Alrashid2 369 #1 Posted yesterday at 01:12 AM Hey guys, any of you seen this before? I fine tuned my idle months ago to be exactly at 1700 RPM. I was idling earlier today and walked away for a few minutes, and when I got back heard the Kohler sputtering and almost stalling out! Tach said it was idling at 650 RPM - yikes! No idea how that happened. I adjusted the idle screw on the carb and a few turns later it was back at 1700 RPM. I'm thinking the idle screw was loosening with vibration, as it was really easy to turn with a screw driver and there was no tension or real force needed to turn it. Anyone seen this before? I put a witness mark on it with a metallic sharpie so hoping to keep an eye on it. Figured worst case I could put a drop or two of clear nail polish to maybe hold it in place but we'll see... Thanks for the input! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 28,294 #2 Posted yesterday at 01:38 AM 22 minutes ago, Alrashid2 said: Figured worst case I could put a drop or two of clear nail polish to maybe hold it in place but we'll see... There should be a spring around the idle screw. Remove the screw, stretch the spring out so that it will keep more tension on the screw. A little blue or purple Loctite on the threads will add some resistance as well. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alrashid2 369 #3 Posted yesterday at 01:55 AM Oh wow I didnt even see the spring, as it's fully compressed on my carb... wonder if that is normal haha! Looked like a washer until i grabbed a flashlight 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wallfish 17,232 #4 Posted yesterday at 02:06 PM 11 hours ago, Alrashid2 said: it's fully compressed on my carb... wonder if that is normal haha! No it isn't. Something else is going on if the idle speed screw is turned all the way in and it's still running at 1700 rpm idle. (Unless the screw was changed to a shorter one) Clean the carb thoroughly and do the settings according to the manual, then do slight adjustments from there to tune it to that engine. There's some pretty good instructions in the Kohler manual for setting all of the carb adjustment screws and governor. Make sure all of the control cable connections are tight and solid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alrashid2 369 #5 Posted yesterday at 06:10 PM Everything else seems to be in order and the tractor runs perfectly otherwise. I had tuned the carb as per the Kohler manual previously. Here are some photos of my idle screw from various angles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alrashid2 369 #6 Posted 5 hours ago Curious how others' idle screw looks in comparison to mine? Tried looking on Youtube and Google and saw some that didn't look too different than mine... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfrederi 18,219 #7 Posted 4 hours ago 1750 is faster than Kohler spec idle speed to get that you had to tighten the idle speed set screw. Extended period tightened up could weaken an old spring. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alrashid2 369 #8 Posted 4 hours ago Thanks for weighing in, yes I know that is higher than the spec idle speed of 1200 RPM (or maybe it's 1250? can't remember). I let my tractor idle more than many here would recommend so to help alleviate any woes of oil lubrication and cooling, I raised the idle speed a bit. What you said makes sense, thanks ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfrederi 18,219 #9 Posted 4 hours ago If you want to maintain the higher speed once you get it set a little blue loctite may keep it in position... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
