automatic choke stuck on, on my 1990 golf auto!

[shuggyboy24]

hi folks

new around here i bought an old golf auto 1.6 driver 1990 last week and the choke is stuck on my mate took the carburator flap off but cant see whether it is perhaps a thermostat etc which is causing the problem? or is it a switch i can turn down? dont really want to take it to the garge for such a small job any advice?

cheers
shuggy

[adyh]

Make sure that it is the choke .

I had a problem many years ago now, where the car started fine and when it got up to running temp would stall .

I reckoned it was the choke that was gone , turned out to be the diaphram on the vacuum advance .

Tell us what the symptoms are and we may be able to better advise you .

[rubjonny]

It's most likely to be the coolant channel o'ring in the inlet manifold thats degraded and blocked itself, common fault on carbed engines.  The carb should get red hot pretty quickly, if not thats your problem

It also has an electrical feed, make sure that it gets 12v when cold with the ignition on, if not check the RED temp sensor in the plastic carb round the front.  Also check that the autochoke unit passes current (from the plug to the carb body).

[Veedubgt18v]

also check the coolant channel that runs from the top of the engine to the bottom, its a metal tube and can get blocked by scale etc and cause problems as the choke circuit gets its water feed of off this

[rubjonny]

The metal pipe is the return feed, the choke gets its water feed through the inlet manifold.

[shuggyboy24]

hi guys

thanks for the reply , will check those things with my mate at the weekend, the choke incidentally is going off after i took the car a good run, now all i need to do is change rocker cover gasket and get brakes a100 , loving driving a golf again tho:)

cheers shuggy

[rubjonny]

Sounds right, the choke will eventually switch off from what little coolant gets thru the o'ring and heat from the engine, but it will take a LONG time.

Just to give you a better idea of what you are looking at, its part 32 in this diagram:


Getting to it is fiddly but doable:
Before you start, MAKE SURE you can reach ALL 6 bolts on the inlet, the third one from the right is wedged between the inlet and exhaust manifolds and is tricky to get to. You'll need a new gasket and the o'ring, part 32 in the diagram below.

First take the carb off:
Remove the airbox
Remove the fuel line from the carb
unplug the 2 electrical bits on the left side at the back
remove the earth connection from the front
Unplug the vacuum connection to the green reservoir
Remove the coolant connection to the inlet manifold
Remove 3 securing bolts
Check the condition of all the vacuum pipes, do one at a time its a bit complex back there

That should give you enough slack to move the carb over to the right out the way, next get the manifold off:
Undo all 6 bolts, remove manifold.

Then lever out the knackered old oring and clean up the hole it came out of. While you're here check the inlet manifold preheater. Then fit the new gasket & oring, refitting is the reverse of removal