate and the choke componetns are missing. I'm not an engine guy, so I need some help. The engine is carburetor. Is it possible to replace just the choke or do I have to replace the entire carb.

How would you rate the difficulty of this job for someone who is not real familiar with engines?

 

By the choke plate, are you meaning the butterfly plate right on top of the carb? (The one the arrow's pointing at.)


Sounds like someone's disassembled your carb for warm weather. Not sure why. If that's the case, you're going to need to find another carb anyway, since you'll either A) Need to use it, or B) steal the parts off of it to complete yours.
You'll also need to find a choke thermostat (the large black cylinder in the picture), as well as a heat tube to run up from the manifold.

However, since you have an '86, you have the feedback carburetor (which is controlled with a computer) and is known to have problems. If you're going to be swapping off a carburetor, you may want to look into the Duraspark II swap. You basically get an earlier 1bbl carb, distributor, and ignition module, and swap them out. It's more reliable, and you don't have to worry about all the computer stuff that likes to go sour.

All in all, whichever job you choose, neither are very difficult. Just be sure to do a little research before diving in to anything.

 

Thanks for the reply. Here are some photos that I took tonight. The guy I got it from said it was missing a butterfly valve. I have to take the air filter off and put some gas in the carb and it starts up beautifully. However, its a pain to take it apart all the time. Thanks for the input.

 

From what I can see, the only part actually gone is the butterfly; the shaft and housing are still there. It also looks like you're missing the hot air tube and a bunch of vacuum lines.

 

Can I buy just the butterfly valve or will I have to go to a pick and pull.

 

Check with a carb re-builder...they might have one sitting around in an old core they will let you have for cheap or reasonable.

 

Yup, it looks like it should be pretty easy to replace if you can get a hold of one. The shaft is still there, as is the choke housing, so you just need the butterfly and the two little screws. That is, as long as the choke spring inside the thermostat housing isn't broken. (Easy to check, just remove the 3 screws holding the housing on and remove.)

Several vacuum lines missing. If you don't know where they go quite yet, at least be sure they're capped off. A vacuum leak is much worse than incorrect vacuum signals.

Also, not sure if it's the case, but when I got mine, it wouldn't start until I poured gas in through the top of the carb. Turned out to actually be a weak fuel pump.



Lastly, it may just be me, but it looks like someone's already swapped out the feedback carb. That doesn't look like one, unless all those solenoids are just hidden by the angle of the pictures.

 

From another thread in the Inline 6 Cyl forum, I've since found out that this is the wrong carburetor. I'm going to the boneyard to pull one and hopefully it'll be the correct one.