Dave from GA & KY
Bronze Member
I have an old JD 285 lawn tractor with a 2 cyl. Kawasaki water cooled engine. It starts and runs fine except the governor won't "kick-in" when the tractor is under load... or any time for that matter. I can move the governor lever by hand and the engine springs to life as it should so fuel delivery and/or carb (which I just rebuilt thinking that was the problem) are not the issue. Just engaging the deck with the PTO is enough to almost stall the tractor, or pulling a hill without the PTO engaged.
I took it to a JD dealer and they gave me an estimate of $850-$2100 to fix it. They say either a cam-shaft or the governor assembly. The engine is strong, 120 lb. compression on both cylinders and leak-down test was "like a brand new one". I don't want to put that kind of money in this old tractor as it is just used to mow occasionally on my farm. I have a new X300 for here at home. I don't have much faith in this JD dealer, because the "mechanic" called me and asked it I thought the problem might be the fuel pump. I told him "No, because if you activate the governor by hand it works fine... tells me it's getting fuel and the pump is fine"... "oh, yeah, you've got a point". He also didn't seem to be familiar with the governor on this engine.
I've thought about putting a cable on it to pull the governor lever by hand when it needs it. Any better ideas for a proper fix to make this thing start working again?
I took it to a JD dealer and they gave me an estimate of $850-$2100 to fix it. They say either a cam-shaft or the governor assembly. The engine is strong, 120 lb. compression on both cylinders and leak-down test was "like a brand new one". I don't want to put that kind of money in this old tractor as it is just used to mow occasionally on my farm. I have a new X300 for here at home. I don't have much faith in this JD dealer, because the "mechanic" called me and asked it I thought the problem might be the fuel pump. I told him "No, because if you activate the governor by hand it works fine... tells me it's getting fuel and the pump is fine"... "oh, yeah, you've got a point". He also didn't seem to be familiar with the governor on this engine.
I've thought about putting a cable on it to pull the governor lever by hand when it needs it. Any better ideas for a proper fix to make this thing start working again?