Snowdog - Fix for stuck throttle (I needed it)

[Gunflint]

Well, When I fired up the Snowdog this morning, the throttle was stuck again.

This time I was prepared and no "excitement" with the issue.

It took a while to figure the thing out. I looked at the throttle assembly with both the throttle cable and the manual throttle lever near the choke. It all checked out just fine. Everything was loose and nothing binding. I was flummoxed.  The throttle WAS NOT STUCK.

I called the experts, Kinni Sports in River Falls, Wisconsin. I bought my Snowdog there. Brendan was amazing. He walked me through everything on the phone.

Ultimately, the problem was the "governor lever" and not the throttle. The Briggs and Stratton engine has a governor with a spring from the governor to the throttle assembly. The arm on the governor actually is supposed to move - but only 1/8 or at a maximum of 1/4 inch travel (which is not much). But the 1/8 inch of travel makes the difference between "wide open" and "tame." 

The Fix: I pushed the governor lever 1/8 inch towards the throttle assembly, sprayed in a bit of WD40 and everything worked great. It tamed the Dog and I went out and caught lake trout.

I wanted to pass the info on in case anybody else has the issue.


Throttle Assembly - The governor spring hooks into the throttle assembly to the upper left of my finger.



Governor Lever - Doesn't look like it moves, but it does. The spring attaches towards the end of the lever.

[RoeBoat]

Hopefully it keeps working for ya.  No mire run away dogs!!

[OldSailor]

Might be a good idea to carry a small spray can of WD-40 along and give it a shot now and again!!! Great problem solving via the phone!!

[Gunflint]

Might be a good idea to carry a small spray can of WD-40 along and give it a shot now and again!!! Great problem solving via the phone!!

Really not needed because it is easy to move with the push of a finger now that I understand the "fault condition" and the fix.

[BlackDucksAndBrownDogs]

Great information!

Thank you!

[river_scum]

would "hot sauce" be good lube for that?  or does it have an upper temp limit? 

[RStock521]

Great info!  Thanks for sharing the fix and I'm gald your story was a little less "entertaining" for all of us this time!

[missoulafish]

Awesome, glad you figured it out:)

[Kidder]

Might not be a bad idea to add a tether to that rig. If it happened once its going to happen again to someone.

[river_scum]

indeed.  could have ran over someone in a group scenario.

[6x6]

Gunflint,

Thank you.  I am not sure what happened to you, but I am guessing from this thread that the exact same thing happened to me this past weekend.  I was thinking the throttle was stuck open.  I will look into this solution.  I was so unsure with it today, that I walked to my Mackinaw spot, instead of starting it again.  Thanks again. 

[Gunflint]

Gunflint,

Thank you.  I am not sure what happened to you, but I am guessing from this thread that the exact same thing happened to me this past weekend.  I was thinking the throttle was stuck open.  I will look into this solution.  I was so unsure with it today, that I walked to my Mackinaw spot, instead of starting it again.  Thanks again.

If the horizontal throttle assembly easily rotates back and forth, then the throttle is not stuck.

If you check the arm on the governor, I am guessing that you will be able to move it counterclockwise about 1/8 of an inch. That is all you need to do to fix it.

Let me know if it works for you.

[metalbender]

Could be that the shaft is freezing up. Years ago, VW's had a problem with that. Step on the gas to set the choke, carb stuck open, start engine. Engine races till it seizes up from lack of lube being freakin cold. People not smart enough to just switch it off quickly,  try to fiddle with the throttle. Expensive mistake. A bit of alcohol on the shaft fixed it up in seconds before staering the engine.

[jigginfool55]

Hopefully it keeps working for ya.  No mire run away dogs!!
I'D PUT SOME REGULAR OIL ON THAT GOVERNOR PIVOT WD40 IS GOOD BUT IT WILL DRY OUT SO THE OIL WILL KEEP IT LOOSE>
 

[OldSailor]

A little CLP!!! Good stuff!!