Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

I've been doing some reading and I believe I have an understanding of how it works. Please correct me if I'm wrong. This choke works off the starter when the starter is engaged the plate closes, when the starter is switch is off the plate is open? This happens every time the car is started no matter how hot the engine is? The Carter Carstarter choke is independent of the Carter choke; which operates off the thermo coil spring inside the choke body? on the side of the carburetor body? How am I doing so far?

Dave O

If you referring to the pedal start feature on the 53 and prior models, there is a metal check ball in the carb that moves once the engine starts and its pulling sufficient vacuum. That check ball interrupt the current to the starter solenoid. That's all it does. There is no electic choke, not does that affect the choke.

My 54 is a key start, so doesnt have that starter switch on the carb. Besides that part, the carb and the operation of the choke is exactly the same. It's a cam and heat spring controlled arrangement.

On my car when I go to start it, I press the accelerator to a couple of times to reset the choke cam and squirt a little fuel.

Then I turned the key.

It starts and runs a fast idle until things warm up a bit.

When my choke cam was out of adjustment,it would start right into a low idle and run rough until it warmed a bit.

So that all being said, I would pull the carb and go through and check all the adjustments. Just because it was rebuilt recently, doesn't always mean it was rebuilt or adjusted correctly.

It's not that hard if you find the rebuild sheet for your model of carb.

Yes, I will. I did find this picture in an old manual I have. Plus you answered my next question which was how to set the high idol. The previous owner said he knows nothing about carburetors, and just bolted the new Kanter unit on. I don't believe the choke or linkage was ever set up. This is probably why it runs so rough when you first start it cold.

Thanks;
Dave O

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The Carter Climatic choke is not electrically activated by the starter, the inputs to the mechanism are solely temperature, vacuum, and indirectly the throttle linkage. If you were to remove the Carter starter switch completely and start the car in some other manner, the automatic choke would continue to function normally and not know the difference.

And please, idle, not idol.

The Carter Car-Starter has nothing whatsoever to do with the choke. Even though it’s in the carburetor base, it is simply the starter switch doing the same thing as ‘54 and later where you turn the ignition all the way clockwise to start it.

However, something you said earlier makes me wonder if perhaps your car has been retrofit with an aftermarket electric choke. The choke it should have is purely mechanical.

Don makes a good point. You might have two systems working against each other. Ernie in Arizona

There's no way to tell what your reading and how relevant it is to what your issue is.
If it's a L8, I don't think Carter made an electric choke for that "W" series carb, just the later AFB 4 bbls.
Need to state what car your working on and some pix of the carb assy to verify it's original/proper. Otherwise, communication will be confused.

I believe you all will find everything is proper. I think all my confusion is what the owner told me about starting it. He said don't pump the pedal, or it won't start, he said only push the pedal down far enough for the starter to engage, there are two wires that go to carb,"they are for the choke". "It runs rough until it warms up". So, I thought oh it must be like an old MOPAR and something is out of adjustment. I'm not ready to go through the carb settings yet. If you don't see anything that looks odd, we can close this subject for now. And thank you all for your input.

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OH, and the Carb has WDO stamped on it.