Olds 307 butterfly valve question

[tyr_shadowblade]

Hey,

Recently acquired a trike with an Olds 307 engine and a 4-brrl carb. No automatic or manual choke. Engine was originally from an 83 Torinado.

How do I close the butterfly valve on this?

The fellow I acquired it from briefly showed how it could be closed, after which he made an adjustment to the throttle spring attachment. Two days later I try to start it and had a little trouble so I took off the air cleaner, gave it 3 pumps of gas as advised, and attempted to close the butterfly valve . . . couldn't figure out exactly how to do that and didn't want to force anything.

Trike started shortly thereafter, but would like some advice on how to close the valve if necessary. Don't want to use starting fluid unless I absolutely have to.

And YES -- I are indeed borderline retarded when it comes to all things mechanical, much to my great shame.

 

[beau5278]

Did you try it with the throttle partway open?Most cars with a butterfly choke were designed to close the choke when you first stepped on the throttle.

 

[65535]

You should be able to close the valve by loosening the slack on the throttle cable, IIRC (I could be wrong) that butterfly valve basically controls throttle and is connected through cable to the gas pedal.

 

[tyr_shadowblade]

Trike is about 10 ft long with a foot accellerator. Was pulling on what I figure is the accelerator lever on the side of the carb which was making a bit of petrol squirt into it, but the valve wasn't moving at all and I couldn't get it to move with moderate finger pressure.

Suggestions? I don't know WTF I'm doing and don't want to bust the carb before I even put plates on it. Trike seems to run fine, though. Fellow rode it about 80 miles yesterday afternoon to drop it off. He said it can be tough to start if it sits for a couple of days. I had a little trouble getting it started this morning, but I just went to try the new key I got cut and it turned over on the first try.

I might be taking it up in the mountains this weekend and would like to get this valve figured out before then. My Da would've said "just put some WD-40 on it, and if that don't work start tapping on it with a small hammer" but I dunno if that's a good idea.

 

[Cougar Allen]

Is there a round black plastic thing on the side of the carburetor? That's the automatic choke. It's held by three screws. If you loosen those screws just a little you can rotate it to adjust it. On a cold morning when the engine is cold turn it to close the choke butterfly. Start the engine and let it warm up. The choke can't move until you open the throttle a little, but when you do that the choke should open. When the engine is cold on a winter morning the choke should be fully closed, and when the engine is warmed up it should be fully open.

Since this is a custom vehicle it might not even have a choke on it -- who knows. It's possible to start an engine and keep it running without a choke if you know how, but it wastes gas....

Was it built as a drag racer? Racers usually remove the choke.

 

[tyr_shadowblade]

Since this is a custom vehicle it might not even have a choke on it -- who knows. It's possible to start an engine and keep it running without a choke if you know how, but it wastes gas....

Was it built as a drag racer? Racers usually remove the choke.

There's no choke on it. The fellow who built it said he doesn't put chokes on his vehicles. He builds hot rods. Don't know if he drag races, though.

 

[beau5278]

Trike is about 10 ft long with a foot accellerator. Was pulling on what I figure is the accelerator lever on the side of the carb which was making a bit of petrol squirt into it, but the valve wasn't moving at all and I couldn't get it to move with moderate finger pressure.

Suggestions? I don't know WTF I'm doing and don't want to bust the carb before I even put plates on it. Trike seems to run fine, though. Fellow rode it about 80 miles yesterday afternoon to drop it off. He said it can be tough to start if it sits for a couple of days. I had a little trouble getting it started this morning, but I just went to try the new key I got cut and it turned over on the first try.

I might be taking it up in the mountains this weekend and would like to get this valve figured out before then. My Da would've said "just put some WD-40 on it, and if that don't work start tapping on it with a small hammer" but I dunno if that's a good idea.

Can you get me a picture of it?If I can see what your dealing with it should make it easier.If you had fuel squirting into the carb,you had the right linkage,that would have been fuel from the accelerator pump.I'm thinking they either,don't have the automatic choke hooked up or else it's not working.If the round black piece that Cougar said about is there,there should be a spring in it that automatically closes the choke when the accelerator is closed part way,then as the engine heats up,it opens the choke back up,it's a bi-metallic spring.If it's just sticking,the WD will help but whatever you do,DON"T HIT ANYTHING ON THE CARB WITH A HAMMER!!!!,especially if you want to ride this weekend.

 

[BlackHills]

No automatic or manual choke. Engine was originally from an 83 Torinado.

How do I close the butterfly valve on this?

Simple answer....get a choke for it, either auto or put a cable on. If you don't you're going to have to play with that carb every time it's cool enough to need the choke.

 

[tyr_shadowblade]

Simple answer....get a choke for it, either auto or put a cable on. If you don't you're going to have to play with that carb every time it's cool enough to need the choke.

Yeah, but without a choke right now, how do I "play with it" to make it shut?

 

[Cougar Allen]

For now, you can start it by pumping the heck out of it -- that part is easy; the harder part is to keep it running while it warms up. You'll just have to give it a lot of gas and it'll rev and make a lot of noise, but let it make noise, give it all the gas it needs, until it warms up.

An automatic choke is cheap and easy to put on.