Throttle Lever Wire

[outdoors4evr]

Anyone found a good source for a throttle wire for the 184 / 185 / 154?
The jacket is fine and I have a tool to bend the Z at the throttle lever end, but finding unbent 0.055” x 39” (or greater) wire is not easy.
Most vendors (like ace hardware) carry it in 36” lengths. That next 3” is really difficult. Anything longer I’ve found comes in a spool.
Any ideas???

[outdoors4evr]

I think the original wire is music wire (aka. Piano wire)
This is typically a very hard wire.

[Jim Becker]

Google found this. I don't know any more.
https://www.howardpianoindustries.com/p ... 0-lengths/
I don't see .055, so recheck your diameter.

[Bob McCarty]

Did you check McMaster-Carr?

[outdoors4evr]

McMaster Carr has a category for music wire.
They do have .055” as well in many lengths.
https://www.mcmaster.com/music-wire
Anyone know if I can use coiled wire? Will it straighten out?

[Don McCombs]

Have you tried a shop that services lawn mowers?

[outdoors4evr]

I'm going to chuck the old wire in the cordless drill and spin it through the sleeve hoping to eliminate some of the old rust and crud. The sleeve is wound steel, so maybe a soaking of brake clean is in order. Once air dried, then an application of marvel mystery oil is next.

Maybe a coil of wire isn't all that bad. If I don't kink the wire, maybe I can straighten it out well enough to run through the sleeve.
Since I have a Grainger locally, I can have the wire shipped to the store and pick it up.
https://www.grainger.com/product/PRECIS ... Wire-3L589

[Don McCombs]

I would start with a rust penetrant, then go to brake or carb cleaner to flush out the debris.

[Jim Becker]

. . .
Maybe a coil of wire isn't all that bad. If I don't kink the wire, maybe I can straighten it out well enough to run through the sleeve.
. . .

I imagine it will straighten itself as soon as it is released from whatever is holding it in a coil. Be careful when you uncoil your 39".

[Slim140]

. . .
Maybe a coil of wire isn't all that bad. If I don't kink the wire, maybe I can straighten it out well enough to run through the sleeve.
. . .

I imagine it will straighten itself as soon as it is released from whatever is holding it in a coil. Be careful when you uncoil your 39".

I agree with Jim. They roll it so it's easier to ship and takes up less space.

[SONNY]

It will snap out at you when coil is released, so hold it away from your face! lol!! The hard wire will come out straight and fit in the housing.
I have the throttle wire problem on the 185 I used to mow with. Didn't get to use it last year at all because of that plus ignition switch shot craps. Oil light don't work either. --- Kinda miss it because it's the only mower that will hang up on my road ditch in front of the house! ---Put it in creeper low gear and let it eat! moves slow enough to hang on without sliding down to the bottom.

[Duner]

Dorman 55196 at you local auto parts store for $6.99 will get you 6 feet of wire and more. Wire is .054 thousands
I like McMaster Carr too but this is just alternative.

[outdoors4evr]

Got the wire from Grainger and followed the opening instructions for the box. The wire came out of the box 2-3" at a time without stabbing out my eyes. (wore safety glasses just in case). I cut a length of wire leaving an extra foot for errors. Threaded the wire down the sheave (sleeve) starting from the front of the tractor. Once it appeared at the dash, I used Z-Bend pliers

to create the bend in the wire. The wire is very hard steel and I crimped it "too tight" and it quickly broke. It took a few tries to get the Z-Bend without over-crimping.

Working under the dash is very difficult. I spent a good 2 hours trying to feed the z-bend into the throttle lever without unmounting the sheave. Was unsuccessful so I pried the sheave from its mounting point and quickly got the z-bend installed. Now to put the sheave back in its mount and pinch the fastener around the sheave. Couldn't do this working from the top and couldn't reach it from the side panels and have enough leverage to squeeze.
Uggh... Time to remove the hood and gas tank.

With the tank removed, I could access the area MUCH easier. I got the sheave mounted back in place and then realized I hadn't threaded the wire into the governor. Nothing like starting over.
Doing the work again was much easier without the tank in place. Got it all back together and tightened down the governor fastener. (looks like this)

Connector.jpg (17.16 KiB) Viewed 638 times

There are two holes in the governor. One closer to the hinge point and one farther out on the arm. The connector above was mounted to the one closer to the hinge point. There are also two holes in the throttle lever. The 184 should use the hole closer to the hinge point on both. I didn't do this and now wide open throttle is around 75% of the throw on the throttle lever.

I may redo this someday, but since the hood is off...... (Uhoh) I might as well change the air filter (sharpie written 2016 on it in my handwriting) and put in new spark plugs for good measure.