I have a 1406 Edelbrock carb on my 272" engine. I was checking for vacuum leaks around the base and found air entering the electric choke housing at a +/- 3/16" round hole just below the cover. See the picture. Does this serve a function of the choke, or should it be plugged?

I wonder if that is there for a heat tube,vacumn is used to pull heat up through the thermostat and if it works fine then plug it.


Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

Most electric chokes will have an exposed port somewhere around the choke coil mechanism that exhibits a vacuum ‘leak’.  That’s an air flow path to keep the electric choke coil from overheating.  The earlier model Holley carbs with the electric chokes had a filter screen over that port but I don’t see that on many of the new carbs being sold now.  The pre-electric hot air chokes with the external tube running either through the intake manifold or to a 'stove' at the exhaust manifolds also had a vacuum leak or air drawing through them so that the bi-metal choke coil would work properly.  Without that draw of air over the choke coil, the bi-metal coil would not be able to sense the hot air coming through.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I found one post that said it is a vent to atmospheric pressure for the choke pull-off. The pull-off is a piston, therefore some leakage around it sounding like a vacuum leak.
I found several pictures of the choke and the hole is open in all of them. I'm going to leave it alone.