B&S 900 series throttle setup help

[drecon]

So I decided to go ahead and oil up the engine and put some gas in it today to test out my throttle linkage setup. Based on advise here I hooked my throttle cable up to the throttle arm which is now connected via spring to the governor arm. With the pedal hooked up everything has the right resistance for a full sweep from idle to WFO.

I start it up on full choke let it run for a few seconds and move it to the next position on the choke and then the next and the next. However one notch before zero choke and it dies. Rinse and repeat 2 more times. Runs ok then when I get to 1 notch before no choke, it dies. That is problem number one.

Problem number two is that with the engine running, my throttle / spring setup doesn't work. I guess with the engine running the governor arm is under a lot of tension?? My guess is this is why the previous owner had the cable hooked directly to the governor arm?? I push the pedal all the way to the floor and nothing changes with the throttle linkages, excepts the spring from the throttle lever extends out and lets the lever move, but it does not pull the governor arm to increase engine speed the way I have it set. The governor arm doesn't move a bit.

I can manualy move the gov arm but its got a LOT of tension on it, more than I think any spring setup is going to be able to overcome.

How the heck am I supposed to set this up??

(first pic shows how the previous owner had it setup the rest are my current setup)

 

[drecon]

Crickets...

anybody??

 

[anickode]

Your current setup is correct. Did you loosen the retaining nut on the throttle arm so it can move freely back and forth?

Edit:. Wait, no. Your cable is connected to the right spot, but completely the wrong direction, and your governor is connected to the wrong spot. It should be connected to one of the multitude of holes on the gov arm to that little hole right by where it used to be connected on the throttle arm.

Basically the governor was hooked up correctly before, and the throttle cable was wrong. Now it's all wrong, except for the spot you have the cable attached to.

 

[drecon]

Thanks for the reply. Yes the nut has been loosened to allow the arm to move freely. The way the original owner had it hooked up, the throttle lever itself wasn’t doing anything. The spring was still there connected to the governor arm but nothing was affected by the throttle lever. The throttle cable was attached directly to the governor through the multi-hole plate with a sheet rock screw. So all throttle function at the pedal was sent to the governor arm directly.

From the research I have done, in stock form the throttle/governor is held at WFO. The springs return it to WFO instead of returning it to idle. Hence the need for the added (non-stock) return spring connecting the governor arm back to the mounting plate. My understanding is this was mostly used as a tiller motor and did not have any real throttle controls other then fast/slow/off.

 

[drecon]

I dunno. This has got me stumped. I can't seem to come up with a way to hook this up without going directly to the governor arm. Since it returns to wfo instead of idle everything seems to need to be reversed. I guess I could replace the carb with a normal operating one and hook the cable direct to the carb and bypass the governor.

Or I could just swap the motor for the 212 predator which had all the kinks worked out..

 

[Hellion]

The way 99% of these governed industrial engines are operated, the throttle has always been connected to the governor or the governor linkage. So you are quite right to be looking at the governor side of the issue so to speak.

This is done so the governor can maintain the revs if the engine gets bogged down (hard dirt if a roto-tiller, tall grass if a lawnmower).

Back to the throttle--the other option as you're saying is bypassing the gov'nuh completely (even to the point of removing it entirely) and hooking the throttle cable directly to the carburetor butterfly valve.

EDIT: if you fix this issue (and you should), you'll be one more person on the forum who understands these Briggs OHV engines.

It's either the Briggs flatheads (on the fringe) or the Chinese rotaderps and their ilk--that's the gist of the types known and used here.

 

[OzFab]

If you don't want the governor, remove it, they make a mess when the gears explode...

When the engine is not running, the governor will always set the carb to WOT... until it starts...

 

[drecon]

Alright so tonight I started messing with it all again. I think I've figured out the choke / running issue. I took the carb apart and the float wasn't resetting level due to an expanded o-ring. Luckily enough not too much gunk in there but will need a rebuild kit so I will get one on order. So I think that will fix my not being able to run it without some choke applied issue.

Before I took the carb apart I ran the motor for a couple of minutes to try and think this throttle issue thru. OzFab was correct that the governor does return to WOT until it starts. After starting it goes back to idle, I just wasn't catching that before.

SO yep I had everything backwards. I've rearranged everything and think I have a working solution even though its currently a bit of a hack job. I can't find any springs that I have on hand that can overcome the resistance of the governor. The stock one doesn't do anything but stretch when pushing on the gas pedal with the motor running. So I hobbled it together with a paperclip temporarily which seems to be working. Not sure how long it will last though, but it needs to be something like this to power past the governor resistance.

 

[drecon]

I did run into another issue though that I had noticed before. While looking through all the hardware laying around on the bench I noticed that it looks like the engine output shaft bolt is broken off down inside the shaft!

Not sure how I'm going to get that out.

 

[Hellion]

...I noticed that it looks like the engine output shaft bolt is broken off down inside the shaft!
Not sure how I'm going to get that out.

Penetrating oil and... a screw extractor.

 

[Leobeel]

So what was the final setup of your linkage? I have the same Stratton engine I got off a tiller. Tried forever to figure out linkage, each way I tried when pressed has wouldn’t move it enough, or if it did manage to move throttle it would never return to idle after let off.. I did however say screw it and completely remove throttle lever,nuts,washers from the engine. Removed the governor from guts, kept governor arm in place and took throttle cable secured it to the arm.. this gave my throttle the response and return you’d want in a kart, along with no resistance.. basically operates like my predator 212’s do with cable hooked directly to throttle arm..