K181 Throttle Issues, An ADSM08 shouldn't have touched that thread.

[adsm08 3,265]

Today when I tried to start mowing I had a slew of issues with the 855.

 

The first of which, was that she didn't want to run well. She would flag and stall quickly at idle, would run longer with the throttle cable pulled all the way out, but still stalled, and would run all day if I worked the throttle directly by hand and held it wide open.

 

Now I have suspected from day one that I wasn't getting the full range of the throttle. All the way in she won't idle, just stall quick. with the cable out as far as I could get it she seemed low on power, and didn't seem to spin as quick as it should. The throttle has also been extremely stiff since I bought it, which I chalked up to the decade long hibernation, and hoped it would loosen with use. So far it hasn't loosened much, but I have gotten a little more movement out of it. So today I decided to see what was sticking. I removed the throttle cable from the governor arm, pulled it in and out, it moves freely, put it back on, I now have 1/2 inch of movement on the knob from "she's dead" to  over revved. So messed with it a bit more, and got idle, but the engine seemed to run too slow at "full throttle". So I reset the governor, which should have reset the throttle, but it still isn't quite right. I can make it idle, but wide open still seems a little high, so I'm thinking the cable operated stop for the governor is out of whack. So does anyone have any advice on setting the throttle cable position?

 

Unfortunately my hand tach is MIA at the moment, so I don't have actual RPM numbers., just what my calibrated ear is telling me. I do know that the book says ~3600 RPM is where it should be at full throttle. If I get some time tomorrow I'll dig around for my tach. My voltmeter is supposed to have a tach function, which I can't remember how to access, but I'm not sure it will read a single cylinder engine accurately.

[ebinmaine 72,718]

I don't have the answers... But I'll follow along to see what happens...

 

Love the title !!!

[adsm08 3,265]

Well I went back to the governor reset procedure and read it again. The next two pages give the instructions for resetting and adjusting the throttle cable. I'll have to work on that today.

[stevasaurus 23,281]

!st...read the manual on how to set the governor...set it according to the book and you are done with it.

2nd...the cable can be set to change the range from low to high idle to higher and not so low idle, to lowest and not so high by where you tighten that screw on the sheath of the cable.  This makes the difference of how far the cable itself pushes the arm on the carb.

3rd...you could just have a carb issue and need cleaning or adjusting.  See that screw in the top of the picture??  Count the turns and bottom that screw out gently.  Then take the screw out and you will see some small holes near the end...use a wire and some carb clean and clean those holes.  Then put the screw back in...bottom it out and back out the number of turns to where it was (about 2 1/2 turns).  Adjust for most RPMs.

4th...one other thing...at the top left of this picture, you can see 3 holes in that carb arm and the cable in one of them.  I have seen that cable in any one of those 3 holes and it would also adjust how far you move the throttle depending on which hole it is in.

[stevasaurus 23,281]

A couple of other thoughts...check, clean and gap or replace your spark plug.  Also, check the points for pitting and for gap  0.020.  The points control the timing of your engine.  The engine will run rough and not idle if the points are not correct 

[adsm08 3,265]

3 hours ago, stevasaurus said:

!st...read the manual on how to set the governor...set it according to the book and you are done with it.

2nd...the cable can be set to change the range from low to high idle to higher and not so low idle, to lowest and not so high by where you tighten that screw on the sheath of the cable.  This makes the difference of how far the cable itself pushes the arm on the carb.

3rd...you could just have a carb issue and need cleaning or adjusting.  See that screw in the top of the picture??  Count the turns and bottom that screw out gently.  Then take the screw out and you will see some small holes near the end...use a wire and some carb clean and clean those holes.  Then put the screw back in...bottom it out and back out the number of turns to where it was (about 2 1/2 turns).  Adjust for most RPMs.

4th...one other thing...at the top left of this picture, you can see 3 holes in that carb arm and the cable in one of them.  I have seen that cable in any one of those 3 holes and it would also adjust how far you move the throttle depending on which hole it is in.

