Help with hunting or surging

[Johnny Lindqvist]

So I was just out in the filed turning over some new soil with my plow. Everything has been running great. I came to the end of a furrow and the tractor started surging. So I quickly started towards home. Thought maybe I was starting to run out of gas and that it would balance out when on smooth level ground. It didn't pulsated all the way home. Got it to the shop and grabbed the linkage from the governor and held it open and it ran ok but at soon as I let go it starts hunting again. The tractor is somewhat new to me. The more I use it the more it seems to come alive including the governor. I recently ran it out of gas and changed the sediment bowl. I used a little rector seal on the fittings and it had been running flawlessly plowing last weekend and this weekend (when applying the rector seal I tried to only do the back of the threads). I noticed a small air bubble in the sediment bowl today to that wasn't there before. It was directly in front of the fuel output to my carb. So I thought that must be the problem. I cracked the fitting and got some out but not all of it. I cracked the line at the carb to see if I was getting a steady flow of fuel which I was. The tractor was starting up fine and I pulled the choke out the hunting balanced out but when I put the choke in the tractor stalled and now will only start when choked. Then the battery died which is pretty uncharacteristic of the tractor to. Does this sound like a gummed up carb? Could I have got some of the rector seal in the fuel line? Does it sounds like a governor problem? There also seems to be a very faint trace of a different smell. Perhaps the air mixture has been comprimised? The more I write this the more it sounds carb related so I'm going to open up the carb and see if cleaning it will help. Any input is greatly appreciated.

[Johnny Lindqvist]

Update, took carb off and put air line on fuel intake and it blew clear. Put it back on and same problem but could not keep running. I noticed that the governor used to seem real sloppy to me but after using the tractor this past summer it seemed to come back to life and now when I grab the linkage it doesn't seem sloppy at all. I opened up the distributor cap and just took a glance and everything in there is dry and clean. I did everything but the point a few months ago. I also took of the air bowl and checked it to see if it seemed blocked but it did not.

[Johnny Lindqvist]

Correction so you don't think I can't speak english properly. I did everything but the points a few months ago and I took the air filter bowl off and checked it for blockage.

[Eugene]

Sounds like a carburetor problem.

If you haven't done so, disassemble the carburetor. Soak in carb cleaner or use spray can carb cleaner. Blow out, clean out, all passages.

Spray can carb cleaner usually works well - and you can tell if the passages are open.

[Johnny Lindqvist]

Hi Eugene,
So even though I was able to blow air through the carb you still think it was a carb problem?? It's a dead stick now. It just turns over and over. I notice the ignition coil gets hot. I've never bothered to put my hand on an ignition coil so I don't know if that's normal.

[randallc]

Agree with Eugene. Good cleaning of the carb, including the main jet, and check to see if you are getting a real good flow to the carb from the tank. Then readjust the linkage from carb to the governor.

[Gary Dotson]

I think it sounds like you have a plugged main jet in the carb, It's a quick, easy first check. It's the 3/8 brass hex on the outside of the carb, if you have the IH carb. If you have a Zenith, it's on the inside.

[Johnny Lindqvist]

Alright I'm going to take it apart and give it a check now. I believe it's a zenith. Carberators are always more finicky than I give them credit for which is why I guess I'm not really good with them. I hope this is it. I'll report back in a while.

[Eugene]

Hunting or surging is typically a fuel, carburetion, related problem.

It's a dead stick now. It just turns over and over. I notice the ignition coil gets hot.

Remove the distributor cap and check the condition of the ignition points. Then check for spark on all plug wires - easy with timing light.

[Johnny Lindqvist]

Hey,
So I took the carb off and apart as ordered. Removed and cleaned every easily removable part I could and put back together and once again problem solved thanks to farmallcub.com. Many thanks guys. I think I actually saw a small drip like length of rector seal in the carb. Back up and running again. I mess up the choke linkage putting it back together duh so the choke was on in the normal position and that took me about 10 minutes to find and rectify.