1010/2010 antagonists and protagonists.

I was fooling with the governor/carb linkage on my 1010, trying to figure out why I can't get better rpm's out of it. All of a sudden the engine started racing and would not stop. I finally had to just turn it off. When I started feeling around to see if I could find anything wrong, the throttle shaft started to fall out of the carb. Of course, that meant removing the carb to determine the problem. Turns out the shaft was broken right at one of the screw holes that holds the throttle butterfly in place. That meant a trip to my friendly J-D dealer. When I told him what the tractor was, his reaction was, "We are in trouble." He went on to explain that 1010 and 2010 J-D's, by admission of the company, took them as close to bankruptcy as they have ever been. The tractors were rushed into production without enough testing and caused major problems. Also with the rush to production, there were many spare parts not available even while the tractors were rolling off the lines and those parts are even harder to find today. When he looks up parts on exploded diagrams, he often finds no numbers even associated with certain parts. But for those who have preferences between these two tractors, he said he would choose a 1010 over a 2010 any day. I later talked to a different fellow there about trading my lawn tractor for a J-D. We also got into the 1010/2010 discussion and he said that in his opinion the 1010 is definitely a better tractor than the 2010.

While we were having the parts discussion, the counter man was looking up the throttle shaft. Found that he could order one for $31 (plus rush freight and tax) and have it here tomorrow. Seemed I had no choice, so told him we would do that, but asked if he also have an overhaul kit for the carb (Marvel Schebler) so I could go through the whole thing while I had it disassembled. He said if I wasn't particular about the brand, he had an after-market kit for $19. He grabbed it off the shelf and, would you believe it, there was a throttle shaft in the kit. However, the kit didn't have all the brass ports and plugs I thought it would have, so he looked up the comparable J-D kit. It was $54, had two idler screws where my carb only needs one, and it did not include the throttle shaft. Needless to say, I came home with a $19 kit and got the tractor running this afternoon.

Having said all that, it seems now to me that the problem with my not getting enough rpm's is in the throttle cable. With everything disconnected the governor arms seemed to have no restrictions. But with everything reconnected, I could only get the proper rpm's by pressing on the governor arm, which pushed the throttle cable up into the housing farther. Anyone have any good solutions for how to lube a throttle cable without removing it? Also, does anyone know what the attachment is between the cable and the steering column inside the instrument panel? I am wondering if there is something inside there that needs lubrication.

To avoid another "go-around" and the inevitable encounter with Murphy's Law, you may choose to make the following permanent adjustment:

1.) Reach over to the fuel filler cap and twist it counter-clockwise two full turns, or until it is free of any resistance from the filler-neck.

2.) lift the cap approximately six inches and hold it in that position.

3.) With aid of an assistant, move the entire JD1010 backwards approximately thirty feet.

4.) Slide a special John Deere reconditioned part (see Part# choices below) under the fuel cap which has been held in the correct position during this adjustment (see step 1. above)

5.) Lower the fuel cap until it makes the correct contact with the filler-neck and twist clockwise two turns, or until it seals tightly on top of the filler-neck.

Suggested recondition JD Parts for the above adjustment: JD1020, JD1520, JD2020 and JD2030

Note: The JD2040 will also work for this mechanical adjustment, but your results using the JD2040 may vary considerably, in the next few years, from results obtained by the suggested reconditioned JD parts. (see your original post for close descriptions of the result variations.)

I could not resist... :)