Hi. I have a 1978 Dodge Aspen, and it has been pretty hard to start and it takes some time for it to warm up to where it will idle on it's own, and to not die when you mash the gas.

I was reading the other day that when the vehicle has not been started (cold motor), that the choke should be open, and if you push the gas peddle down, the choke should close.

I was in the garage this morning dealing with a dead battery and figured I would check the choke out. I took the air cleaner off and the choke was open. I pressed the gas peddle and look again. The choke again was open.

I then moved the rod that is connected to the choke and it worked. But when I turned loose of it, it opened right back up. It seems like something is hooked up wrong or it's missing something. It is a 2 barrel carb. Here is a few pictures of it:









Thanks for any help,

Tony

Point your camera at the other (passenger) side of the carburetor -- that's where the choke pushrod connects. The choke pushrod comes from the choke thermostat, which is the small sheetmetal box held to the top of the exhaust manifold with one bolt. It is likely your choke thermostat's coil spring has broken, so the pushrod no longer closes the choke. The easiest solution will be to install a #1232 Electric choke kit which replaces the choke thermostat and its thermal modulator with new, adjustable components.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks for the fast reply Dan. I will go and see, and do another picture of that side. Will post back shortly.

Tony

Here is what I found:





So I take it that the rod laying by the carb needs to go into the bracket with the hole in it? I slide the rod in and started the car up for a few minutes, and it didn't open nor close the choke. you can move it by hand.

Here is a picture of the heat sensor (I think) that works the choke. It looks like the rod comming out of it is hitting the housing. Is it suposte to be that close?



Thanks again for your time,

Tony

You've found the right components. The pushrod is supposed to hook into the round hole in the choke lever. We can clearly see that round hole -- about the same diameter as the pushrod -- in your photos. There's supposed to be a special clip that retains the pushrod in the hole. The box at the base of the rod is the choke thermostat. With the engine cold, the pushrod should spring back up when you push it down into the choke thermostat. If it does, then just replace the missing clip. Find a well-stocked auto parts and hardware store that has a wall with the orange Dorman hardware-and-repair-parts drawers. The part number you're after is 118-005. If the rod does not have spring tension, the internal spring is broken and you should go ahead and get the electric choke kit linked above.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks again Dan. I'll check the spring late today. If it turns out to be the spring, I'll just find another direct fit one, as it might be easier for me. I am the worst mechanic in the world. I will post what I find, and I will get one of thoes clips while I'm out.

Thanks again for your time,

Tony

The "spring" is a thermatic coil of metal that is not easily replaceable if you had some lying around...The sad and the bad is these choke pull off assemblies used to be easy to get from Standard, but they have discontinued it as demand lessened over the last 7 years...

FYI,

-D.Idiot

I hope this is good news. I went down to the garage this morning and took the thermostat off. It all seemed to be working, without any broken spring. I pushed it down and it sprang right back up.

I put it back on and hooked it up and it seemed like it was in a bind. I then took the rod loose and bent it so that it had more room around the housing. hooked it back up and it moves freely now.

Started it up and this is the first time that we have had the car (7 years) that I didn't have to pump the gas to get it to start. It started in about 4 seconds, and I didn't need to feather the gas to keep it running It idled fast for just a minute and then iodid down to normal.

So for now it looks like it is going to work. Thanks for all the information, it helped soooo much. I will still buy one of these to keep around just in case it does break.

The clip the retains the rod to the carborator, is it the complete O looking one that has the teeth inside, or is it the C clip? none of the part stores I went to yesterday had the Dorman brand, so I bought 2 different packs with about 10 in each pack, all different.

Thanks again for the GREAT information,

Tony

I would not bother getting a second choke thermostat "just to have", spend your money on something else that needs attention.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

That may be what I do. There is no maijor work to be done at this point, we had our interior (just about all of it) redone. The last thing is having an 8 track put in, we took it to a radio shop a few weeks ago and it checked out good, so hope fully they will install it this week.

Tony

those rod usually had a bend in them so you probably have it right now.

This makes me happppppy to get it to start so easy. it's embarrassing to start to leave some where and set there and let the starter turn and turn and turn to get it going. I'll get one of the clips that Dan said to get the rod to stay on, and should be good for a few thousand miles.

Tony

Got the clip, well actually 25 of them (you can only buy them in a box lot), and it works GREAT. It turns over probably 2-3 seconds and starts with a high idle and then idles down when it warms up.

Wish I had known about this several years ago. A big thanks for the help on getting it running the way it should.

Tony