OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions on Other Engines Victa OHV V40 over-revving

Anyone know what to do about this? I've got 2 x Victa V40 engines and both of them start easily but as soon as the throttle is moved to the run position they over-rev. I measured one at over 2400 rpm and I think they should be around 1800 rpm for maximum rpm at no load. If I move the governor arm towards the carby it will settle down but I can't seem to make this adjustment permanent. I loosen the nut holding the governor arm with the throttle in the run position and then move the arm to the desired position and re-tighten the nut. No difference! I have also moved the governor shaft with pliers in the same manner. No difference. Is this a known problem for V40's as I had one come back with a broken conrod. Is there a way of telling if the governor itself is broken?

G'day sparker,
That doesn't sound like over-revving to me. Governed speed no load would be around 3100-3200rpm.

The specs for a couple of real OHV Hondas;
GXV140: Idle 2100 +/- 150 Governed No Load 3100 +/- 100rpm
GXV160: Idle 1700 +/- 150 Governed No Load 3200 +/- 100rpm

Hi Gadge, Then I must have measured it wrongly. I'll have another go tomorrow but they rev like they're going to explode.

Hi sparker, yes, you can check the governor, and they are prone to crapping themselves. Firstly you need to reset the governor. With the engine switched off loosen the pinch bolt and turn the governor shaft fully clockwise with a pair of pliers, now move the governor arm to the right(so that the carby is at full throttle. remove the governor spring and start the engine, you should get nothing but idle. Move the governor arm by hand to rev up and you should feel considerable resistance back to idle, if not the governor is shot. if yes then it should be adjustable.
Cheers, Ted

Thank you (once again) bigted. I'm down for the count with a blasted cold/flu at the moment. I hope to be back in action by Thursday and I'll test the governor then. This is gold for me because I seem to get a few with this problem and now I have a way to test them.

If you're using an electronic tacho, remember that these have a spark every revolution, as it's crankshaft-controlled.
Same as a two-stroke.

Still crook, no energy; I look like death warmed up.

I did what Bigted said. I started the mower with a drill but had to manually hold the throttle open or it would not start. There was no resistance back to idle so I guess that means the internal bits of the governor need looking at.