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3K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  RIT333 
#1 ·
Not a snowblower, but same technology !

My Troy Bilt riding mower has an engine problem. It has a 14 HP Briggs and Stratton Intek single cylinder engine. It will run great for about a half-hour or so, and then it will just about die as the engine speed drops down to almost stalling, and then before it quits, it will rev back up to its original speed. It will run for another 10-20 seconds, and then repeat the same process. Just when I think it is going to stall, it doesn't. The gasoline is good, the fuel filter is clean, and gas flows to the carburetor fine.

My guess is a governor issue, but I have never fooled with a governor...except Andrew Cuomo.

So, am I on the right track, or what else might it be ? I have a replacement carb, but am not convinced that it will fix things. Assuming it is the governor, how do I adjust it, or what should I look for.

I am ruling out a lean condition since it will run good most of the time.

Oh, I also noticed that when I run the throttle lever to slower speed, it doesn't seem to slow down the engine. It may or may not be related, but I feel I should give full disclosure.

Thanks for any suggestions !

Rit
 
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#5 ·
I like that ! Easy and cheap. I can't look at it til Wednesday, but that makes some sense.

Thanks !

Any other ideas ?
Agree with Micah......always check the simple things first. Fuel cap .

Had a gentleman call me in a panic with the same symptoms on a Honda snowblower. We had over 4 feet of snow in 3 days and he was trying to keep up. Stalling out like yours and then he would let it sit for 20 minutes. It would start and run again for a few minutes and stall out again. ( cap vent was partially clogged so air would slowly get back into tank releasing the vacuum )

anyways, I told him to loosen cap and viola it worked again. he thought I was a genius. ( wish )

If it's not that then it may be clogged fuel filter , float , and or valve adjustment like ST1100 mentioned.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Might check that you don't have a huge crud buildup where the gov shaft exits the case, which may tighten up and bind as the engine heats and metals expand. It's possible that the gov is binding, which would cause it to massively overshoot when it finally breaks loose, and the good news is that it is easy to check and correct if this is the case.
 
#8 ·
Funny because yesterday I put on a Chinese carb and it still did the same thing, but stalled completely and sooner. I am suspecting a valve adjustment issue. When trying to adjust the rocker arm adjusting nut, I broke the nut, so need to get a new one. Always something !
 
#9 ·
If the engine doesn't slow down when you throttle it down I suspect the governor is binding as another poster mentioned earlier...The governor arm should move very freely. With then engine stopped and throttle down check the arm... Could even be a twig causing all your problems.

Sent from my LM-Q710.FG using Tapatalk
 
#11 ·
If the engine doesn't slow down when you throttle it down I suspect the governor is binding as another poster mentioned earlier...The governor arm should move very freely. With then engine stopped and throttle down check the arm... Could even be a twig causing all your problems.

Sent from my LM-Q710.FG using Tapatalk
agree that this could be a problem. have had to remove fuel tanks to get to governor arm that is frozen up due to crud/twigs etc. Nice when it's only that.
 
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