Automatic chokes

[jagsman]

Hello all, first up van details:

1982, 2litre Aircooled automatic, petrol. Sorry, can't remember engine code.

Now for the science bit...

I'm technically inept and have no tools anyway (except the ones for my electric guitar and my chainsaw). The van is our second vehicle and needs to be in use quite a bit at the moment - my wife is nearly 8 months pregnant and the weather here has been freezing of late so she needs to get the toddler to nursery in the van...anyway...IT'S NOT WORKING PROPERLY!

Seems to be a problem with the chokes - had it into the blokey who used to look at it for us in Edinburgh (before we moved hundreds of miles away) back in October. He did his best to fiddle with settings and so on but as it started first time for him, it was hard to know what to do.

The problems:

not starting well - battery & starter checked by AA about 4 weeks ago, all fine. SERIOUS petrol smell and high idle speed - chokes too high I guess. Fine once it's going for a bit (i.e. runs okay if a bit heavy on fuel consumption) BUT if you turn off the engine for even a minute or two - enough time to stick a tenner of petrol in say - it can take an age (15 minutes!) to get going again.

Cold weather NOT affecting it - started first time last Saturday with minus 2 on our garden thermometer.

OPTIONS:

1 - sort it myself (see technical ineptitude above)
2 - local VW dealer (who won't quote, "it will be an open book job sir...")
3 - cry

What would be worst case scenario, new chokes? What sort of money might I be looking at?

Any suggestions please? All help gratefully received as ever.

Thanks,

Bryan

[Drew]

This probably won't help but my van is a bugger to start when hot also. My trick is:

When cold, 3 stamps of the throttle then start
When hot, foot to the floor while starting

[cumbriankeith]

Bryan
Drew's starting techniques are pretty close to what the VW owners manual says for these engines: from cold one "stamp" sets the chokes to "on" - the next 2 of his "stamps" also squirt neat fuel into the intakes - so it has enough to catch and get going. From hot: holding pedal down means the throttle is fully open and gets going, whereupon you ease back on the throttle and it should idle ok. What techniques have you and the other half-and-a-quarter been using? What's the air filter like? Renewed lately?
You could check whether the chokes are coming on at cold by stamping once (when cold obviously!); then, without starting the engine, take the aircleaner off (pops off with just a couple of clips and pipes - make a note of where they go!) - if the choke flaps are virtually filling the intake they are on ok.
You could also check they are coming off once the engine is warm by again taking the aircleaner off as above, after the engine has been running for a while, say 20 mins (you can stop the engine first).
New chokes, if it is them/one of them, are pricey (over £50?) and hard to get.

[Ian Hulley]

http://www.gasure.co.uk/solex.htm

'nuff said.

Cheers,Ian.

[jagsman]

Drew & Cumbrian Keith,

just a quick note to say thanks - rather worryingly your bizarre rituals seem to work like a charm! How on earth would you possibly have known something like that? I'm glad you did though, seems to be acceptable to the van! Thanks very very very much,

Bryan

[cumbriankeith]

Happy to be of service! That's what we're here for isn't it?
All I did was RTFM ("read the flippin manual" in case you don't know that acronym)
It took me a couple of years of poor hot starting to figure it out - reading the manual is something blokes do - eventually and only after they have tried everything else first...

[Flibbertigibbet]

rather worryingly your bizarre rituals seem to work like a charm!

Bryan

Ha ha you will have everyone selling their souls next