D17 series 3 governor lower level compensating spr
Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Farm Equipment
Forum Description: everything about Allis-Chalmers farm equipment
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=208051
Printed Date: 21 Oct 2025 at 3:53am
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Topic: D17 series 3 governor lower level compensating spr
Posted By: PeterinMN
Subject: D17 series 3 governor lower level compensating spr
Date Posted: 03 Sep 2025 at 8:56pm
| Does anyone have a picture of the governor spring on a d17 series 3? located under the battery, where the throttle cable links to the governor rod. something doesnt seem to be working right with mine. Tractor doesn't want to idle down, and when I throttle up it immediately goes to high rpms. any advice ? |
Replies:
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 03 Sep 2025 at 11:28pm
| That spring isn't causing the problem. I think your governor weights have exploded. |
Posted By: DSeries4
Date Posted: 04 Sep 2025 at 3:49pm
x2. ------------- '49 G, '54 WD45, '55 CA, '56 WD45D, '57 WD45, '58 D14, '59 D14, '60 D14, '63 D15D, '66 D15II, '66 D21II, '67 D17IV, '67 D17IVD, '67 190XTD, '73 620, '76 185, '77 175, '84 8030, '85 6080 |
DrAllis wrote:Posted By: PeterinMN
Date Posted: 04 Sep 2025 at 6:35pm
| What makes you think so? I was just trying to see if I am possibly missing a part on the spring. One of the rod holders was being held together with baling wire so…keep in mind this was a working tractor on my family’s dairy farm 20 yrs ago so often function was more important than how something looked. I am now trying to piece it back together. Any help is appreciated . |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 04 Sep 2025 at 7:14pm
| The function of that spring that sits under the gas tank is to make the throttle lever pull down easier when you get half-way down or more. It is an assist to make the linkage work easier. By your own description, the governor weights possibly have exploded. That spring under the gas tank can be missing completely and the engine will still idle down slow and not run away by over revving. My opinion is based on what you have told us and 50 years of D-17 experience. |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 04 Sep 2025 at 9:15pm
| gov wts and pins don't last forever |
Posted By: Brian G. NY
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2025 at 9:21pm
|
X3.....' happened to my D17 Series 2 a few years ago. Things do wear out.
 |
Posted By: PeterinMN
Date Posted: 10 Sep 2025 at 9:13pm
| I took my governor out and everything looked fine, weights are in place. I put it back together and now it won’t start because I think the timing is off. I followed the procedure outlined in the shop manual starting with finding TDC on the flywheel and positioning the distributor accordingly. No luck. Does the governor shaft and weights have to be put back in place the exact same way they were facing when I took them out? Does this matter? Thanks in advance. |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 10 Sep 2025 at 10:30pm
| If you mark where the rotor is exactly, remove the whole assembly as you did, reinstall it with the rotor back in the same place and it will fire right up. |
Posted By: HudCo
Date Posted: 10 Sep 2025 at 10:36pm
| are you sure you are on tdc 1 not 180 off |
Posted By: PeterinMN
Date Posted: 11 Sep 2025 at 4:24am
| According to the shop manual, Top dead center on the flywheel is the solid line with the F on top of it. The F is used for a timing light. The line should line up with the notch on the tractor. At this point the rotor should be pointing at 1 cylinder’s spark plug. It should work, but it’s not it is backfiring. |
Posted By: WF owner
Date Posted: 11 Sep 2025 at 5:37am
|
I'm betting your timing is 180 degrees off (like HudCo said). Since it's a 4-stroke engine, the engine only fires every other revolution. When you are approaching TDC on #1 cylinder (between the compression and power strokes) you will feel compression if you put your finger over the spark plug hole. When you feel compression, start watching for your timing mark again. When you get to the timing mark, you need to take the distributor out, reset the distributor to the #1 position, then reinstall the distributor.
