Trouble shooting a governor

txpoweranger · Oct 31, 2017

Is there anyway to trouble shoot a governor on a IH 454, I'm a shade tree mechanic trying to restore a 454, thought it would be better to ask before I tear it apart.

old · Oct 31, 2017

Depending on the carb yes there is a few simple things you can do to see what is going on.
#1 start it up and throttle it up to around half throttle. Garb the linkage and try to bring the RPM up but hand. If the gov. is working right it should try to bring the RPM back down. If it does then you have other problems. Maybe sticking linkage or a cab problem but this is where more info would help us help you

txpoweranger · Oct 31, 2017

Up until I readjusted the governor linkage, which was done per a shop manual I have, I wasn't able to adjust low idle at 625,and I could only bring high idle up to 2000 rpms.now when I bring it up to high idle it will start coughing and acts as if it's running out of gas, high idle is 2420 I can back off on the throttle and it runs fine. The carb was rebuilt by the book also. I'm stumped

old · Oct 31, 2017

Does choking it at the higher RPM hurt or help. If it help good chance you missed something when you had to carb open. Any time you clean a carb you need to poke out the passageways wit ha small wire or as I use a torch tip cleaner tool and then blow and spray them out

Married2Allis · Oct 31, 2017

The governor of Virginia? Where do I start? Thank heaven he is on his way out. lol

txpoweranger · Oct 31, 2017

I haven't tried the choke thing,in fact I didn't even think about it but I will. Now as far as the cleaning of the carb I did as you and used a can of compressed air and blew out all the little ports.

Determined · Oct 31, 2017

(quoted from post at 10:43:34 10/31/17) Up until I readjusted the governor linkage, which was done per a shop manual I have, I wasn't able to adjust low idle at 625,and I could only bring high idle up to 2000 rpms.now when I bring it up to high idle it will start coughing and acts as if it's running out of gas, high idle is 2420 I can back off on the throttle and it runs fine. The carb was rebuilt by the book also. I'm stumped

A governor is nothing more than another way to move the throttle linkage.
To put it simple if you were to press the accelerator on your old pick up truck that does not have a governor and it did the same thing you would be rechecking the carburetor, ignition, fuel delivery, air filter, vacuum leaks, cylinder compression, valve setting etc.

Not meaning to be questioning the skill of whomever did the carb but I would say a poor running engine problem that was not corrected when someone threw a can of carb cleaner and a few gaskets at it comes up on this site 50+ times a month.

Carburetors are not rocket science but they do require one to be very thorough and pay very close attention to detail.

old · Oct 31, 2017

If all you did was blow out the passageways you did not do much of a job in cleaning the carb. You need o soak it blow it out and spray it out and poke it out. I have run into many carbs where a guy did as you did but they did not poke out the passageways and that means they left rust/dirt in and in doing so the carbs did not work correctly

txpoweranger · Oct 31, 2017

I took a tip cleaner and poked everything out and blew it out and soaked it in acetone for 2 days

robgIN · Oct 31, 2017

A can of compressed air ?

old · Oct 31, 2017

Acetone?? I good paint thinner would do a better job then acetone would. Did you pull the brass tube out that sits at a 45 degree angle and make sure all the holes in it where open??

txpoweranger · Oct 31, 2017

I used my compressor 1st then I seen the compressed air in the store and it had a straw on it so I got a can and used it too.

txpoweranger · Oct 31, 2017

No, but I will take it off again and do that.

old · Oct 31, 2017

That tube has 2 or more holes in the side of the tube that if they are not open will cause major problems with the engine not running as it should.

txpoweranger · Oct 31, 2017

I knew it had 2 that has something to do with the air adjustment but didn't know it had more but it's coming off again and will be pulled out and cleaned.

txpoweranger · Oct 31, 2017

This tractor has a zenith carb on it, not much to it.

old · Oct 31, 2017

Yep not much to them and that is why even one small hole that is clogged with rust/dirt can/will cause major problems

txpoweranger · Oct 31, 2017

I'm going to try your governor trick and see what happens, If it works like it's suppose to then I'll pull the carb off and go through it once again.

old · Oct 31, 2017

Also make sure the linkage moves freely because if it binds any place it can/will cause odd problems

txpoweranger · Oct 31, 2017

I will and I want to thank you very much, you've helped an old shade tree mechanic out very much, Thank you.

old · Oct 31, 2017

Always happy to help if and when I can. If you need more help you can always e-mail me and then get my number to talk one on one which I do on and off a lot with a few guys from here

txpoweranger · Oct 31, 2017

Ok, here's my email address ([email protected])

Dick L · Oct 31, 2017

A tractor governor is "always trying to take the engine back to idle. The only thing that will let it run above idle is the governor spring. The spring has to overcome the ability of the governor weights to take it back to idle. While the engine is running at idle and you try to make run faster by moving the linkage by hand you will feel pressure trying to keep from running faster if the governor is working.

jwmfarms · Oct 31, 2017

Amen!

txpoweranger · Nov 1, 2017

I done what you said and it will try to idle back down but it doesn't take much to hold it from doing so,to me it acts as if it might be sticking.

txpoweranger · Nov 1, 2017

I did your governor trick and the governor is slow to react and it doesn't take anything to hold it and keep it from doing anything.

Trouble shooting a governor

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