High RPM's on start-up....

[GoatDriver]

Hey Guys!

Customer brought in a Craftsman 42" rider with a B&S Model# 31H777-0202-E1 engine. Customer said the engine revved up really high and then shut off. We checked it out and found a broken pushrod on the intake. Opened up the crankcase and found the lifter was stuck on the intake side.
Cleaned, replace pushrod, lifter and checked everything..looks fine. etc. Put the engine back together and when it starts it is wide open rpm's and you cannot lower the rpm's, you just have to shut it off.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

[KE4AVB]

When you were inside did you check the governor gear assembly? The gear assembly maybe broken and you got be carefully putting these engine as make sure governor gear is engaged properly or you break it tighten down the crankcase cover.

If the gear is fine then do a static governor adjustment and make sure the linkages are connected.

[bgsengine]

I agree with KE4 - when the pushrods fall out, they have a tendency to fall INTO the crankcase and wrap around or contact the governor gear - have seen it several times.

[GoatDriver]

The push rod broke on the rocker arm end, so no pieces were in the crankcase.
I watched the governor when my son started it up and the governor moves freely.
All linkages are hooked up and in the correct place, I see no signs of the governor being out of adjustment, the gear is not broken or cracked and nothing around the governor area on the outside of the crankcase has been tampered with.

?????

Here's what it looks like inside.

[Deere2me]

The push rod broke on the rocker arm end, so no pieces were in the crankcase.
I watched the governor when my son started it up and the governor moves freely.
All linkages are hooked up and in the correct place, I see no signs of the governor being out of adjustment, the gear is not broken or cracked and nothing around the governor area on the outside of the crankcase has been tampered with.

?????

Here's what it looks like inside.

Instead of arguing the point that everything is OK ( when CLEARLY it isn't) ya might wanna go ahead and static set the gov., as was suggested, then go from there.
It's hard to tell from yer pic, but the gov. arm looks messed up or not in the right position...

[KE4AVB]

The governor crank appears to be 180 out position. The end should be in contact with the center on governor pin. Don't have a 31H in house to look at currently and have had one apart since last fall.

[GoatDriver]

All different angles...

Instead of arguing the point that everything is OK ( when CLEARLY it isn't) ya might wanna go ahead and static set the gov., as was suggested, then go from there.
It's hard to tell from yer pic, but the gov. arm looks messed up or not in the right position...

I'm not arguing the point, I said "everything looks fine" but some are not perfect like you and I might have overlooked something.

[bgsengine]

I'm not arguing the point, I said "everything looks fine" but some are not perfect like you and I might have overlooked something.

As has been mentioned twice so far, it is simple to overlook doing a static governor adjustment - things do look fine in the original pics, but as was mentioned, a static governor adjust would be needed if all else seems to be in proper assembly.

By the way, really does need a new base gasket - RTV is not a good gasket material to use for that sort of sealing.

we always do a static governor setting any time we have the crankcase apart, or the carburetor removed - it saves a lot of trouble down the road.. it should be one of those things that is *always* done any time the linkage or governor is disturbed or moved/disconnected/re-connected - "Standard Operating Procedure"

[GoatDriver]

As has been mentioned twice so far, it is simple to overlook doing a static governor adjustment - things do look fine in the original pics, but as was mentioned, a static governor adjust would be needed if all else seems to be in proper assembly.

By the way, really does need a new base gasket - RTV is not a good gasket material to use for that sort of sealing.

we always do a static governor setting any time we have the crankcase apart, or the carburetor removed - it saves a lot of trouble down the road.. it should be one of those things that is *always* done any time the linkage or governor is disturbed or moved/disconnected/re-connected - "Standard Operating Procedure"

Working on the static governor adjustment now .
We did replace the gasket and will before it leaves the shop, the RTV we are using now in testing so we do not mess up another gasket while in the process of trying to figure this out.

[KE4AVB]

Thanks for the extra pictures at an angle where I could see the mating of the parts. Looks internally good here too. As I said it been a while since I have been in an oil slinger version. It got to where it is second nature to just put things together here so pictures do help a lot. I did rebuild a 31P700 series this spring but it had an oil pump so the governor setup would have been different anyway.

I would still go through the linkages and static adjustment just in case something is out adjust or out place.