The A14 in my "new" 1200 2-dr sedan was not running too well ... the carb is somehow bad. It would only run on choke. I actually drove it over 20 miles like this.

I found these problems:
- bad intake-to-carb gaskets (leaking air like crazy)
- warped top of carb body. I filed it more or less flat
- bad carb-top internal gasket (leaking around the power valve vacuum hole)

I fixed those problems and it started and ran smoother, but still died when I opened the choke. Even after full warm up. I suspect the power valve pull-up is leaking.

OK, so I cleaned up nice a JDM carburetor (Hitachi DHG-306) I had in the garage. Bolted it on and it started right off. But I noticed this (unexpected) difference:

The RHD carb has a reversed manual choke. The cable pulls from the right side, whereas the LHD carb manual choke pulls from the left side. The cable bracket is easy to swap, but the choke shaft itself is different (the cable fitting is upside down). Unfortunately the stock 1200 choke cable is too short to go around to the other side. I guess I could have swapped the tops but the LHD carb is in bad shape.

So instead I fitted a longer cable to the car. I used a spare B310 hood-latch cable. This is in addition to the one in the dash (it's a 1971). It works well enough, but doesn't have enough tension to stay at the position it's pulled to.

Any ideas? Can I fit a light spring to the choke to keep it from pulling the choke knob back in by itself?

I've got the same problem. The carb on my ute was leaking air and had a small fuel leak as well. Acquired a replacement DHG-306 but only when I fitted it noticed exactly what ddgonzal has - the choke connects from the other side and therefore the cable is not long enough. Been struggling through without the choke, but it's a pain having the motor stall for the first few minutes of driving until the engine warms up.

So far I've resisted the urge to fit an aftermarket choke cable which just would not look right on the dash. Summers here at the moment so the engine will not get really cold, but I will really need something when the temerature gets quite cold.

I'm also open to some creative suggestions.

How hard is it to come up with an electric choke carb? I used one on my wifes '68 Datsun 1000 & i loved it. The choke control then reverted to 'ornament' status & we never had a moments trouble with it.

I have another under the bench & that will go onto my son's 120Y. When you're on a good thing, stick to it.

Electric chokes are far more common in USA. Only the 1971s got a manual choke.

However, the choke is part of the carb-top. And the one thing that seems to wear out on the carb top is the power valve plunger, it's very common to have it go bad, causing an internal vacuum leak:



Carb Inspection

Is the plunger repairable?

From my experience, the choke was different on the carbs from B210 onwards.