automatic chokes

philstar

Excuse my ignorance, but do modern cars have automatic chokes ? if so is it common for them to stick?

Its just that my car is running less economical of late, and the diagnostic light has come on

citroen c3 1.4 06

Random

in modern cars it's automatic yah. not sure on your other query.

Anan1

Chokes went out with carburettors, any car sold here since 1993 (I think) will have fuel injection.

ianobrien

OP, as stated allready, auto chokes were on Carbs. The emmissions were tightened up in 1993 and carbs went out then (99.9% of them couldn't reach the standard, some Honda's could).

Your car doesn't have a choke, and as the diagnostic light is on, you've got to find a mechanic who, with the correct scanner can read the code. He/She can advise you from there.

On a different matter, I much prefer manual choke to auto chokes, and I've never owned a car with an auto choke, but plenty with manual chokes.....

blastman

I owned an old Honda (well, I still do, a different one, but I digress...) which had an automatic choke that went one morning as I was driving to work (stuck almost fully open). Very interesting experience continuing to accelerate along country lanes with your foot off the accelerator!

johnos1984

I was driving the guys home form the pub one night and one of them thought it would be hilarious to pull the choke while we were on back roads..........$%^"%$"£

nmacc

Useful things manual chokes. I had an old Fiat 126 & a large flake of rust somehow got into the carb and dropped into the main jet, partially blocking it. I would have been stuck on the N7 if I hadn't been able to use the choke as an accelerator & drive away.

Mr Benevolent

nmacc wrote: »

Useful things manual chokes. I had an old Fiat 126 & a large flake of rust somehow got into the carb and dropped into the main jet, partially blocking it.

That really says a lot for Fiat's build quality back in the day :rolleyes:

Midnight_EG

Anan1 wrote: »

Chokes went out with carburettors, any car sold here since 1993 (I think) will have fuel injection.

That's a lie


My Civic is 95 and it has a Webber Carb and Auto Choke

nmacc

Confab wrote: »

That really says a lot for Fiat's build quality back in the day :rolleyes:

True. As you say "back in the day". Things have undoubtedly improved a lot, but I was able to pull off the road, take the top off the carb with the screwdriver on my Swiss Army knife and extract the rust with the knife's tweezers. Then I was back on my way, running well and feeling unreasonably pleased with myself.

Try doing that the next time the Hall-effect pickup on your camshaft position sensor fails!

unkel

Anan1 wrote: »

Chokes went out with carburettors, any car sold here since 1993 (I think) will have fuel injection.

That's what I thought until I found out recently that some Japanese cars (as usual the Japs were a good few years behind on technology) managed to pass the euro emissions tests with small non fuel-injection cars. I suppose that is a compliment of sorts

Edit: see Midnight_EG's post. His '95 Honda doesn't have fuel injection. Amazing old skool considering most Mercs were fuel injected in the 70s...

Midnight_EG

unkel wrote: »

That's what I thought until I found out recently that some Japanese cars (as usual the Japs were a good few years behind on technology) managed to pass the euro emissions tests with small non fuel-injection cars. I suppose that is a compliment of sorts

Edit: see Midnight_EG's post. His '95 Honda doesn't have fuel injection. Amazing old skool considering most Mercs were fuel injected in the 70s...

AFAIK, my car was the last to actually get Carbs!

Anan1

unkel wrote: »

That's what I thought until I found out recently that some Japanese cars (as usual the Japs were a good few years behind on technology) managed to pass the euro emissions tests with small non fuel-injection cars. I suppose that is a compliment of sorts

Edit: see Midnight_EG's post. His '95 Honda doesn't have fuel injection. Amazing old skool considering most Mercs were fuel injected in the 70s...

Now that is impressive!

fryup

so if modern cars don't have chokes, what then is used to start an engine on a cold morning? or are they just tuned in a different way??

woody33

The computer reads loads of senders including engine temperature and how much air is getting to the engine and tells the injectors when and how much fuel to inject. Marvellous stuff when everything works. I used to have an origional Mini with a choke knob I had to keep pulled out with a clothes peg behind it.

kazul

Almost time for the old story about the "undiagnosable" problem with a car that was wrecking the mechanic's head until he asked the customer to test drive it with him in the passenger seat and she pulls out the choke and hangs her handbag on it before pulling off :pac: