OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Honda Engines Governor Spring Question

This is a Rover i5500 but has had the engine replaced from bits coddled together from other wrecks. All was going well until I came to the governor spring. Normally it would hook onto the control arm somewhere. I can't find where on this setup. I have a feeling something is missing on this one. I would be grateful if someone could have a look and tell me what it might be. I am not sure if that is the correct governor arm for this throttle mechanism but it shouldn't make a big difference. Anyway, grateful for help.

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Here's a photo with the area under question highlighted. There should be a spring connected there but where does the other end of the spring go?

Looking at that spring, it doesn't need a return spring for the throttle due to it being a "push/pull cable" .... from there I'm still thinking that something is missing...

Any Model and Code numbers on the fan cowling?

So, i went out and took a photo for you then the computer crapped itself and wont let me upload photos.
It goes from the area you highlighted, straight up to the plate where that smaller spring is connected. You'll see a hole in it about half way across, in line with the speed limiting screw.
Cheers, Ted

Here you go.

I stand corrected

Thanks once again Bigted for your troubles and SuperDooper for your help. Hope your computer problems are fixed.

I have a question regarding the spring that is connected to the governor arm and the choke lever on a GXV340 motor, This spring only engages when the lever is in the fully choked position. It is only a light spring and I was wondering what purpose it performs. I will get a pic of it in the morning if anybody is interested

If it's the governor spring you're referring to its job is to find the happy medium between the governor pushing the throttle butterfly to the fully closed position and it opposing it to the fully loaded position. This normally bets tension once the motor is started and the governor engages.
There is no spring connected from the governor arm to the choke. the choke on a GXV340 is normally mechanical and is controlled by a light grey plastic lever protruding just under the air filter. There is a light spring that runs in sync with the governor linkage which is connected from the governor arm to the throttle butterfly. This is an anti oscillation spring which stops the motor hunting.

Hi Bigted here is a pic of the spring in question



It is the horizontal spring that I am interested in, as you can see the spring does not do anything until the lever is pulled up into the full choke position

Sh&t, there's enough springs on that thing. Ok, i was thinking of a GX340. This is a ride on motor. That spring is the governor spring just the same. It should tension up when you start the engine because the linkage will move forward on startup. If it doesn't move forward the the governor is probably cactus. You can test it by starting the engine and moving the governor arm back to see if it has resistance and wants to move forward

Thanks Bigted, this is not the motor in question, this one seems to run as it should I was wondering what the purpose of the spring was as it only has tension when the choke is on,maybe to hold the governor out when starting.The motor I am trying to help a mate with is a long way away and I had a look at it on Thursday, it was taken to some mower shop in Hamilton and came back just the same as it went in (but $800 later), somebody had put a very heavy spring in place of the horizontal spring and this prevented the governor arm from moving, so I assume as you say the governor is mow cactus and this motor has not done a lot of work, it is in a Greenfield that is 4 or 5 years old. From memory there is no resistance, the governor arm does not attempt to want to move forward. Any idea what is involved with an engine strip to repair the governor?

G'day Norm,
As Bigted says, the horizontal spring is the governor spring. So it will only have tension on it at or past the full throttle setting.

Here's pic from the Service Manual of the layout.


If the shop monkeys have fitted a heavier spring, it is likely to rev too high. Factory spec is 3400 +/- 150 rpm.

Do you know if the mower shop had the crankcase apart? If not, it should be fairly easy to fix with a new correct spring and some adjustment.

A short version service manual can be downloaded from http://www.honda-engines-eu.com/web/eec-public-site/shop-manuals
It does cover governor setup and adjustment.

Thanks Gadge, I doubt they have had the motor apart, I'm not sure what exactly drives this governor arm, with I had a blown up motor so I could pull it apart and see how it all works

G'day Norm,
It's just a standard centrifugal mechanical governor, with the governor gear/bobweights mounted on a vertical shaft in the sump. Looks like the governor gear is probably driven by the camshaft driven gear.

Same principle as for this Briggs description:

Thanks Gadge, I'll see how I go with it

Ok Gadge, here is another curly question for you, any idea how to fit a tacho to one of these single cylinder magneto ignition systems

Well Norm, that depends.

On whether you want a permanent installation, or just to be able to check revs on one occasion.

For the former option, small digital tacho/hour meters with inductive sensing and internal battery power can be had very cheaply, these days. The sensor wire is just wrapped around the plug lead 3-4 turns.
See some of them in the list that this search brings up: http://www.ebay.com.au/bhp/digital-tachometer.

For the latter, one of the above units could be used, or one of the optical/laser tacho units that also come up in that list. Using these would require putting a reflective mark on the flywheel screen, but that's easy to do. Even a silver paint pen might do it.

Or there's the old vibrating wire tacho, like the one I've been using for years;


These are still available through Briggs dealers as P/No 19200. Particularly useful for tuning chain saws, where an optical tacho can't really be used. I'm not sure how well they work on engines with balancer shafts, like the GXV340, though.

Thanks Gadge, no limit to the wealth of info you have, thanks again