Okay, today I torn into the automatice choke to see what I could find. It
appears that the coils winds the opposite direction that it should. Flipping
it over gives it the right direction of coil, but does not solve problem. I
think that the coil may be worn out, and no longer expands or contracts
properly. Does the little "computer" looking board ever wear out? If so, is
it a part that is easily found?

The next challenge is this. When trying to replace all parts just as they
were, I ended up with everything in its original position, but not working as
it had before. It now runs very rich, spews gas and black stuff out the
exhaust and will not run on its own for more than a few minutes. Moving the
choke manually does not seem to make much difference in its running either.
What did I break, and can it be fixed?

Thanks for any help or condolences you can offer.
Bryce