Hi everybody,
I don't know what to do about the lead for the electric choke on a Holley I'm putting on a 66 389. The ignition wires use a terminal plug into the ignition switch & I'm supposed to hook the lead up there? How exactly? Theres just male plugends coming from the switch- what do I do, splice into the wire before the plug? That doesn't sound right. Run it along the male plug & slide into the terminal? I would appreciate any help!

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If I wasn't already crazy, I'd be going nuts

Hi everybody,
I don't know what to do about the lead for the electric choke on a Holley I'm putting on a 66 389. The ignition wires use a terminal plug into the ignition switch & I'm supposed to hook the lead up there? How exactly? Theres just male plugends coming from the switch- what do I do, splice into the wire before the plug? That doesn't sound right. Run it along the male plug & slide into the terminal? I would appreciate any help!

.................................................. ........
If I wasn't already crazy, I'd be going nuts

Just find any wire in the engine compartment wiring harness that has +12V when the ignition switch is on, and no voltage when it's off and splice into it. Alternately, you can find an open terminal in the fuseblock that also goes live with the ignition switch and run the wire from there.

Ahhhh, so! I guess I freaked when I saw the terminal.

Thanks Will. Good luck with your new engine.

I was under the impression that the choke was designed to be connected to the armature output of the alternator. The armature output has the characteristic that it only outputs voltage if the engine is actually running-- unlike the ignition switch which supplies voltage whenever the key is turned regardless of whether the engine is running or not. The effect is not significantly different when the engine is started immediately after turning the key on. However, if someone turns the key on for a significant period of time before actually trying to start the engine, they may find that the choke function has been released without the engine actually running.

Richard/Vegas

The Holley tech support recommended connecting to an "ignition hot source only". But, have you tried the alt? It sounds sensible, but I've never seen a carb hooked into an alternator. I also have no experience with an electric choke... Thanks!!

The proper term for the alternator connection is the stator connection. Ford used to use a stator tap for their electric choke. The difference is that the stator tap supplies approx 8 volts AC when the engine is running whereas the ignition obviously supplies 12.6 volts ignition on and about 14 volts running. Don't mix the two chokes; make sure you have the right one for the connection you are using.
Regards, George

That's right ... it is called the stator ... couldn't remember the term. And, it was a Ford schematic I was looking at when I saw that. Other make alternators probably don't have the stator connection, and you wouldn't want to use the alternator battery connection because then it would be on all the time. Sounds like your carburator is set up to go to the ignition switched 12 volts. So, the original advice was correct. Ignore everything I said.

Richard/Vegas

[This message has been edited by Richard Ohran (edited 05-11-2001).]

Thanks guys, I think I'll splice into the ignition wire- the ACC wire. I continue to learn so much from this board!

Alot of the 80s GM cars had them spliced through an oil pressure switch so the choke would not pull off if you had just left the ky turned on.Kind of hard to do that way.

I've tapped into the blower/horn relay power feed as it is on the same side of the engine as the choke.