I'm having some strange issues with my 85 z28 (305 Q-Jet)
Like a hypochondriac, I've been hunting forums for answers to why my choke light will stay on and for the past three days, I've done the a lot.
Here are the symptoms:
--Choke Light on unless the wire to the choke is removed
--Soot spewing from exhaust
--Rough running (probably from running so rich and covering spark plugs), after running just fine yesterday
--Fast Idled when it ran fine
--Won't slow down unless tapping on gas pedal, which causes rough idle
--Very rough start before all of this occurred.

All signs point to choke electrical...but after a long time hunting, and working...
Here's what I've done so far:
--Remanufactured Carb installed 3 months ago (gasket leaked)
--New alternator tonight (bad regulator found)
--Replaced Oil Sending Switch today (cleared rough idle for a while and now check engine light is off)
--Replaced Choke Heater Relay yesterday (allowed choke to receive electricity)
--Replaced Spark Plugs and Wires 2 months ago (just up and died, found carbon buildup on 2 spark plugs)

(Sigh) Alas, I've found signs pointing to my O2 sensor, and now I'm finding a trick to electrically isolate the choke so the filament receives the current.
I'm not sure what to do if these aren't my issues...but the poor thing is running excessively rich and Seafoam is only a temporary tonic. I need a few suggestions before I decide to take the choke off and cover it in electrical tape, please!
I'm getting desperate...I'll do it
There are archived items in the forum that helped me...but they truncate after this part...so...I'm not trying to play reruns.

 

I'm also going to take out and clean my spark plugs to make sure they're not covered or regapped.

 

what trouble codes are you seeing? your running rich,,, question is why. could be the 02's are fouled and once they are you will get a normal or lean reading when the actual conditions are rich. what kind of plugs?

 

Was the reman carb the exact drop in replacement? If so, there is a possibility that your EGR valve or EGR solonoid could be stuck causing problems down the line. Most likely that is not the case and would only lead to higher NOx emissions, not related to choke, or O2 sensor, but could be causing poor idleing or rough running conditions. The fact the with the wire removed the light goes out is odd. How is your choke grounded? If its not, then the chance of an open circuit is causing it to not function correctly. Fill us in, I had the same engine set up before I swapped. I found my choke to be difficult to keep adjusted properly which led to higher idle and a very rich condition resulting in excessive fuel consumption. In fact my built 383 gets very close in MPG to what the old qjet 305 got, which tells me I was way off in carburation.

 

I've yet to check the trouble codes...with a mental smack to myself for being lazy.
My spark plugs are some cheap NGK, single pin iridiums. They worked pretty well until recently.
I figure the 02 probably wasn't changed in the hands of the previous owner, so I'll just replace it anyway, but if the choke is still getting the wrong voltage...it could be a waste of 20 bucks.
One of my other curiosities is how much voltage and current should a q-jet electric choke get at idle when hot? If anyone knows that, I'd be grateful. (I'm getting 1.8V with the wire on, 12.4 with it off)

 

The reman carb wasn't exactly the one I had, but the only difference was an unlabeled vacuum port that was always capped. Never gave me trouble before...
The choke seems to be grounded through the carb itself.
The EGR Valve is...crusty and old...so it would surprise me that it's off kilter. Half the confusion is that I don't even hate the rest of the emissions crap on there. The only thing I havent taken off is the pump (again, laziness).
How would that valve affect my car if it's hooked up to nothing?

 

It sounds like the choke assembly (sping assmbly on the carb) is bad. That can happen over time. I do not know the voltage, but it should always have 12V going to it and it will open or close depending on what the temp is.

So, you have removed the emission equipment? If so, explain what has been removed. It sounds like the entire carb assembly is not set up right, or is the wrong one for your application, explaining nearly every problem you have listed. Look again and be sure the right qjet is what you have. Others on here would know the name better, but I think you should have the E4MED.

 

Well, I have it running good again;
Replaced 02 Sensor (doesn't run as rich anymore)
Electrically isolated Choke and heavily calibrated it (doesn't have problems as far as internals go)
Seafoam treatment through carb to clean spark plugs.

Engine still runs a little choppy, but i can imagine its my 7 or 8th spark plug so i might take those out to regap them.

I've got an E4ME, i'm sure, but I've never seen a D variation, so i'll check the receipt.

I STILL forgot to check the engine code, but I'm not sure what it'll put out since the light isn't on atm (God help me if that bulb went out >.<)
What's really odd is that the choke light stayed off for about 5 mins after calibrating the choke, so i wonder if there's some sort of feed back from the carb sensors that i have to reroute to ground.

I will double check the spring on the choke assembly, since I fiddled with it and it does seem to stick. I might try lubricating it, but I don't want the carb to uh...catch fire >.>

 

Finally. Its running with an issue. All I needed to do was recheck my fuses. while replacing some of the parts, I think I blew the fuse that controls all those circuits. Thanks for the help y'all