wce, thanks so much for taking the time to look at my post and comment in detail.
Here are some pictures. Thanks for mentioning the butterfly valve- I forgot to mention that in my original post. I think it is incorrectly set. You can see in the pictures in full choke and no choke position. In the full choke position the butterfly is not completely closed against the carby throat. You can see a clear gap at the edges. Should it be fully closed / completely shut?
Also, in the pictures you can hopefully see that that there is barely any change in the tension of the governor spring in the full choke and no choke positions. I dont know much about governor springs but intuitively it looks to me that the governor spring is basically doing nothing ie the spring mechanism isnt applying spring pressure against linkages. Maybe it is stretched beyond redemption?
I have also noticed that the linkage from the throttle shaft /plate is differently shaped to ones I have seen on this forum and in the parts list. It curves right over above and across the governor spring. Not sure if that is relevant.
Another post I have seen said try filling the fuel tank to the very top. Will try that too, I guess.
Definitely seems like a fuel problem.When I bought the mower I had to manhandle it into my 4wd. Didnt tip it on its side but certainly got it tipped sideways about 45 degrees- maybe that has caused a fuel problem.
