Electric Choke conversion

[JimsCJ5]

Hello everyone, My son's AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l has what I believe to be an original carb but it is missing the choke tube so the previous owner wired the choke wide open. I would like to have a working choke since it takes a while to start when cold. I understand the stock tube would be difficult to find so is there an alternative to that tube or should I go with an electric choke conversion? If I convert what do I need to know? I see kits on eBay but they might be .
Suggestions?
Thanks,
Jim

 

[harleydragon]

I have had very good luck over the years with ebay purchases..you can buy a manual choke kit at oreillys or other auto parts stores for about 10 bucks

 

[JimsCJ5]

I hear ya. I am not adverse to ebay but I don't want to purchase something that says it is for my application only to find out it is just a generic item. I was hoping that someone else had used one they liked.

 

[bzahler]

A source of carb info can be had a mike's carburetor parts. I bought one from him for a motorcraft 2150 I would post a link but don't know how

 

[elwood blues]

'79 w/ a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l I can only assume that it's a Carter YF 1bbl carburetor? If you're only looking to repair/replace your stock carb then here's a good link for you.

Carter YF Carburetor Parts

If you're looking to upgrade a Weber conversion here's another good link;

Weber Carburetor Conversion for Jeep Vehicles

If you're interested in going with a Motorcraft 2100/2150 carb, search this forum there's a ton of good info to be found.

IMHO, stay off of eBay. You'll end up with more headaches than you started with

 

[Jimbos76cj]

An electric choke can be wired up pretty easy. Buy a relay from a parts store like advance or auto zone. 30 and 4 prong (spst) or 5 prong (spdt) if you look on the bottom there will be markings next to the prongs

#30 goes to your batt
#87(a) goes to your choke. Both of these wires should be 14 gauge
#85 is the relay ground 16 gauge is good.
Pretty easy so far right??

Now for #86.. This is the hardest decision you have to make while wiring the relay up there are 2 ways you can go about it.
#1 wire it to any 12volt ignition hot power source under the hood.
Pros: easy to find a source and tap in
Cons: any time the ignition is on the coil is heating up. So if your listening to the radio the choke coil will be heating up and opening so there's a chance you could have it all the way open while the motor is still cold.

#2 splice the #86 wire into the white or small wire coming off the 2 prong plug on your alternator.
Pros: that wire only gets 12volts when the alternator is spinning so the choke only opens when the motor is running.
Cons: you have to cut into the white wire on the alternator. There's nothing hard about it just most people don't like doing it.

There's the 2 easiest ways to wire an electric choke.

If you want to get fancy there's also a way to use a oil pressure sender as a ground but that's a little bit more complicated.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

I forgot to add if your interested I can make you a relay set up. Will come labeled so all you have to do is connect it. I have all the proper tools to make good clean factory style connections.

 

[JimsCJ5]

Thanks Jimbo. I think I am going to try to get the stock choke working. If I can't I'll try the electric conversion. It looks like just the heat tube is missing but who knows?