Re: 97 3.0 LX Electric Choke
I guess I'm a little late to this thread but thought I'd chime in anyway to try and put together the bits that everyone else already said. An electric choke uses a bi-metal spring and an electric heating element to control the choke. The heater is wired to a "hot when run" circuit. On my boat with an aftermarket carb and no OEM wiring for the choke, the hot wire is connected to the ignition coil "hot when run" terminal. When the engine (and the spring) are cold and the ignition switch is turned on, the choke heater gets hot and warms the spring which opens the choke. On mine, it takes about a minute to go from closed to mostly open with ambient temp around 70 degrees. The heater is on anytime the ignition switch is in the run position, which means all the time the engine is running, plus any time it's not running and the switch is on. I *think* that when the engine is hot, there is enough heat conducted to the spring by way of ambient engine compartment air that the choke will remain mostly open for quite a while after the engine is shut off.
This is important to understand if you have a bit of trouble starting your engine when it's cold. If you are in the habit of cranking several seconds then resting the starter for 10 seconds (good practice) and NOT turning the switch to OFF, your choke is continuing to heat and will begin opening. That can further aggravate your cold start problem. So if you have an electric choke, get in the habit of turning the switch to full off position between cranking.
John