|
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 11 Sep 2025 at 6:37am
| TDC is the flywheel mark you are looking for thru the hole in the right side of the bell housing. F or F-25 or F-30 isn't TDC. The crankshaft pulley setscrew should be pointing dead straight down. Compression should be made on #1 when rotating the engine the way it normally turns. You could be on TDC #4 instead of TDC #1. |
Posted By: PeterinMN
Date Posted: 12 Sep 2025 at 7:42pm
| got it figured out thank you for the info. |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 13 Sep 2025 at 12:17pm
| Would be nice to hear what it was.... |
Posted By: PeterinMN
Date Posted: 14 Sep 2025 at 8:39am
|
I thought that F mark on flywheel was Top dead center but as Dr. Allis said it is not. I felt for compression in # 1 cylinder and then kept turning the flywheel until the other mark showed up and that is TDC. Fired right up. My other over-revving issue I solved by shortening the rod that goes from the carb to the governor vertical shaft. I put it in a vise and made a offset bend in the rod, enough so it fit into the rod holds perfectly with engine off, throttle lever full open and carb throttle shaft pushed all the way back to 4:00 o clock position. I have no idea why the rod was too long in the first place because it is a original part as far as I know but then again who knows? Anyways it runs much better now. |
Posted By: PeterinMN
Date Posted: 14 Sep 2025 at 8:55am
|
My next step is trying to figure out why it leaks oil out of exhaust manifold on one of the cylinders, from what I’ve researched it could be piston rings or it could be valve seals or it could be head gasket. Also, the power steering doesn’t work. Not sure where to start on that one. Winter is coming soon here in MN, and not sure how much I want to tear into this fall. |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 14 Sep 2025 at 8:16pm
| Thanks |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 14 Sep 2025 at 9:24pm
| The original complaint left me with the impression that the problem not idling down and revving way up was a recent thing. In the end, the governor synchronization was wrong and that didn't just happen. It had to have been like that for quite some time. If the tractor was a recent purchase by the poster, that info might have led me down a different path of repair, like start with governor synch first. Exploded governor weights, while the tractor still gets used, can and does cause timing gear carnage that gets expensive to repair. Quick diagnosis of that possibility can save lots of $$$$. I had a governor weight on my WD puller one time split open at the pivot pin hole/lever area. I caught it right away and shut the engine down. All I had to do was replace the broken governor weight. Had I continued to operate it, all the timing gears would have gotten ate up by schrapnel running thru the gear teeth. |
Posted By: Rusty Allis
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2025 at 8:25pm
well now... you have just made my OCD go off the charts here. I have a D17 series 3 and have to ask...is this a maintenance item? as in...should I take it apart as a preventative type thing?
|
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2025 at 10:22pm
| I always considered it a maintenance item. When I would do a good complete tune up, it many times got new governor weights and pins. Especially if I knew they had more than 2000 hrs on them. Overhaul time was usually 3500 to 4000 hrs and it was always done then too. |
Posted By: Ed (Ont)
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2025 at 9:19am
| So if this happens today what are the options? Used weights and pins maybe? |
Posted By: Allis dave
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2025 at 9:25am
| Agco still sells ne pins and weight, but Dr has said that Agco no longer understand the different between WD-45, D17, 170, and 175 weight. Maybe they know the difference between WD-45 and D17 but not D17, 170, and 175 |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2025 at 10:47am
| To clarify: WC-WD-WF-WD45-D17 all use the same exact governor weight and pins/clips. These are available from other places along with AGCO (I think). The odd governor weight is the 170 and 175 gas engine. They were always different (than the others) and the last pair I got from AGCO (been 12 years ago) were clearly made by a different vendor and weren't quite like the original design from 1967. |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2025 at 5:24pm
|
It kinda like this.....if you have an old well used tractor with unknown history of governor maintenance, it's money well spent to just replace the wts and pins and likely never get enough hours to ever be a concern again. Missing out on the carnage is a plus. Probably ought to practice what I preach as the 45 was last renewed around 81 and was the big tractor for years. |