So heeding my own admonitions on the matter, a couple of close up shots of what an AVS choke looks like
So this is the kit that Edelbrock offers for its electric chokes. From left to right, the package as you get it, my custom stacked tool for use in dealing with tight spaces and T-20 assembly screws, and the choke cap and element assembly; the adhoc tray for it is the piston from one of my Accusump Tanks that committed suicide (long story for much later)
Just my AVS2 peeking out from under its blankie; a section of shop towel that has been draped over the carb throat to keep the raging dusties from trying to drop into the carb while the air cleaner is off.
Up close and very personal with the location of the choke and what one looks like once you remove the cap. That little blue finger is the contact point for the tab that is located on the end of the choke element. Slightly to the left you can see the pull off rod and it now slips and slides back and forth quite easily. According to the instructions, when you install the cap, you have the two terminals pointing up at around 11 o'clock. Then you set the fibre gasket into position place the cap over that, add the retaining ring, and go nuts trying to index the ring, keep the cap in position, and get those miserable little screws to go into their holes Having the tabs on the cap at 11 absolutely takes the tension off the element. Once you have the screws snug but the cap still able to turn, you start to move it clockwise. By the time the index mark on the cap starts to pass the indexing marks on the choke body, you will feel the contact or touch as the tang on the element comes into contact with that little blue finger, You will also hear the buttlerfly plate on the primary side drop into the full closed position.
Because my Van is a warm weather cruiser, I tend to set the choke in the middle of the lean side of the indexing marks on the body. Through actual experience that has proved to be the happiest setting for first starts in the mornings.
And, as described, the choke buttterfly plate now sits in the fully closed position. Prior to all this finagling around, it would not move; totally jammed/locked in the upright or fully open position. The engine would start and idle but was nonresponsive to choke input so took forever to warm up.
And the culprit? Well this is the driver's side of the carb and you have to look real hard due to the lousy light but, as part of the throttle linkage, there is a secondary actuator called the fast idle linkage. This piece comes with a screw that indexs against another piece of linkage that carries a rod that travels up the side of the carb body and picks up a cam that is attached to the rod that also supports the butterfly. Tripping this linkage, which used to happen automatically when I went to start the Van, allowed that rod to pop free and Wham-a-doodle!! Down came the butterfly and back into full working condiition.
Now why it jammed in the first place and why it did not self release when I did work the wah-wah pedal during one or another of the start ups is a good question. And one to which I will likely never get an answer unless I can locate a Greyer Beard than I who has far more intimate knowledge of the AVS and its peccadillos. Or someone on the board recognizes what may have happened from this recital and chimes in with their solutions.
So I got the linkage freed last night, and today I spent an hour bundled up in my bunny suit in 90 degree weather to do some rust stripping with the air motor and some wire wheels; blowing up three of the wire wheels in the process, Then, much the soggier for all the sweat that had just been generated, I put the choke back to together and pulled the plug for operations in the shop for today. Like the character responded on "Good Morning Vietnam", It's HOT!! D*** HOT!!".
Nick
