Choke heater tube

[khnaess]

Hello. My truck (1972 f250 390cid) has automatic choke with a choke heater tube that goes into the manifold. The problem I have is that the heater tube pops out of the manifold, it want stay in there. The result is car that runs rich and bad idling.
Is the heater tube that goes into the manifold supposed to be fastned in some kind of way? On my car it is just held down in the port by the tension in the tube.

[sargentrs]

Originally, it was kind of pressed/tapped in probably with just a hammer. Here's an excellent write up on repairing the choke tube (thanks Patrick!) http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... hp?t=66144

[khnaess]

Thanks for the link! The problem is not the port
that is in the manifold, this is solid tapered. But the tube itself is just to loose so it just pops out. I can see no treads at the end of the tube or something to hold it down in the port.

[sargentrs]

Originally it was just pushed in there. The hole and tube were drilled for a snug fit and the tube was long enough to not slip out with the the flex/vibration of the engine. You might try rebending it to make it a little longer to go in further or try to widen the tip by sticking a tapered punch in the end and tapping it with a hammer to make it larger and a tighter fit.

[kevin71100]

For a quick 'down & dirty' fix that has worked for me I used a piece of copper tubing jammed into the manifold and on the other end a threaded tubing nut with the slip piece and threaded it on the carb. I believe I reamed the manifold out very slightly with a small drill bit and used 1/4" tubing.

[Zorm]

If you don't have a NAPA close to you but you do have an O'Reilly, or just go to your auto parts store and see if they have or can cross reference, try this Dorman part # 76850, same kit as the NAPA.

[basketcase0302]

like Kevin said above or if it wer mine I'd pull it out and drop a few brass beads on it with a torch.