LX178 Surging Idle

[t2rx7]

Hi,

I have a 1996 LX178 that won't hold a steady idle, either low or hi throttle. I've noticed the governor arm oscillating slightly back and forth, and when I hold it, the idle improves somewhat. I see there are 2 springs that I could replace, but thought I'd post here on the prospects of that fixing the issue first.

Everything is pretty clean, I'm the original owner, fuel filter was just replaced by me, I don't think it's a fuel delivery problem. Just perplexed by the slight movement of the arm, hoping it's not a more major issue.

Any input appreciated!

Thanks,

Greg O.

 

[beenthere]

:welcome:
Any carb adjustment possible on that engine carburetor?
Anything in the manual on adjusting the carb?
Did it start surging after sitting over the winter?

The movement of the arm is the governor doing its thing, I'm sure. I wouldn't change any springs on that yet.

 

[t2rx7]

Thanks!

The only thing besides idle speed adjustment is a slow idle mixture screw, which may have some adjustability now that I look at it more closely. It has a black plastic limiter cap on it, but I'll give that a shot maybe.

I would say that the problem has been slowly getting worse over last summer, which I could attribute to a spring losing it's strength maybe (logical explanation to me anyway), but it's entirely possible that some of these screws have shifted in 15 years-- the fast idle was off a bit, and I corrected that.

Visual inspection of the carb and float looked great, I got some carb/choke cleaner now I can see if that helps any too. I'll try that this afternoon and let you know how it goes.

Thanks again for the ideas!

Greg O.

 

[t2rx7]

Well, I did order a new governor spring and I would say that after almost 2 hours of run time, that fixed it for me. The new spring seemed to have a little more tension to it, which I would expect. So whether it really was the spring, or just enough fiddling around with it, call it case closed.

Thanks for the help, and now I found another forum to explore :thumbsup:

Greg O.

 

[aikenpearlbb]

I had the exact same problem that kept getting worse until it barely ran off of high idle. Fix-take out the low idle screw and spray carb cleaner in the hole for the screw until the blockage clears. Replace the screw, adjust and enjoy thee feel of a new engine!!:thumbsup: