Carb choke thermostat help

[murguia]

Looking to learn.

Been going nuts hearing a knocking type noise when I am driving 0-30mph. Thought it was lifters, exhaust… but changed all of those and they were good.

Today we looked at the choke thermostat and the coil/spring was broken, so it hasn’t been working. There’s a pinhole directly under that area and sure thing, when we plugged that hole the noise went away.

How does this choke thermostats work and is that hole suppose to be there?

Should I just plug it if my truck has been running well with the thermostat broken and not working?

Thank you