Winter has finally come to Florida.
When I start the vette in the cold (50 degree) mornings,

1. The choke light comes on while cranking, but turns off when it starts.
I have to keep giving it gas while it warms up. (it has a Holley carb)

2. It has a bad miss when accelerating (idles fine) for about 5 minutes, until it gets to operating temp.

 

Don't feel so bad it's 12 degrees here in new england. Its should get to 40 on saturday thats like summer for us after the way this winter is going for us.

 

All normal dude. Pretty much everyone's does the same thing if you've got any kind of cam in there, etc. There are a few things you can do but when it hits 50 it's time to put her away for the winter.

 

You are going to get very little sympathy for those of us entrenched in ice When I have visited Fla during cold snaps I always chuckle when I hear all the warnings about skin exposure and layering clothing when temps are in the 40's We will probably be below zero tonight.

As far as your car: I wouldn't change anything. Your cold snap will be short lived and your car just isn't used to it.

 

What year is your car? Do you know if the Holley has an electric choke on it and is it hooked up?

All cars (well most of them) have had carbs on them until the mid 80's or so, and plenty of them were in the north. There's no reason you can't have a fun car that works just fine even in stupidly cold weather.

-Shawn

 

The temperature for the last week hasn't added up to 50...

But you did say it was in the morning, if it did it through out the day I'd say it's a bigger problem then old man winter.

 

The choke light comes on because the relay is dropping out, that is probably happening because the choke heater or the electrical contact on it is intermitent.

 

Surely you jest....are you talking +50F being Winter. We are finally above zero but the snow is still DEEP.

Seriously, I hope you get back to driving soon 'cause I'm looking at May up here before you want to get on the road. Even with the snow and ice gone long before then, the "sand" they put on the road during winter, which is closer to 2" minus pit run crush, will trash your baby.

 

It will get better with global warming.

 

if the oceans rise more than a couple of feet, my house will be under water. But I should have beach front property in a few years.

But seriously, this is normal? I've already found a bad vacuum line near the distributor, but it fixed my blower for the vent.

 

A properly functioning choke will correct most of the cold running issue.

 

All the carburated cars I had when growing up would start in -30...2 pumps of the gas pedal, turn the key...it would be on fast idle for a bit give it a blip and it would idle at 700rpm.

Sounds like you need to check the choke wiring and adjust the choke

 

Sorry but the "worst case scenario" has your great-great-grandchildren looking at a couple of INCHES of sea-level rise, and maybe a few degrees. Pennsylvania will still have snow, Florida will still be "hot". Just a few degrees warmer, and that after centuries (by their own admission) of not doing anything differently.

If you find yourself bothered by "Global Warming Conspiracy Theorists", ask them this: From WHERE, pray tell, does all the water come to raise sea level so much? They'll tell you "arctic ice" or such myopic drivel. Then get out a picture of the planet from space and ask them to point to all this ice. Shuts them up pretty effectively. If not, remind them that ice on a glacier 14000' ASL does NOT mean 14000' of ice would melt from there, only whatever covers the rocks below. Even if the ice were 14000' thick, compare the total volume assumed to the volume required to cover the entire surface of all our seas to any meaningful degree.

When you look at it without prejudice, it's hard to understand how anyone ever even talks about this stuff. Even a belief in ghosts has some basis in reality (the "bump in the night")...

But I don't mean to hijack this thread, just inject a little science... Which is NEVER "settled"!!

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On topic, yet off the wall, you may still have "summer gas" in your tank... The central government thinks refiners should mix their gasoline differently in different seasons, but the retail sellers don't always move their stocks in a "timely fashion"... Summer gas is less volatile (higher Vapor Pressure), and will require more heat to reach proper temperature/pressure levels to hit that "stoichiometric" sweet spot in Winter.

To test this, you'll need to burn out all the gas in your tank (awwww, so hard to do in a Vette ) and refill with "fresh" (as in a recent tanker delivery, not just fresh to you) gas & test again. I would use the "old" gas to get myself as far Northward as I could, and deep into a Big City, the better to maybe pick up a more-northerly RFG mix. If that fixes the problem you'll adjust your fuel/air/timing to suit the RFG you have locally...

I haven't found any yet, but maybe there's a "solution in a bottle" that will "correct" the seasonal RFG differences...

(And yes, the Lizard has this exact problem. I just give it more "loud pedal", but that's me...)

 

Summer gas is less volatile (higher Vapor Pressure),

Wrong: Summer gas is less volatile (lower Vapor Pressure), and when it is colder than "usual" will cause driveability problems until the engine is hot. Old problem the refiners don't have to worry much about anymore since fuel injection.

There is no source of adjustable gas volitility that I am aware of but when I temporarily had access to light hydrocarbons to add, man the car ran great!!!!

 

Most Holley's have a fast idle cam on the lower passenger side that will keep the idle faster until you tap the accelerator pedal (even after the choke opens, but the choke must be operating to roll it). I've disabled the choke plate on both of mine and have no problems starting.

You can go to their web site and get info on your carb that will probably help you set it up.

 

as everyone said the choke isn't working properly.
when i start at 50F i wish it had a choke(PO removed choke), i do have to pump the gas 1st 1/4 mile. i do NO warmup in the garage;back right out. Within 1 mile it is running fine. Check your upper rad hose @ radiator connection after 1 mile, if it is as warm as the intake, the thermostat is leaking; this delays warmup. do u get heat in about 1 mile? more than 2 miles to get heat? tstat leak(internal) likely.