[melloyellokidd]

My brother is working on a 318 and is telling me that he can be running at half speed and it will speed up to full throttle without moving the lever and at times it will slow down and even stop without moving the lever. Any ideas as to what to check or where to start.

Thanks

 

[Hammerdown-7]

Hello There
I would start by Tightening the bolt that goes straight through the Middle of the throttle lever assembly. It is on the back side of the dash panel. When tightened some it keep's the Throttle selection lever in the same Position as it is set to. Be careful to Not tighten it too much as it will place a Load on the Throttle cable when Increasing or decreasing the Throttle lever, Which can eventually cause cable failure. While you are Tightening the Throttle assembly Main through bolt Now would be a Great time to Lubricate the Throttle cable as well as the choke cables. Both Cables have a wire spiral sheath on them that Mositure or corrosion can get Trapped in them,& Battery acid is an Enemy to the Throttle and Choke cables I have seen them so bad being ate up by Battery acid seaping out of the battery down Onto these Cables which commonly run Under the Tractor's Battery Box, that they had to be replaced as they froze up the Internal solid cable portion and in Most cases you will Not be able to get them to Operate smoothly again after that happen's.

When Lubricating any Cables I use a Good Penetrating oil sprayed down into the cable housing it will pro-Long the life of the Throttle cable as well as the choke cable which are Pricey to replace. They do sell a Product called Throttle cable Lubricant but it is more Money to buy than a Good Old Can of Pentrating oil. One Word of caution here is that I was Told by a Home Depot Lock smith, that the reason my Kwick-set Lock assembly Tanked for my back door into The House, was because I used WD-40 On it. He shared with me that WD-40 }has Water in it's chemistry make up, that simply corrodes the Internal lock set on a Door to the Point where a Key will not open it any more. After I Hear of this I tossed out my Can of WD-40 and will Not buy any More of it again. this made Perfect sense to me as WD-40 is sure to sell More of their Product to People Not aware of if it is causing Rust & Corrosion issues. My Dad Loved WD-40 I Swear he would have Put it on his corn flakes if Mom would have let him do so Most Guy's do not bother with Lubricating the Throttle or choke cables on their Tractor's but if you have to replace one they are not cheap and it is Far cheaper to buy a can of Penetrating Oil, as to replace those high dollar cables. I hope this help's, Kurt

 

[knottyrope]

you might have a governor issue that allows it to over rev. you need to check the spider on the cam to see if its loose at all

 

[flyingtim01]

Agree with KnottyRope, sounds like the governor needs further investigation if the engine speed is all over the lot. Thats a pretty common trouble spot on those engines. Certainly check the easy things first (linkage, throttle cable, make sure the spring is in the right hole) and make sure there isn't any binding or slop, but it sounds like a governor rebuild is on the horizon.

Don't want to get this thread off topic, but WD-40 doesn't have any water in it. WD stands for 'water displacing', matter of fact. And I think the 40 is because it took them 40 tries to find the right formula for corrosion inhibition that they were looking for. I actually fixed a lockset a few weeks ago with a rag and a can of WD

It was bone dry on the inside like it came from the factory with no lube at all, and full of metal dust and just needed a quick clean and lube and it was back in action.

 

[dhendric]

Do you mean engine speed or tractor ground speed?

 

[melloyellokidd]

GROUND SPEED. I have been told to check the linkage so that will be looked at this weekend.

 

[dhendric]

If your linkage is tight and no slop, I believe your hydro unit is bypassing oil internally. I've had two 316's with the same problem. The first one I rebuilt about 4 years ago and it solved the problem. I just finished rebuilding the second unit last week,but haven't got it installed yet.

 

[melloyellokidd]

Since my brother and I spent the weekend at the lake instead of working on tractors I will have to report back with the findings at a later date.......lol