Have got some photos of the governor set-up. The gears are intact, I fiddled with the governor and now I have got the throttle cable adjusting the butterfly valve but the governor vane no longer adjusts the butterfly valve - I cannot get it so that both the throttle cable and the governor vane adjust the butterfly valve, it's either one or the other it seems. Photos show throttle on off and then at full speed.
I had another look at the bottom seal, definitely no leakage there and I've done a compression test by taking out the decompressor and replacing it with a spark plug, i forgot to cover the decompressor inlet into the engine but recorded 72 psi dry. I then put some oil into the spark plug hole and recorded 78 psi, I guess that means the rings are worn. Had a look through the muffler hole and the top ring has a bit more movement than the bottom one. They're both shiny and without the decompressor the starter cord is difficult to pull, I'd thought that meant that there was enough compression to get it started. Last week the mower started with the help of "Start you bastard" but now nothing starts it. How has it lost its compression so quickly?[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]