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Tractors
epstin

Briggs & Stratton idling too fast

epstin
12 years ago

I have a 15.5 HP Intek that was burning oil. I found it was a blown head gasket. I had originally considered replacing rings while I was at it but changed my mind when I saw it was definitely the head gasket. This is only important because it is the reason I removed the entire intake assembly, throttle linkage bracket and governor arm. The carb sat for a while upside down and leaked some gas.

I put it all back together, adjusted the governor arm with governor shaft all the way clockwise with the throttle wide open. All linkages and springs we're reattached.

Engine starts right up but idles way to fast even if I turn the throtle way back. The governor arm moves rapidly back and forth. I even tried holding it with my finger to keep the idle slow but could not hold it still.

I'm thinking either a stuck valve in the carb from having it sit upside down or something wrong withnthe governor. I never took the crankcase apart though so never touched any of the internal governor parts. The idling problem started immediately after fixing the head gasket.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Eric

Comments (3)

  • walt2002
    12 years ago

    "The governor arm moves rapidly back and forth. I even tried holding it with my finger to keep the idle slow but could not hold it still."

    This part indicates too lean a mixture perhaps from gas congealing in carb ports while sitting around unused.

    Too fast an idle AND the above could both be caused by air leak in gasket matting surfaces. you could spray some WD-40 around carb to intake el, intake el to head and see if it makes a difference in running which would indicate a leak.

    Walt Conner

  • epstin
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks Walt. I messed with it again tonight (before I read your post). I unhooked the spark plug and cranked the motor with my hand on the governor arm and it still moved back and forth and I was not able to hold it still. I then loosened the gov arm bolt, started the motor and held it at idle by hand and it ran nicely. I readjusted the arm, tightened the bolt and started the motor. It idled better and the governor arm no longer jumps back and forth.

    I also had the carb off last night after finding the idling problem and had not tried it since. I could have had a Leak as you suggested. I will also plan to pick up some carb cleaner and clean the carb it is 12 years old and never been cleaned

    Now the only issue is that it doesn't change RPM much at all when I adjust the throttle. I don't have a tach for it but it seems at around the normal operating speed. I guess I will know when I try mowing with it.

    I do have an additional carb question. With the engine off and throttle set to slow, should there be any tension in the throttle plate arm puling it to the idle position? Or is this controlled by the governor with the engine running?

    Thanks again for your reply.

    Eric

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  • epstin
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Follow up. I ended up adjusting the governor arm tonight until I got the top speed of the engine so it sounded right. Then I adjusted the idle screw to get the low speed idle so it sounded right. I mowed the lawn and all went well. It actually ran better than it has in 10 years. Hopefully it stays that way. I guess time will tell.

    I'm not sure what the governor problem was. Maybe one of the 'dogs' (not sure what they are called) on the governor inside the motor stuck in the up position causing the arm to go back and forth when the motor was cranking? Im not sure how this would happen if that is in fact what it was. Loosening the arm and starting the motor fixed the issue whatever it was.

    Anyway. Thanks for the response to my inquiry and many others on the forum. Reading other posts is what got me pointed in the right direction on the initial oil burning problem.

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