Hi:

My question is about a manual, ‘77 Pinto, 2.3 L, A/C with the original fully electric choke on the carburetor.  If for some reason the voltage regulator were to malfunction and allow the electrical system to put out high voltage (19 volts to the battery), could this cause the fully electric choke not to work correctly, which would in turn cause the carburetor to function improperly and make the engine run extremely poorly?

Thanks!

You could also check the wire to the choke with a voltmeter to see if it is getting power to the choke as well.  Have you replaced the voltage regulator yet.  As far as the 19 volts goes,  it might have damaged the duraspark module, coil, or possibly the plugs. 

This is not an easy question to answer,  is the car running right yet?  The high voltages could cause damage to the duraspark ignition module, the coil, the pickup in the distributor,  various electric emissions components.

  Do you know anything about working on cars yourself?  Have you looked at your spark plugs.  Sometimes you can pinpoint your problem by how they look.  High ignition voltages could have ruined the electrodes. 

  We would need to know what all the dealership did to your car while "trying to fix it". 

  Also, is the egr valve still on the car, sometimes they stick from age and deposits, and will cause a car to do strange things.  Without being able to look at your car and hear what it is doing, it is very hard to answer your question.

  If you know what the egr valve is and where it is at, if you have a hand operated vacuum pump, hook it up to the egr valve vacuum fitting and start pumping and see if it moves,  there is usually only about 14 lbs of vacuum, so if it takes more than that to move it it is probably defective, if it doesnt move at all, it might be stuck open,  then try pushing it closed. 

  As far as the choke goes, if it isnt closing right, it wont run right until it warms up.  It it isn't opening right it will start up ok, but not run right trying to drive it.
  You can start the car, get it warmed up to operating temp, and wire the choke in its open position.  Go for a short drive if it wont run this way, or has no power, the problem lies elsewhere. 

  What kind of carburator is it.  Different carbs have different problems associated with them.  I cant help you much more than this without furthur info.

From what I've seen so far, it almost sounds like a vacuum leak problem. I would tend to agree with you that a carb rarely goes bad instantly, unless you get some bad gas or end up with water in the gas. If they were converting to R134a, as you stated, did they disconnect any of the AC hoses in the engine compartment to replace the seals? If they did, maybe they broke or pulled off a vacuum line without realizing it. The electronic distributors of those years rarely give any trouble. Back when, the control modules would cause the engine to die suddenly. Usually all you had to do was turn the key off for a moment and then restart the engine and it would be okay again for a while. I haven't heard of any replacement control modules doing that for quite sometime.

Hi:

Believe me, I have the highest respect for competent auto mechanics.  However, this person that worked on my Pinto does not fix in this category.  Here is a brief summary of some of the things that this person did to my Pinto.

1.  Suction line accumulator was removed from the A/C and thrown away.
2.  All original screws holding the air duct system were taken off and thrown away.
3.  Original like new carburetor completely destroyed and turned into a rusted mass.
4.  Original like new carburetor tag ripped off and thrown away.
5.  Original like new aluminum air cleaner housing was destroyed by being hammered on and cut with tin snips.
6.  Corrugated tubing attached to the air cleaner housing removed and thrown away.
7.  Metal tube attached to manifold damaged by corrosive compound.
8.  Corrosive compound sprayed in engine compartment that removed the blue paint from the rocker arm
     cover and manifold.  In fact, it removed the paint from the Motorcraft oil filter.
9.  Original tower heater hose camps removed and thrown away.
10. The original 1977 carburetor was removed and replaced with a 1979 rusted out Pinto carburetor.

All of this work (what a joke) was done without my knowledge and/or approval.  Also, I explicitly told them not to discard any parts which was completely ignored.

Needless to say, I am very upset over the damaged that was done to my pristine Pinto.

7.  Metal tube attached to manifold damaged by corrosive compound.
8.  Corrosive compound sprayed in engine compartment that removed the blue paint from the rocker arm
     cover and manifold.  In fact, it removed the paint from the Motorcraft oil filter.


In light of what you said here It sounds like egr valve to me,  whatever they sprayed probably glued the egr valve open.  I would strongly recomend changing the oil, too. 

 Take these morons to the cleaners. 

  Another "no respect for the Pinto" story. They probably laughed and joked about it while working on it.

 No need to just change an EGR valve, just look at it, make sure it's not stuck open and see if it holds vacuum by sucking on the hose with something. My guess would also be a vacuum hose and or carb issue.

Hey Pintony:

Thanks for the offer.  My e-mail is c2804gem@hotmail.com

Also, I read that you are a parts dealer.  Do you have a list of
the type of parts or do you have a website?  Or do we just
give you a call with what we need?

Greatly appreciate the help!

Hi CHEAPRACER:

I sent my original carburetor that was destroyed by the Ford dealership to
Pony Carburetors, Inc. in Las Cruces, NM.  They did a fantastic job restoring
it back to the original condition.  I have not put it back on the engine yet,
but they said they actually tested it on an engine and it works just fine.  I will
let you all know what happens.

Thanks for the input!