Governor problems???

Scott99 · Nov 12, 2008

JD LX280
18 HP Kawasaki
200 hours

I have been having some surging problems with this lawn tractor all this season. It starts surging at about 1/2 throttle and definitely at WOT. The cycle for each surge is less than a second. It will surge with PTO engaged but will occasionally stop for a few seconds.

I originally thought it was the carb or filters so I started there. All filters have been replaced and the carb has been completely torn down, cleaned, soaked, and had a small wire run through the holes. The carb appears to be in mint condition. Still surging.

I have now moved on to the governor. With the tractor running and up to temp, I can hold the governor linkage and get it to stop surging completely. If I let go real easy it will even stay running smoothly for about 20-30 seconds before it starts surging again.

Anyone have any suggestions for adjustments or what direction I should go next?

Bird · Nov 12, 2008

Scott, I'm no mechanic, but the only time I had exactly the same problem was with a little Briggs & Stratton engine and I found that the governor spring simply had gotten too weak and loose. I tightened that particular spring by cutting a bit off and bending a new "hook" in the end; i.e., I shortened the spring and the problem was gone.

Will that work on your engine? I have no idea.

But welcome to Tractorbynet.

Scott99 · Nov 13, 2008

I actually thought about changing that spring out. However, it doesn't look worn out. Maybe I'll try your trick of shortening the spring. It does appear to have less of a surge with just a little more tension on the governor linkage.

Anyone else have any suggestions???

Scott

alchemysa · Nov 14, 2008

Bird said:
Scott, I'm no mechanic, but the only time I had exactly the same problem was with a little Briggs & Stratton engine and I found that the governor spring simply had gotten too weak and loose. I tightened that particular spring by cutting a bit off and bending a new "hook" in the end; i.e., I shortened the spring and the problem was gone.

Will that work on your engine? I have no idea.

But welcome to Tractorbynet.

I had the same problem and did exactly the same thing on a B&S 2 stroke. Significantly improved it.

OntarioCanada · Nov 14, 2008

I had heard that a gummed up carbeurator could do this as I was looking for a solution for the same issue with my LX178 after I purchased it.

I rebuilt the carb and it still surged. Then I played with the governor by loosening the bolt on the shaft and went as far as it would one way, then the other way, and found the middle and tightened it up there. It hasn't surged since, but maybe it was just luck.

Scott99 · Nov 16, 2008

Okay, thanks for the suggestions, I'm gonna have to get out there and actually try some of the suggestions so far.

Scott

Scott99 · Nov 20, 2008

Well it looks like I have fixed the surge. There is a long rod and long very light weight spring that goes from the carb to the governor. I simply twisted the spring 180 degrees and inserted in the other side of the hole on the carb linkage. This gave it just a slight amount of added tension. Surging gone...

Given that this spring is so light weight, I wonder if it simply lost some tension?

Scott

Bird · Nov 21, 2008

Given that this spring is so light weight, I wonder if it simply lost some tension?

I can't claim to really know, but that's what I'm guessing happened to mine. Anyway, glad you got it fixed.

jinman · Nov 21, 2008

Scott99 said:
Well it looks like I have fixed the surge. There is a long rod and long very light weight spring that goes from the carb to the governor. I simply twisted the spring 180 degrees and inserted in the other side of the hole on the carb linkage. This gave it just a slight amount of added tension. Surging gone...

Given that this spring is so light weight, I wonder if it simply lost some tension?

Scott

Scott, as Bird suggested, spring tension sometimes works and also adjusting the governor lever is common on governors regulated by oil pressure. On B&S engines that use an airvane governor, there are lots of variables in the mechanical chain besides the spring, but the spring normally takes care of the problem. My stepson was amazed this summer when I adjusted the governor on his little mower by adding a slight amount of spring tension. Normally, it only takes a tiny amount to make a huge difference in the way an engine runs. Just a small tweak at a time is the best approach. It sounds as though you did it perfectly.