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[Geno Balzer]

Hello all, I'm Geno and I recently got turned onto karts from my brother. I picked up a Murray with an 8hp Kohler on it. They had a paperclip on the throttle cable. I need to fix this so that I can ride it with my little boy. If I need to post pics let me know and I post them. Thank you in advance.

 

[Karts of Kaos]

It's great to have you here. Please post pics.

 

[Geno Balzer]

The little silver tab under the white bracket is the throttle, but I don't know how to attach the cable to it.

 

[itsid]

oh no I think you are only partly correct..

I think you must not attach to the throttle butterfly at all
since that way you'd bypass the governor which is a bad idea
the white bracket is where the remote throttle cable should attach to.

I'll have to find me the Kohler manual to tell for sure
(and most importantly how that bracket then is controlling the throttle butterfly)

but until you cracked the case open and made sure there is no governorwheel inside the crankase anymore you must never bypass the governor system.
thus never control the butterfly on the carb itself.

the general idea is you control a spring loaded lever which then is regulated by the governor
and that then sets the butterfly to the "correct" value
I assume one of the levers on the bracket are actually what you have to control instead.
(but can't see which has a cross shaft into the engine's crank case)

'sid

PS can you tell us what model it is? (there should be a number on it somewhere)
from that angle it's hard to tell..
I'm assuming some K-series but I don't know they made a 8hp at all only a 7hp..
the Magnum was 8 but it doesn't seem to match the view at all
and a command pro it's certainly not either whcih was 8.5 IIRC... and with that I'm out of 8 horse kohler ideas
So please locate the tag (on the shroud usually) and tell me what model number it is

 

[Smerft85]

Hey sid, we went out and took a picture of the tag for you, just to notice it's a techumseh. Only work we've done was drained the fuel, blew out the carb, and added fresh gas to get it to start up. The little pin for the governor arm is still on the block and I can feel with it that the governor parts are still intact and the previous owners just bypassed. As I'm sure you are aware I am more familiar with the honda clones so I'm lost on this throttle set-up. Also not sure the best way to get a kill switch properly installed. The ad on the kart said it was a kholer and I foolishly didn't check for myself.

P.S. this is the same brother that owns the yerf dog I posted up before.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Best way to get a kill switch.

On the coil should be 2 wires. One to the plug and the other is the magic wire. Run it through a switch to ground. Pretty easy. Just remember that a generic switch will read opposite. ON or closed contacts will not run while as OFF will be open contact and engine runs.

I mounted a switch on my steering wheel for the easiest place to reach in an Oh S--- moment

 

[itsid]

View attachment 115900

Hey sid, we went out and took a picture of the tag for you, just to notice it's a techumseh. Only work we've done was drained the fuel, blew out the carb, and added fresh gas to get it to start up. The little pin for the governor arm is still on the block and I can feel with it that the governor parts are still intact and the previous owners just bypassed. As I'm sure you are aware I am more familiar with the honda clones so I'm lost on this throttle set-up. Also not sure the best way to get a kill switch properly installed. The ad on the kart said it was a kholer and I foolishly didn't check for myself.

P.S. this is the same brother that owns the yerf dog I posted up before.

EXCELLENT..
the Kohler is a tecumseh, good to know
H70 a Snowking in your case (7horses)

I've attached the Tecumseh L Head manual for you
View attachment Techumseh-L-Head-Engines-Manual.pdf
and here you can see how the remote throttle is attached:

yes unfortunately it's a push pull throttle ..
you'll need to add a return spring yourself, to convert it to a kart-esque pull throttle

and how the governor lever's 'springloaded'


(pics are from the internet, not mine.. but they about show what's needed, the rest you'll find in the manual on page 32 or such)

'sid

 

[Geno Balzer]

Thanks for your help Sid. My brother's not all that bright. Lol

 

[Smerft85]

Thanks for your help Sid. My brother's not all that bright. Lol

And mine is a jerk sometimes! At least it was a quick and easy fix to make it run.

 

[Geno Balzer]

I'm an A-hole, get it right bro. Haha

---------- Post added at 08:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 PM ----------

Sid, can you send a better pic of the linkage itself between the butterfly and the white bracket? I'm completely missing that piece because it doesn't move the throttle at all.

 

[itsid]

I don't have a tecumseh so I can't take pictures on demand I'm afraid
[internet pics to the rescue]

but I think what you refered to as "paperclip" is what you are now missing,
since the linkage has a oval loop on one end.

here's a nice example from a slightly different engine:


somewhat paperclip-esque on one end, no?

