Governor problem?

[Jon in Wis]

My 2N just started "pulsing" all of a sudden, even with no load. It races, then drops down to where it almost dies (sometimes it does), then races again. I tried all the basic carb stuff that"s been mentioned here; didn"t seem to make much difference. I noticed the rod from the governor to the carb was moving in concert with the pulsing. When I held the rod in one spot, the motor ran steady. I tried holding it in a couple different positions; the motor steadied out at the various speeds. Do I have a governor problem? I"ve had this tractor about 15 years, and never had to mess with the governor before. What do I start looking for?

I posted this a couple weeks ago, & the replies I got referred to fuel flow or junk in the carb. I double checked these, and everything seems ok. As I said, I can hold the rod in various positions, including wide open, and the motor runs steady, so that seems to tell me I don"t have a fuel flow problem. Anything else?

 

[Dunk]

(quoted from post at 18:37:52 11/15/08) My 2N just started "pulsing" all of a sudden, even with no load. It races, then drops down to where it almost dies (sometimes it does), then races again. I tried all the basic carb stuff that"s been mentioned here; didn"t seem to make much difference. I noticed the rod from the governor to the carb was moving in concert with the pulsing. When I held the rod in one spot, the motor ran steady. I tried holding it in a couple different positions; the motor steadied out at the various speeds. Do I have a governor problem? I"ve had this tractor about 15 years, and never had to mess with the governor before. What do I start looking for?

I posted this a couple weeks ago, & the replies I got referred to fuel flow or junk in the carb. I double checked these, and everything seems ok. As I said, I can hold the rod in various positions, including wide open, and the motor runs steady, so that seems to tell me I don"t have a fuel flow problem. Anything else?

My guess would have been carb, but your post here says well maybe not.

It's not hard to take the governor off, and apart for a look see at the condition.

 

[Kenster]

Jon, it still sounds like a fuel problem to me. I understand you checked the carb. How did you check it. You should remove the bottom plug and let it drain, with the fuel valve open, for several minutes. You should have a good strong flow the whole time. Catch it in a big glass jar so you can see how clean the fuel is.
Did you have a look at your fuel filter screens? There are three of them. One is on top of the fuel valve assembly and fits up inside the gas tank. One is a flat circle that sits right on top of the sediment bowl. And one is in the elbow that connects the fuel line to the carb. Any of these three could be blocked with dirt, leaves, or rusty stuff from the gas tank.
Are you only opening the fuel valve no more than two full turns? If you open it up all the way you are sucking fuel from the reserve, which is the bottom of the tank where all the dirt and rust settles.
If you find you have a lot of dirt and/or rust fines in the filters you should remove the tank and clean it real well. I took mine to a radiator shop and had it boiled and steam cleaned.

Ken

 

[grundy]

I also think it's your governor. There's several steel balls in there and if one gets a flat spot, that surging occurs. I replaced all mine over twenty years ago and it still works fine.