I know on some cars you have to depress the accelerator once to activate the auto-choke; some kind of fast-idle ratchet cam or such-like.
But with the BX the manual tells you not to touch the accelerator when starting from cold. I know to begin with the strangler flap should be shut so that the mixture is richer by excluding air, then the bimetallic thermostat thingie gradually opens the flap when the coolant passing through the hoses to the choke housing reaches a certain temperature, to achieve the necessary lean-ness to meet emission standards.
But is there supposed to be a faster idle speed from cold, as well as the rich mixture? My BX, like the Meteor before it, requires accelerator assistance when very cold, and for the first few minutes the idle is quite rough, and the engine is susceptible to cutting-out. After only a short time it's all fine and smooth as you like. In those vital first moments, the idle speed is no faster than normal, hence the need for manual assistance from my right foot. On my GSA it's easy: pull out the manual choke all the way, and it revs up high like a Flymo!
Any thoughts? I know you dieselists have it easy in this regard!
Mark.
and I called out the AA at the end of the day. The second time I knew what to do: take the air cleaner pipe off the carb and stick a screwdriver down the throat to keep the strangler flap open a tad. After short journeys I would find it stuck shut, and the only way to restart would be to adopt this method! Once restarted, I could withdraw the screwdriver and the flap would stay a little open as it should...
