i have a mild 350, with,cam headers,intake and all that i gotta question. On the carb, wut does a choke do? i have a 750cfm edelbrock carb on my 350 and it runs pretty choppy, i can hear it spit, its pretty rich, and it doesnt run very good, but yesterday i drove the car and it worked really good,(cuz i forgot to turn the choke off, manual operated cable). Will driving with a choke on mess up the carb or engine if it runs good??Isnt it making my Rich fuelmixture turn into a normal mixture??? www.roadrats.tk, (http://www.roadrats.tk,) 69chevlle

I'm pretty sure running with your choke keeps it a rich mixture, and the mixture leans out as your choke opens (as more air can mix with the gas).

Chokes are pretty much used in cold weather, or I guess really any weather, to help the engine start. I think when an engine is cool and is cranking by a starter, there isn't enough compression so the mixture has to be rich for it to start firing well enough to keep running on it's on. When the engine warms up, the choke opens (on automatic chokes) and leans out the mixture for normal driving. At least, that's how I understand it. I'm trying to add input to the forums and make myself sound like I know what I'm talking about, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't think running really well with a choke on all the time is 'normal', but I guess there isn't a problem with it? Unless you stay so rich your plugs are soaked.

Originally posted by tim R:
On the carb, wut does a choke do?The choke creates a rich mixture on starting- it creates a vacuum, which allows more fuel to come into the intake than just pumping on the accelerator pump.

Originally posted by tim R:
but yesterday i drove the car and it worked really good,(cuz i forgot to turn the choke off, manual operated cable)?There is some other issue with your carb. Running with the choke should make it run like total crap. Have you set the idle mixture screws? Sounds like they are too lean.

Originally posted by tim R:
Will driving with a choke on mess up the carb or engine if it runs good??Isnt it making my Rich fuelmixture turn into a normal mixture????It wont mess up the carb, but there is already something amiss in your carb. Actually what you are doing is making your LEAN mixture RICHER by leaving the choke closed. Id look at the mixture screws or maybe even a clogged fuel filter if I was you.

You say its "pretty rich". What makes you think that? What do your plugs look like?