Club 80-90 Forums

Hi, my 1983 1.9 watercooled petrol T25 allegedly has automatic choke, not that I've noticed it.

I've been informed by various friends that it is actuated by either one or two depressions of the accelerator prior to starting, can anyone confirm this for me?.

At the moment regardless of how many presses I choose to do I have to hold the accelerator pedal down manually to raise the revs in order to keep the van running when cold (it just chugs down to stalling otherwise), however once warm the van seems to be over revving when idling! (basically the opposite to what I actually want).

Can anyone shed some light on my situation and perhaps suggest some remedies?.

Thanks for your time. Matt

How long have you owned the van? When did the starting problem begin, just recently or always?
We do have auto chokes. They are fitted to the side of the carburettor and have a stepped cam on the side, which is set by pressing the throttle pedal once. Then you take your foot off the pedal and it should start perfectly. As the engine warms up the cam changes position and the engine runs on a normal air/petrol mixture.

Pump pedal once to engage/close flap. They require 12v feed to heat up an element which in turn works a bi-metallic strip. Once the engine is warm the water jacket feed keeps the choke open.

Mine did the same, found the 12v feed wire was junk, i.e. Not passing any amps

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Hi, thanks for the reply and for answering my auto choke query.
I've had the van for over a year, and this has always been an issue. I managed to nurse it through last winter as it was fairly mild, I had the van serviced by a local garage in the spring and mentioned the issues I was having, they said they'd made some changes but I've not really noticed any improvement, although the starting issues are more noticeable in the colder months.
I've now taken to trying to do repairs/servicing myself and wondered whether there was something I could fiddle with to improve the tick-over rate (and get rid of the smell of petrol that follows me around on my journeys), yet still enable the van to start when it's cold.

I know that this may be asking too much of an old van, but if you don't ask............ Cheers Matt

Idle can be adjusted on carb. Once you've done this remove vacuum hose from dizzy and set the timing. The petrol smell will be perished fuel lines, replace asap. All easy DIY stuff. The folks on here are experts on these vans and can walk you through most of the stuff you need to do.

If you can smell fuel STOP!
Change your fuel lines before your van burns.

Search my posts for 'choke' or 'fast idle'

Lots of stuff there

Search "itchyfeet" posts for the same.

Hi kevtherev, I'm pretty sure the fuel lines are ok (certainly no obvious leaks or drips), perhaps a better explanation would be it smells like it's running rich?, I'll take a look at your posts. Cheers Matt

Also there should be an earthing wire from the choke that should be connected to the body. Mine came adrift which caused the choke to stop working. Once re- attached to the nearest bolt the problem went away. Just a thought!

merckxfan wrote:Hi kevtherev, I'm pretty sure the fuel lines are ok (certainly no obvious leaks or drips), perhaps a better explanation would be it smells like it's running rich?, I'll take a look at your posts. Cheers Matt

Ok
Old VW flat four engines smell fumey compared to modern cars with catalysers.
You really need to remove the pancake duct and watch the choke in operation.
Then tell us what you observe

Hi all just wondering if anyone could enlighten me as to when the water pipes to auto choke should get warm
Mine stay cold when main pipes are warming up
1.9 dg water cooled 1985 was thinking it may be blocked
Thanks

It’s almost definitely blocked , the pipes to the carb will be hot before the thermostat opens

Holy thread resurrection batman.

Having the exact same issue with ours...

Seems to be not enough when starting and too much on idle - I think it's doubtful it will get through an MOT like this, so thanks to all the folks above for the info - might be able to try a few of these fixes!