Solex Questions

[scodari]

We've got a 69 GT with the Solex.

At the back of the carb. is an electrical lug; I assume this is for an electric choke?? Am I correct?

There are no wires attached; can anyone tell me where the wire should come from?

It will not idle by itself and we're assuming it might have something to do with this electric choke???

Also, the butterfly moves freely as well; is this normal or do I have two problems?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards

[David McCollam]

Hey!,

The power from the electric choke should come from a wire on the circuit with the horn. There is a power wire that should run across the firewall or possibly in tandem with the wire for the temperature gauge from the thermostat housing. It will be a female spade lug and may still have a rubber cover to prevent shorting.

As for the butterfly on the carb choke, there should be some tension provided by the bi-metallic spring the choke housing of the carb. If the butterfly is open during start-up while cold, this will contribute to your idle problem. If it doesn't close when cold, you will have a cold start problem below about 60F. Pull the air cleaner in a cold start condition check to see if the butterfly is closed. There should be some resistance to opening if pushed with a finger or screwdriver blade, but not much and it will spring back to the closed position.

If the butterfly is simply hanging there and moves freely (i.e. swings back and forth on its own in the airflow of the engine running) the bi-metallic spring is shot or the butterfly has come free of the spring. You'll need to open the choke spring cover on the side of the carb to check that. Also, you should check to make certain that the throttle plate moves when you move the carb linkage. If the linkage is binding or the pivots have not been lubricated, the linkage may hang up in the return process. Make sure all of the springs are still in place on the linkage as well.

Good luck.

Dave

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by scodari We've got a 69 GT with the Solex. At the back of the carb. is an electrical lug; I assume this is for an electric choke?? Am I correct? There are no wires attached; can anyone tell me where the wire should come from? It will not idle by itself and we're assuming it might have something to do with this electric choke??? Also, the butterfly moves freely as well; is this normal or do I have two problems? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Regards

Are you sure it's a Solex? Picture of carb showing contact would help!

It's definitely not the 'stock' '69 Solex as those were all hot water chokes. '73 and '74 Solex carbs were the only ones that used electric chokes and, unless electrical male spade lug is on the nylon choke housing itself, it's not the choke.

As David said, the '73 GT has the electric choke terminal wired to the yellow/black wire (switched 12V) of the right horn. This is easiest place to wire yours, if it is indeed an electric choke contact here.

[oldopelguy]

This isn't for a 1.1L motor, part of OECS, is it? That would make a huge difference.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by oldopelguy This isn't for a 1.1L motor, part of OECS, is it? That would make a huge difference.

Yeah, didn't think about that! Looks like 'assume' strikes again!