OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Briggs & Stratton Engines Rover Wayfarer running hot

I had to adjust the valves on this Briggs and Stratton Quattro mower. Ever since then the mower revs louder and steam can be seen rising from the mower after I use it. Like to be able to lower the revs, governor setup has one spring only. Any ideas what I can do and where to look?

Bend the tab where the governor spring anchors to at the throttle control end. This will reduce tension on the spring, at full throttle, and hence reduce the RPM.

Thanks Ted, do you know if there should be 2 springs as mine only has the one small one?

Tiger,
Could you post the Model/Type/Code numbers from the engine? With those, we can point you to an IPL download that will answer that question. And maybe some Service Manual excerpts.

Some have 2 springs, some have 1. The IPL will answer that as Gadge said and a photo of the setup will go a long way.

Thanks guys, I'll get some more information and post the results.

Model 10A902
Type 0172 0
Code 95110454
Made in USA

Code hard to read but from what I can see it should be as above.

So is what you are saying, that at minimum throttle it is still revving too hard? Check that the governor flap hasn't become stuck, they can get crud build up that stops them from moving freely.

Hi Trev,

I don't think the flap is stuck because the revs do change when the mower comes across longer grass so I assume there's movement. And yes it does rev hard at minimum throttle.

Can you manually decrease the RPM by closing the throttle vane? If not then the vane may be missing; otherwise, you may have a wrong governor spring if the air vane is working properly. A governor spring with a too high of a spring rate will cause over revving.

Also check that nothing is preventing the air vane moving thru its normal travel range.

Are you sure you are actually getting minimum throttle because that cable in the first picture looks pretty dodgy. It is not at minimum throttle in the picture but then I don't know where the control lever is set at the time of the picture. The throttle butterfly cam should be against the little extrusion on the carby body and the throttle control lever against the raised area to the left just under the spring at the stop position of the control.

+1 to aussietrev on that cable - I'd say it's not moving the governor control lever [part 1 in the diagram below] through its full range, particularly at the idle end. It doesn't look like anything is bent out of shape on the lever, though.

Single spring [i.e. idle is not governed] is correct for that engine, as in this diagram from the Briggs #270962 Service Manual:

Thanks guys, I think you're onto something. The throttle butterfly cam is not moving but the throttle cable is not directly attached to it so not sure how the throttle cable will move it. Is it possible the spring has lost its tension and is not pulling on the butterfly cam?

When you move the cable to the full throttle position, does the spring increase in tension? i.e. do the coils move apart? If they do move and the butterfly doesn't then either the throttle butterfly is jammed or the governor blade is jammed. There is no direct link between the throttle control cam and the butterfly, it moves one way under spring tension and the other way under governor control as the revs climb.

Thanks Trev, will check this out.