Engine wants to rev too high
 

Hello,

My 129 was fine for a few years then I let my Dad borrow it. I guess the "e-clip" holding the governor bracket to the carb fell off and he used some Romex electrical wire to hold it together instead of buying the 17 cents e-clip. I replaced the e-clip but it seems like since this happened, my engine wants to run wild!

I can start the cub fine, and it idles very well. However, as soon as I start increasing the fuel the engine acts like it's going for broke and I have a lot more travel left in the fuel lever! I can get it to an appropriate level with very fine movements, but as soon as I move the lever to go forward, I need to increase the gas. As soon as I do this, the engine wants to run away again. It happens every time I adjust the fuel to put load on the engine, (engaging PTO, engaging forward movement, going up hill, going down hill).

My neighbor owned a motorcycle shop and worked on those engines. He said the governor usually worked off the fly wheel creating air and pushing open a metal flap that is connected to the governor. I don't see how that works on this 12HP Kohler. I have thought about adjusting the carb but it has always ran fine before and nothing has changed other than putting the e-clip back on. The neighbor also suggested I clean the carb.

I know I should post a video and will try to later if the rain holds off. What do you guys think?

-Joe
Cincinnati, OH

The experts will be here shortly but I can tell you that the governor is gear driven off the crankshaft. I'm sure they will say to reset the governor. There is instructions in the tech section of this site

Reset the governor per the manual. I've had to take my K241 engine out 3 times in the last two months on my rebuild, other problems, and every time it would race away. Each time, resetting the governor fixed the problem. Then I adjusted the carb.

Your close Terry, the governor runs off the cam, not the crank. But it's gear drive so :beerchug:

Yep, need to adjust the governor.

Go here and download the manual for the engine.
http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...ead.php?t=4646


If that doesn't fix it, then something broke in the governor and the engine will have to be removed.

I saw my error as I was reading it again and figured you would set him straight
Thanks

Gear-driven, as the speed increases centrifugal force pushes the weights outward and thus the pin against the governor cross-shaft. Agree that you should check the gov arm and reset per factory specs if needed.

You might also look at whether the rubber fuel line is causing interference with the linkage. This has happened to me before and with a little adjustment or rearrangement, it was not longer a problem.

Cub Cadet 123