Club 80-90 Forums

Following my continuing efforts to get a 1980 2.0 A/C T25 back on the road I succesfully started the engine two days ago, but have been suffering from idling issues. Initially it would only continue to run with some throttle, and would stall otherwise. Only yesterday did I then find out what Auto Chokes were and a rough idea of how they should work.

First question is, can anyone give me a definitive guide on the best way to use the auto-choke system. Either best-practice, or what the owner's manual says would be good. I'd like to know about cold start, hot start, and also warm starts. Once I know all that I will know if I'm operating the machine correctly, so as to identify actual running faults.

So far I have looked at the Auto-Choke butterfly plates, which were initially stuck in the vertical position. After carb-cleaning for a while they were better, but later found that they were only being partly 'set' by depressing the throttle before starting. They could be coaxed into an almost fully horizontal position with light assistance, though I was unsure whether they were meant to do this, or were still just sticking.

So my second question is: How far should the butterflies be rotating? I suspect that something is sticking in the actual auto choke unit and they will need lubricating/disassembly. Any tips on this will be appreciated as I am scared of making things worse instead of better.

Aside from this things are going quite well; I have issues with front brakes binding, and weak/no handbrake, but I am still confident of success.

Thanks for all the help,

Neil

Auto-choke starting procedure are as follows:-

Cold start: Press accelerator to floor & release slowly to set auto-choke
on side of carb. There is a stepped ratchet thingy on the outside & it has a bi-metallic strip inside carb & as the engine warms up it slowly comes off choke 'one step at a time'.

Hot starting: Press accelerator at least 3/4 the way down & start engine.

Restarting in hot weather is what air-cooled engines really hate - when you start them from cold drive 1/2 - 1 mile stop engine for a few minutes & then attempt to restart. They tend to be a bit spluttery at first but soon settle down.

I've just bought a 'new' camper with that new fangled water stuff in it, I
wonder if the starting procedure is the same?