Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hi,  I spent the afternoon unsuccessfully "fixing" my mower.   It had an extremely low idle which I corrected by running the idle screw in 1/4 turn at a time until the RPM came up just enough after the engine was running and warm.  The next problem is that any load at all beyond a very small amount of grass just bogs the machine down.

I have-
Replaced air filter
Cleaned out fuel bowl and entire carb with carb cleaner(completely removed)
Cleaned spark plug
Fresh fuel

I can make the RPM increase by moving the governor leaver rearward but it will not do it on its own.

This mower has no manual adjustment, its on or its off.  There are of course the fine adjustment screws and such but nothing I have done adjustment wise has changed the under load RPM.

I have taken the time to search but I have not found a description matching what I am experiencing.  Looking for advice, please.

Thanks for any help!

Jeff

In your original post you said "I can make the RPM increase by moving the governor leaver rearward but it will not do it on its own" so that is where you need to check for full throttle. The spring attached to that governor rod is supposed to pull the rod and the throttle plate to the full throttle position with the engine stopped. When the engine is started the governor moves the throttle plate off full throttle against the pull of the spring. The more spring tension the higher the engine speed. So in your case the spring is weak or not connected properly. Hope this helps.

The governor adjust is very likely.   You have not given an overview of how it came to run like this i.e sudden,
over time & etc.  If you have not messed with the governor and it was running fine then you "noticed" this
or it's something that happened on the first use of the season then it could be dirt or a starved situation.
Did you spray all carb holes, spray into removed jet/idle ports, throat holes, emulsion tube, and prod
all those places with a stripped tie wrap wire.  Dip the carb in a tank overnight?