Its been a while since I've posted here. '51 8n side mount.

I am looking into lowering my idle speed. If I remove the rod from the governor to the carb I can get my idle down to 400. But when I hook it back up its at 900. Is there an adjustment somewhere that I'm missing?

Also, does anyone know the max timing i should see at 2200? I'm getting around 19 degrees. Have anyone increased it any to get a bit more power?

Thank you,

Tim

Do you have the owner's manual? There are instructions in there on how to make adjustments to the governor control rods to affect the idle.

The top advance is 18° per factory specs so it sounds like you are there. I doubt you will get enough additional power to justify messing with it.

Ed,

I do have the manual, it states to lengthen the rod to the governor to lower the idle. I did this and it did indeed lower the idle, but it also lowered the max rpm. I was able to get it to idle at 400, but the max was around 1700. I met in the middle and went with 700 and 2100.

I added 2.5 degrees of advance, it did indeed help. I noticed at low rpm take off in higher gear and pulling a load up hill. I might see what another couple does, I'll listen for detonation.

Also, is there a way to search the topics?

Click on "NTC Forum Archives"
Enter your keywords to search for, ex., "adjust governor"
Choose your search parameters: Any or All
Choose the forum you want to search in the "Search Index". Unfortunately, since GoDaddy moved us to a new platform, you can no longer search on "All" so you have to go through each forum individually.

Hope this helps; holler back if you need clarification.

Ed,

Thank you, I tried the search but it looks like godaddy is having an issue, i'll check back next week.

Tim

I just tried it and got these results from the first search:

• Click here

You may have your governor adjusted as best as it can be then. How about optimum adjustment of your carb? Bruce Haynes, a long-time contributor here, wrote this helpful how-to on adjusting the MS carb:

Make sure the tractor is at operating temperature; depending on the ambient temperature, that usually takes 10 – 15 minutes at idle.

Both Ford and Marvel/Schebler (assuming you have a M/S carb) say to set both the side-pointing idle mix and the down-pointing main jet to 1-turn as a starting point. I set the down-pointing main jet to 1-1/2 turns and do not fool with it until the final step.

Then adjust the side-pointing idle mixture for the fastest idle; not the smoothest idle. Next, adjust the behind-the-carb idle-speed setscrew for a very slow 400-rpm idle. Do that idle mix adjustment for maximum idle at least 3 times. Make sure that you turn the screws slowly, like 1/8 of a turn at a time and wait a second or two for the engine to catch up. Take your time!

Do it like this:

1. Adjust the idle mix jet until RPM increases

2. Adjust the idle-mix set screw until the engine nearly stops (as slow as you can get it unless you have a tach that tells you 400 rpm)

Repeat steps 1-2 three times.

Remember the side-pointing idle mix is out for lean, in for rich.

If you do not have any problems inside the carb, it is easy to get the idle down to 350 - 400 rpm.

Your last step is to go back to the main jet. Remember, in for lean, out for rich. If you end up turning it OUT more than ½ turn for max power (remember, you already had it 1-½ turns out) then stop right there because you have a dirty carb or a fuel problem.

Lastly, each of us has his own definition of a carb rebuild. If your rebuild did not include soaking the carb 24 hours in a bucket of caustic carb cleaner and blowing out every orifice with a rubber-tipped air gun, you didn't do a rebuild, IMHO. You just replaced parts.