Now that it's summer, I've been driving several of my cars which means the Tercel will sit for a while from time to time.
It wouildn't start and I quickly noticed the choke wasn't closing after two pumps of the throttle. Blasted the hinges of the choke valve with some carb cleaner and that did the trick for a few days, but now I'm back to square one. I can engage it manually by fiddling with the choke mechanism at the back of the carb.
I have a spare carb and rebuild kit incoming, but in the meantime I'd like to get this sorted. The choke opening system works just fine and the FSM doesn't really deal with the choke not closing. Is this a known issue? As far as I can see the actual closing of the valve before starting is a strictly mechanical affair. Can the butterfly valve's pivot rod get so gunked up it requires disassembly to clean? Not much to it at first glance and I feel like I'm overlooking something.
I have seen this before, check none of the linkage is hangling up, it might just need a good cleaning.
I suspect the heating coil in the autochoke gets out of whack as it ages so it should be readjusted, or replaced if that is an option. the FSM has a procedure to drill out the choke coil cover, and install screws, so you can adjust the assembly to allow it close. it also means you can pull off the cover to inspect the coil and heating element for proper operation.
Thanks for the tip Petros. Looks like something I'd want to do on the bench rather than contorting my 6'6" frame into the engine bay. There's no way I'm removing the carb without destroying the old intake gasket, so I'll just try a daily spray of carb cleaner on the choke pivots with the valve in various positions and hope it self-heals while I wait for my spare carb and gasket kit to come in.
removing the carb is not difficult, takes only about 15 min. you just have to label all of the vac lines so you get them back on in the same place. usually if you do not destroy the base gasket you can put some sealant on it and reuse it.
I have had a couple jump the track. The lever inside the choke pops off the coil spring. Have to remove three pop rivets on black cap. I reinstall with screws. Probably not what your problem is but thought i'd mention it.
Note: drilling out the rivets is easier if you punch out their pins first. Use a small diameter nail with end filed flat.
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
During my daily spritz of carb cleaner whilst moving the choke valve, I noticed it slowly closing if I hold down the throttle for a good 5 seconds, so it looks like some gunk hiding in the pivot points may be the culprit after all.
The carb looks easy enough to remove, but the rebuild kit and spare carb are on their way and the current gasket looks brittle, so I'll exercise some patience for now.
