216 Govenor is wide open or idling... help!

Repowering a 212 with a completely rebuilt 216 engine. This engine has everything new, cam, etc. Done by a NAPA machine shop that has rebuilt probably 5-6 of these K series for me in the past, never an issue. The is the only one I've ever had a new cam installed on.

This engine has sat since 2002, never installed or started.

Put it in last week, got it started, but I can't get any control over the governor, the slightest bump sends it wild. Spent a few hours moving the spring around, to no avail. Had a long time Deere mechanic here this morning, he's at a loss. We checked 3 times that the gov rod was as far left, when the tractor was at full throttle, tightened it. The linkage attached to that rod is brand new as well.

What could the machine shop have assembled wrong? I'm going to take them the tractor and show it to them Monday, unless someone on here knows what could be up with it!

The gov rod is leaking oil, don't understand that.

It also has no "fight" to it when you manually move the ball joint on the carb... my other Kohlers have resistance.

Sounds internal... and expensive...

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Randy

I like to remove 4 bolts holding the front grill/hood assembly to the frame and set it aside.
use 2 7/16" wrenches loosen the 1/4" clamp bolt on the governor arm. I clamp a small vice grip on the governor shaft, rotate the governor shaft counter clockwise, pull the governor arm with the linkage connected to the carburetor counter clockwise also, now tighten the bolt. Works great if ya have 8 fingers on your left hand.

Randy, take the gov. arm off and see if you can turn the shaft both ways with your fingers. Sometimes the welded tab on the shaft breaks off. The riveted type can become loose and move so the gear "plunger" doesn't touch. If the shaft was new, this shouldn't be the problem.
If you can move the shaft in and out a lot, the short spacer behind the bronze bushing (nut) might be missing. An older engine (1965 Kohler powered Case) I was into last year didn't have the spacer but there was a snap ring on the shaft, acting as a stop for the bushing to limit in-out shaft movement. The new replacement shaft has no ring groove and came with the spacer.

The gear could have broken or the flyweights came off. Especially if one of the spring pins was loose, worked it's way out, and hit the casting.

I don't know if it's possible to remove the cam gear cover and be able to see the gov. gear with the aid of a small mirror. Worth a try.

The bronze bushing is a slip fit with only a groove in the bore to stop oil from leaking out. A new one with a new shaft usually leaks a small film of oil except when the crankcase pressure is not venting properly. This would not keep the gov. from working however.

I suspect the engine will need to be torn down for some kind of replacement of the gov. parts, but hope you get lucky and find something else. Keep us posted.

p.s. Sometimes even new parts are defective.

tommyhawk

Tom,
Thanks so much, I'm afraid it's going to have to come back out... I have to wonder if the machine shop let a new or junior guy assemble it, and they broke something or didn't get it in place, etc.

I think the gov rod moves in and out too much, more than in my 212/214, which gives me a bad feeling. I can turn it with my fingers, and I hear the "tab" touching, so I doubt it's broken off, but...

It will sit there and idle pretty good, it's not perfectly in time yet, no use doing that now. But if you just touch the throttle, it's off to the races... If I'd let it, it sounds like it's detonate. Obviously I slow it down right away.

I was thinking it had to do with the spring position, but there is no resistance to pull it back down to reality.

I'll keep you all posted on it. I'm going to take it to the machine shop tomorrow, in the tractor, and let them listen to it. Hopefully he will be gentle with me on the repair, as it was their fault, but it's been 11 years.

Thinking back, he's done 2 Packard car engines for me, countless heads off Cat dozers, Ih farm tractors, 6 of these K series, the 123 out of my Farmall Super C, plus loads of press work.

Curious if I should get new rings put in since it has sat all this time. Guess he can be the judge of that.

Outside of the head gasket, I'm thinking everything can be reused?

Randy

Randy, it might be worth while to remove the bronze bushing #5 and see if perhaps the spacer #6 was left out or too short. If the shaft can move outward enough, it sure enough would not keep the tab aligned with the button on the gov. gear. #8 is a bearing pressed into the block for the rear of the shaft to rotate in.

This picture might help you visualize things a little better. It is the early style linkage for a 214, but the shaft, etc, should all look similar.



Shouldn't need new rings, but any gaskets removed will probably get damaged. Definitely a new head gasket.

tommyhawk