1988 Omc Cobra 5.7 --where should my electronic choke be wired to ?

ab59

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May 10, 2017
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I currently have my electric choke wired to the side of my coil . I have read somewhere that it is not correctly connected by doing this. I do not have an original alternator on the engine but seems like I was not supposed to go to the alternator either. Sooo where is the correct place to hook the hot wire up ? I have in on the coil at the suggestion of another here and thought it was right until I read some other posts that never seemed to solve the problem.
Lou if you see this , how is yours hooked up ?

thanks---A.B.
 

Bondo

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I have read somewhere that it is not correctly connected by doing this.

Ayuh,..... You heard wrong,...... It's just fine where it is,....
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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its wired fine.

what is the problem you are having?
 

Lou C

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Nov 10, 2002
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It may be fine but any Holley instruction manual will tell you not to do it that way, I guess its possible for the draw from the choke heater to draw down the ignition system voltage to the point where it will cause starting problems. If you are not having a problem you can leave it as is, but if you have starting problems then here's what I'd do (BTW, in the original OMC and later Volvo Holley carb installations, the choke wire did go to the alternator)...

get a digital voltmeter...
turn on the igntion....probe the various terminals on the back side of the alt, to find one that does not have current with the ignition on but engine off. Then start the engine and see if any of those...now have current ONLY with the engine running, that is what you want your choke connected to. This way, it does not start opening too fast. On the original OMC alternator (Motorola I think) it was connected to the one marked AC with a white/purple wire. If you have a different alt you will have to test it to see which terminal has charging voltage ONLY with the engine running...
 
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