Cold idle help- need your ideas

[jsherrod]

1984 amc eagle wagon 258 and motorcraft carb swap

This is the first winter i have had the eagle running well enough to be able to tell it is not running well.    heres what is going on.

When it is cold outside and the engine is cold the car will not idle. Starts great and runs good once the engine achieves peak temp. However if it is cold you simply cannot take your foot off of the gas pedal or the car dies.  I have very little vaccuum left on this car and the only place i could conceive of a vacc leak is at the carb base. My idea right now is that there is a vacc leak there, but as the engine gets hot the metal expands and closes the leak when warm. I think i can get a vacc gauge and test when engine  warm and cold to rule this out?

 Otherwise i am not sure what is going on and would love some ideas...do i need to adjust carb for cold weather? 
The only other issue that could be related is that the car seems to have a strange "glitch"... every so many seconds while idling the engine will lose power. The Rpm and volt meter will both fall and the it will bounce right back. I do not know what is causing this either


thanks for any help!

james

[mudkicker715]

What is the choke doing

[Amc1320]

Do you electric choke? Sounds like it's not working

[jsherrod]

electric choke, but i do not think it is working.  The connection is kinda iffy .. Is there a set voltage i should be getting from the wire to the choke?  can i check it with ohm meter?

thanks
James

[carnuck]

The power to the choke only shows when the motor is running because it passes through a switch on the motor. If you have a gauge, it's 2 prong. With idiot light it's 3 prong. If it's leaking oil, it's cracked and like mine did, about to blow off (on I-5 at 2AM on sunday night in the rain)

[Amc1320]

12V with key in On position

[mudkicker715]

12V with key in On position

And motor running. Does it open up as it is warming up?

[carnuck]

Also make sure the ground is getting to the outside ring. I just cleaned mine off because the choke wasn't grounding and not opening too.