 

3 hours ago, stevasaurus said:

A couple of other thoughts...check, clean and gap or replace your spark plug.  Also, check the points for pitting and for gap  0.020.  The points control the timing of your engine.  The engine will run rough and not idle if the points are not correct 

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Governor is set. Throttle cable is set, per book. I got a much better understanding of the throttle system doing that. I also got my meter into tach mode and was able to get the throttle range set right where I want it. Red line is 3600 RPM, my throttle knob hits the one line fitting on the hydro pump at 3559 RPM. Idle, knob all the way in, is a little over 1200 RPM.

 

While I am sure my carb is about as clean as it is going to get, I do believe an adjustment issue was at fault for the initial stalling problem. Yesterday was by far the hottest day we have had since I've owned this machine, and I did reset the carb to base settings after I messed up the throttle cable. The rest of the problems I think I caused myself, or someone else caused for me. As I have gone through working on and adjusting this thing I have found a number of places that what I see doesn't line up with the pictures in the book, which makes me thing the PO hack-jobbed a few things.

 

I do still need to check the points, but the plug has less than 10 hours on it, so I'm not worried there. I also need to get a new plug wire, mine is rough.

 

[ebinmaine 72,718]

1 hour ago, adsm08 said:

As I have gone through working on and adjusting this thing I have found a number of places that what I see doesn't line up with the pictures in the book, which makes me thing the PO hack-jobbed a few things.

Good to see you're catching them as you go along...

 

 

 

[adsm08 3,265]

11 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Good to see you're catching them as you go along...

 

 

 

 

I can usually figure out anything I need to as long as I have the instructions. I like to ask questions in the forum, partially to see if there is a quicker fix, partially to leave a paper trail, both for myself and others, of what went wrong, what I did to fix it, and what I should not have touched in the first place.

 

I may still go back in and adjust the throttle linkage and bracketry to look more like the pictures in the Kohler manual. They show the throttle bracket coming off the governor at 180* to the arm, pointing to the 9:00 position. Mine was a 12:00 and is now closer to 10:30.

Edited June 7, 2019 by adsm08

[ebinmaine 72,718]

1 minute ago, adsm08 said:

 

I can usually figure out anything I need to as long as I have the instructions. I like to ask questions in the forum, partially to see if there is a quicker fix, partially to leave a paper trail, both for myself and others, of what went wrong, what I did to fix it, and what I should not have touched in the first place.

Trina and I are both about the same way.

 

Asking questions and leaving a paper trail is a fantastic idea.

 

You're just exactly the kind of membership that we need around here. Hope you stick around awhile.

[adsm08 3,265]

6 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Trina and I are both about the same way.

 

Asking questions and leaving a paper trail is a fantastic idea.

 

You're just exactly the kind of membership that we need around here. Hope you stick around awhile.

 

I try. Over at The Ranger Station I'm wearing the other shoe. In the Ranger world I'm one of the experts, and I've spent 10 years learning the ins and outs and interchanges of all the parts for all the years as I built my truck, and read so many builds that basically you just gotta ask "Can I take X part from this year and put it on that year?" and I can give a pretty definitive answer of if it will work or not.

 

I hate it when people over there don't post the fix, just let the thread drop when they figure it out.

 

Although I will admit that I have no intention of learning the Wheel Horse line up as thoroughly as I know the 83-11 Rangers. I mostly just want to learn the 855, and maybe enough to modify it a little bit (we are talking maybe a 10HP and engine rebuilt, not some of these hot rods I've seen around here).

Edited June 7, 2019 by adsm08

[ebinmaine 72,718]

21 minutes ago, adsm08 said:

Although I will admit that I have no intention of learning the Wheel Horse line up as thoroughly as I know the 83-11 Rangers. I mostly just want to learn the 855, and maybe enough to modify it a little bit (we are talking maybe a 10HP and engine rebuilt, not some of these hot rods I've seen around here).

Hahahahahaha

 

 

I didn't either....  A few years ago.

 

I'll be waiting to see what you come up with....

[adsm08 3,265]

16 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Hahahahahaha

 

 

I didn't either....  A few years ago.

 

I'll be waiting to see what you come up with....

 

Turbo LS/5-speed swap.

 

Just not sure how I will operate the PTO.

[stevasaurus 23,281]

The linkage on these horses is not always the same as the pictures...even when you are just talking K-181s.  I have an 857 and an 876, I think they should be the same as your 855...being they are the short frame square hoods. See what you think.

The 857...

 

the 876...

[adsm08 3,265]

Those do look a lot like what I have.