I can't get a good picture yet but there is a spring that pushes against the lever in the dash. If you look at yours does it have the spring on the shaft that it rotates on and pushes it towards the center? I think that will give it some tension but I dont know how much. I will try and get a good picture of it for you.

Well, no pics. The camera didn't work.

I'm going to put a spring on the throttle shaft where the throttle control connects to it, and see if that helps or not.

Make sure you attach it to the cable mounting point and not the governor or the carb.

Surely this problem isn't that difficult to repair. I think your asking for trouble adding springs........ But, it's your machine.

The quadrant on mine, each lever assembly.. like for throttle and for choke are wavy, sort of ribbed. That's the friction, at least in my case. If OP's are smooth, and there's no way to increase pressure on the housing, maybe taking the assembly apart and roughing up those sides, maybe sliding in a piece of sandpaper might add enough grip to keep it from slipping.

My guess is that your problem is with part #1. It probably has a bolt running through the center that can be tightened a bit to keep it from returning to idle on it's own but that is just a guess on my part as I have never worked on one.

I think OP might be the same guy who posted an identical question on MTF last week. I actually suggested looking for a center bolt like this and try to tighten it. IDK what happened to him but Im guessing that did not work.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cub-Cadet-Se...item4d2035e768

Zoom in and you can sort see this guys wavy-ness between the levers and the housing. These are quite worn though.

That was a great link to show how these things work. Looks like no way to adjust it. Standard MTD design replace the whole deal. Gotta love it. I was hoping it had a bolt that could be tightened but no such luck. Poor design, and people question why I like the older stuff. I'll try to come up with a cheap and easy fix if for no other reason than to keep a few bucks in the owners pocket and out of MTD's.

MTD wants like $70 for that part. How about just a regular throttle and choke cable replacement? Or two throttle controls, both mounted in the original hole, one for the choke, one for the throttle. Those aftermarket ones are about $12-$15 each...... :Huh:

Can you drive that shaft out? If you can, add a couple washers on each side forcing more pressure on those tiny quality springs, maybe providing enough resistance to help.
Radical idea number 2: If it doesn't push through, cut off the ends, drill it out and use a bolt that you can tighten.