And now here you can see it move
according to the throttle lever (grey) position
from one extreme (idle)

to the other (full throttle)


that three holed bracket is bolted to the C-shaped governor lever btw
(yes odd construction.. but what can I say)
IT is what controls the butterfly,
the springloaded white lever you indicrectly control
is nothing but a suggestion to the engine (as it should be)


We need some better pictures of your engine btw incl governor lever and such,
in case we need to identify missing parts

you have an H70-130009 if I'm reading that correctly..
the governor lever, bracket and governor linkage
are all available from jack
https://www.jackssmallengines.com/j...orizontal/h-70/h70-130009/engine-parts-list-1
[part #52, #55 and #56 in above order]

and so is the extension spring [part #224]
https://www.jackssmallengines.com/j...orizontal/h-70/h70-130009/engine-parts-list-2

fairly certain the connecting linkage betweent he two levers on the bracket is still in place..
so all that's left is a home made return spring for the throttle control lever
(the grey one in the bottom right corner of the last pic above)

hope that helps

'sid

 

[Geno Balzer]

I will get some better pics in a few.
Thanks, that does give me a better idea of what is needed.

 

[Smerft85]

Best way I can describe how it was hooked up from P.O. is the cable was zip-tied to the rear bumper, a paper clip wrapped around the end of the cable, and hooked over the paperclip looking linkage on that white bracket with the very end of the paperclip jammed into a hole on the butterfly.

It's an actual paperclip that was on it, not the weird looking linkage wire that belongs. When we move the linkage on that white bracket it moves both arms on the bracket, but there is nothing connected to the butterfly to control it from the bracket. Near as I can tell we are missing a small wire linkage between the bracket and the butterfly.
•MERGED•
All that's left externally of the governor is the little pin that the arm would connect to, and while running I could put my fingers on it and feel it try to engage with rpm. I did give warning about cast flywheels and what can happen if the governor is removed completely, but leaving it in bypassed can be just as bad.





Best pictures my phone will allow, but there's the butterfly and the governor parts in question. If the kart were ridden on the gentle side would we be better off removing the governor or wait for who knows how long to ride it to put the governor back together?

 

[itsid]

well then off to jack's small engines and buy the four part I listed above
(governor arm, bracket and linkage as well as the extension spring)
maybe the required mounting bolts nuts and washers if you have none matching laying around..
and then you'd be set.

OR

crack open that engine and remove the governor completely..
there's no safe to run third option.

'sid

 

[Smerft85]

How likely is it for the flywheel to come apart if we remove the governor completely? We would love to test ride today. I created the linkage wire we needed from the paperclip that was provided and got a return spring in place, so now the throttle looks to be working properly.

 

[itsid]

the flywheel is the least of your problems..
the governor gear is what you should be worried about
that why it has to go or controlling the butterfly in order to stay safe.
as I said... no third option!

you're on your own

'sid

 

[Smerft85]

I think we aren't getting the message clearly between us. If the entire governor is removed, gear, arm, washers and so on, is there risk of internals coming apart. Not looking for a third option, wondering if we remove the governor, not bypass as it is already, will it come apart violently with no parr of the governor remaining?

 

[itsid]

Ahh yes I misunderstood, sorry

usually not much of a risk, no
increased wear and suboptimal parts (preworn and wallowed out engine)
can cause a failure you would otherwise have to expect much later and likely less violent,
but apart from that no..
the valves even of an L Head should keep you from revving into dangerous realms
(means they should keep you within 5000 to 5500 rpms max,
which is usually safe for engine internals in good condition.

how good the internal condition is we can't tell.
it's your health and I wouldn't dare to make that decision for you.
Personally with a mystery engine (unknown running hours and maintenance)
and since you have to crack that eggshell in order to remove the governor,
I personally would take that opportunity to settle in on a confidence level for the internal parts (by measuring their wear) and then decide what to do and what not to.

And to be frank,
that takes longer than waiting for parts and reinstalling the governor lever and stuff.
and it requires some good quality tools (especially measuring tools)

The crude easy check:
wiggle the crank up down front and back left and right, and if that is already beyond the specs (see manual)
be prepared for some serious amount of work..
if that's fine and the compression of the engine is still good
I personally would lean towards "it's likely safe to rev up to 5k"
aways in mind, that a sane person would always stop and reconsider if the engine starts to make weird noises

But again, your health, not mine...
I haven't even touched the engine,
how can I tell you what risk to take?
I'm safe here, half way across the globe and talking is easy

'sid

PS Short: if you're not confident the engine is in good shape, just dial in for safety,
once you feel confident to check the engine thoroughly you can always step up the game

 

[Smerft85]

We did give it a test run today, I'll let geno talk about the mishap. The engine sounds strong, and performs well. We did take it easy since the governor gear is still inside, but I think he is wanting to remove it instead of reinstalling the parts needed, and we will at least inspect the internals for heavy wear. Honestly at $120 he got a heck of a deal and we were both shocked about how easy it was to get running again! Thanks for the tips and help sid, it helped out a ton.

 

[Geno Balzer]

On the test ride the throttle got stuck open and the brake only slowed me down a little bit. I had to run over a couple bushes in the neighbor's yard to get stopped. The brake was smoking. It was a **** of a good first ride. Lol