51 8n Governor Issue?

homer14

Member
I've got some questions, I believe to be the governor. I've read all kinds of posts in the forum and tried various things and the thing that stuck out the most was the test below:

[symptom]
- no power under load
- idles great
- gets to full rpm no problem with no load sitting out of gear
- starts fine

[various things done]
- timing correct
- rebuilt carb (air compress shot jets passages too)
- cleaned out sediment bowl and mechanism (removed from tank and flushed tank)
- tweaked carb to 400rpm idle
- adjusted governor and throttle rod's per manual (to-4 or whatever its called, not looking a it this second)
- 400-450 rpm idle, 2100-2200 rpm max full throttle
- adjusted carb 5-6 times per instructions in the manual and tips on this forum

[governor indications?]
- tested tapping the throttle faster from idle to see when throttle actually goes up (about 1/4th is nothing, then it does).. the manual says if nothing happens in 1/3rd 1st quardrant then might be issues.. and to adjust governor per manial (but i have done that)

- tested in gear, holding both brakes, and letting clutch out slowly to see if throttle goes up (governor kicking in) due to the load. this didnt happen at all, not the slightest bit! This is also what happens when i put a load on out in the farm with disc's or any load.

[questions]
- do i have a bad governor?

- should try anything else?

- should i take the governor off (it leaks oil by the way, so need a gasket anyhow)

- where is a good place to get a new governor if mine is bad, or should i try to find bad parts and fix just those?

thanks for your help!


[
 
"- should try anything else?"

Yes, start the tractor. In neutral with parking brake engaged, manually rev the engine by pulling the rod connecting the gov to the carb. It should fight back. If it does gov is not the problem. If it does not fight back then you have a gov issue.

If the gov does not tug back then I would rebuilt it. Not a difficult job.
 
Thanks HCooke for the fats response!

I actually did this and left that out. I'll edit my first post. What i saw when doing that was the governors arm pulling forward (toward the radiator) as i pulled back on the rod of the throttle arm (toward the seat).

However, there was no "tugging" or "force" against me. just the arm moving as if it was sliding on grease smoothly without any fight. Can that happen, without force or tugging, and indicate a governor problem?
 
"What i saw when doing that was the governors arm pulling forward (toward the radiator) as i pulled back on the rod of the throttle arm (toward the seat)."

Pull the rod connecting the gov to the carb. It should fight you.
 

What was the Engine RPM doing. When you pull on the rod towards the carb, the RPMs should increase and the governor should try to reduce the RPMS.
 
Check the governor spring and make sure it is SNUG in the loops that it connects to. It is impossible for the governor to do its job unless that spring is properly tensioned to hold the tractor speed at whatever the throttle is se at.
 
answers to last 3 posts, and thank you.

1. to hcooke

when i pull the rod quickly a short distance between the governor and carb with throttle about half full... its easy and no fight noticed. note that im pulling quickly

when i pull the rod slowly and farther distance in same situation above, it fights back and pulls the rod back forward toward the radiator.

if the fight back in the 2nd case is a sign the governor is good then im out of ideas on this sucker. the governor wont kick in with a simple brake test in gear or under load.

2. to rgeiger

i believe i misspoke about pulling the rods earlier, i was originally pulling the rod between the carb and the governor all along in my prior examples and issue description. i know this because when i tried to answer your question, i couldnt pull the throttle rod as its pinned on the throttle stop thing up on the dash.

3. to dginvt

i checked this out during the manual readings on governor adjustment. but to answer your question, it "seems" snug in idle position there is no up/down play in it, and there is no tension on it when at idle. if there is any wiggle/jiggle room then its the left/right twist jiggle if anything from the nature of how the spring is connected through holes and the ability to twist it ever so slightly.

i actually tried to tighten it a bit by pulling on the spring hooks a little but never lucked out so i just left it as is in what seems ot already be a snug fit.
 
thanks for your continued help. i've been reading more and more posts, still at a loss of ideas.

could it be that the spring is not tight enough and when it finally kicks in later, the motor is too weak or something to make idle go up? the spring really does seem fine per the manual but im just thinking aloud here.
 
thanks for the earlier help, i havent heard back after follwoing up. im going to just take it apart i guess and see what i see. ill follow-up once i figure it out.
 
Update for any followers or future readers:

The governor spring replacement fixed it. While it looked to be strong and tight, it didnt have any pull back until the throttle was pushed quite a bit. The new spring ($12 shipped) pulls sooner and the tractor revs earlier during load.

The steps above helped thanks.
 
(quoted from post at 06:45:12 08/21/16) Update for any followers or future readers:

The governor spring replacement fixed it. While it looked to be strong and tight, it didnt have any pull back until the throttle was pushed quite a bit. The new spring ($12 shipped) pulls sooner and the tractor revs earlier during load.

The steps above helped thanks.

Is it possible to put a new spring on it without removing the governor?
 
(quoted from post at 13:32:28 08/21/16)
Is it possible to put a new spring on it without removing the governor?

Yep. At least that is what i did. Just used needle nose pliers.
 
(quoted from post at 11:41:32 08/21/16)
(quoted from post at 13:32:28 08/21/16)
Is it possible to put a new spring on it without removing the governor?

Yep. At least that is what i did. Just used needle nose pliers.

My spring is a little loose. The FO4 manual says to adjust it, just bend the ends a little. I tried that with some long 12" needle nose pliers and could not bend it.

I did not try to remove it though, maybe I should just try that. If I do get it off and then succeed in bending the links to shorten it a little, I hope I can get it back on without bending the ends out again.

However, I do have a new governor gasket so if I get too frustrated, I could remove the governor to fix it.
 
same thing i went through, couldnt bend it. a new one was 6$ plus 6$ shipping, put it in and my issue was fixed.
 
(quoted from post at 16:54:22 08/21/16) same thing i went through, couldnt bend it. a new one was 6$ plus 6$ shipping, put it in and my issue was fixed.

I guess that's what I'll do. May I ask who you purchased the new spring from?
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top