Magnum M14S - Governor Shaft Replacement & Mystery Metal in Oil Pan

[Red Barrons 3]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I always appreciate the information available on these forums - so, thank you!

 

I have a 1997 Toro Wheel Horse 314-8 that was handed down from my grandfather to me some time ago. Recently, while running the tractor, it started to rev heavy. I throttled it down hard, pulled it in the garage, and shut her down. Quickly discovered that the governor shaft was spinning freely. Pulled the engine (Magnum M14S), dropped the oil pan, and was able to remove the governor shaft without any other disassembly (crank shaft, cam shaft, etc). . Sure enough, the flag on the shaft was broken off. Looked in the oil pan and quickly found the "flag". 

 

However, I also found another piece of metal in the pan that I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what it is (photo attached).

 

 

 

I'm looking for some help determining what exactly the mystery piece is. As far as I can tell from from looking deep into the crankcase, the governor gear appears fine (flyweights are still both attached and move freely, teeth appear fine, middle piston moves in and out freely). Looking at diagrams and videos, the mystery part does not appear to be anything involved with the governor gear - which, if true, makes me happy, as I'm really not in a position to pull everything apart right now. Also, I think I can get a new shaft installed without doing so - though I welcome thoughts from those who've actually done this before.

 

Any help here from someone with more experience than I would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all again for keeping this information, and these old Wheel Horses, alive!

[953 nut 64,881]

When a Kohler single cylinder engine is assembled the first part that goes in is the governor shaft so I don't think you will be able to replace it without an engine disassembly

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[JoeM 9,717]

Piece of fuel pump lever?

[Red Barrons 3]

Quote

When a Kohler single cylinder engine is assembled the first part that goes in is the governor shaft so I don't think you will be able to replace it without an engine disassembly

 

Thanks for the welcome and the reply! Ugh, not what I wanted to hear - but appreciate the insight and the manual! If I don't have to replace the governor gear, I'm going to give it a good college try with a pocket extend-o-magnet and some patience. I have very little faith it'll work - but may be worth a try?

 

Quote

Piece of fuel pump lever?

 

Okay, so you might be onto something with this - as the fuel pump lever is actuated via the camshaft (which aligns with how it got inside the crankcase). Also of interest, which aligns with this theory: I installed an electric fuel pump about a year ago or so because I was having trouble with cold starts. I have a feeling that that, if true, that broken lever is exactly the reason I was fighting for fuel on starts.

 

I'll try to pull the fuel pump here in the next few days and will let you all know what I find. If this is it, that would absolutely be best case scenario all around. 

 

More to come! I can't say THANK YOU enough to both of you!

 

[953 nut 64,881]

You should take a close look at the camshaft while you are3 in there, lots of action going on around it.

[Red Barrons 3]

Okay, couldn't wait because it was driving me nuts. You were 100% correct. Broken fuel pump lever.

 

 

The tractor only has 305 hours on it - meaning it has sat a lot. Looks like that fuel pump froze up and likely broke the lever on a start. Going to replace the pump, of course.

 

Also, will absolutely take a look at that camshaft. Want to make sure nothing got marred up, bent, etc.

 

Thanks to both of you for the help here! I will let you know if I find anything else and/or if I'm successful in doing this without a full disassembly. Fingers crossed!

[Handy Don 16,131]

if your only motivation for the electric fuel pump was the now-discovered failed mechanical pump, You may choose to revert with a replacement.

However, if you are happy with the electric, there is no need to replace the mechanical pump--use a gasket and a simple plate to cover the hole where the fuel pump fits. The seal needs only to be strong enough to handle the fluctuating crankcase pressure and keep splashing oil from seeping out. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Handy Don