Weak choke spring?

[PayForYourGas]

Hi all,

I have a 2003 Crownline 180BR with the 4.3 Mercruiser (190 HP). The boat always seemed a little strange starting, as in it wouldn't take any sort of throttle to put it in high idle for the first 20-30 seconds without sputtering and dieing out. I decided to pull the flame arrestor off and see what was going on, and sure enough I noticed that the choke plate was not closing when I would pump the throttle. The choke plate doesn't seem to have enough spring in it to lift the choke rod and high idle cam, but otherwise snaps shut pretty easily when I have the rod all the way up and free move the plate.

Do I have a weak spring in the electric choke, or is my choke rod/cam not free moving enough? Is there something I can do to lube the rod/cam assembly so its a little more free moving or am I looking at replacing the electric choke? Right now its not the biggest deal in the world as I only run the boat on warm days so choke isn't absolutely required; but it would be nice to have working correctly.

 

[alldodge]

You need to adjust your electric choke and make it a bit more rich. The electric choke contains a spring inside which gets heated when the key is ON. There are 3 screws which hold it tight. they need to be loosened and it rotated so that it closes a tad more, not completely closed, maybe an 1/8 gap at the top of tab more. Might need to do it a few times before you get it where you like it.

Here is a vid, not the best but does provide the needed info