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I'm in the process of restoring a 2008 Bob-Cat Fast Cat commercial mower with the FH580V Kawasaki in it. When I got the mower, the throttle and choke linkage were installed criss-cross (previous owner tried getting it running after it sat and let's just say he was strugglin lol. Corrected that and noticed that the governor spring was missing. Got a hold of that today and now I'm noticing the mower is difficult to control with the throttle lever. Right now when I start it up on minimum throttle, it revs to the moon. And earlier today it was revving so low, it would stall when engaging the PTO. It's pointing to a governor adjustment issue or internal governor failure but this machine has 130 hours and was maintained pretty meticulously. Appreciate any insight

Did you reset the static governor adjustment?

Download the manual for that engine. There is a carb linkage area to pay attention to. Follow it to a T.

Every Kawi I buy, someone gets in there and jacks the governor all up along with the throttle/choke linkage. Choke never works. Got to love it.

txmowman said:

Did you reset the static governor adjustment?

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Began to do a governor adjustment but there was no slot or hex fitting on the end of the governor shaft to adjust it. decided to hold off until i did some more research

slomo said:

Download the manual for that engine. There is a carb linkage area to pay attention to. Follow it to a T.

Every Kawi I buy, someone gets in there and jacks the governor all up along with the throttle/choke linkage. Choke never works. Got to love it.

Click to expand...

thanks slomo, I have been through that manual and its linkage diagrams very meticulously and man you are right, it was all mixed up from the way the previous owner had it. I have the linkage right on the money. Two things with that bracket do confuse me though. #1 being the exact orientation of the bracket itself, it has that adjustable mounting point on the right side, almost like a sliding mount. #2 being not 100% sure how the governor spring is to be installed since there are no diagrams I can find that show where it connects on the throttle linkage. Currently I have it attached to the most obvious location on the throttle linkage, the top most hole on that plate back there. Easy to tell where it hooks up on the governor. Let me know if you have any insight on that, thanks!

The slot on the right side is for adjusting the high idle. The adjustment procedure is in the manual as well. As far as the governor shaft comment, there is a hold drilled sideways in the shaft to where you put an Allen wrench or small screwdriver to turn the shaft. Also explained in the manual.

txmowman said:

The slot on the right side is for adjusting the high idle. The adjustment procedure is in the manual as well. As far as the governor shaft comment, there is a hold drilled sideways in the shaft to where you put an Allen wrench or small screwdriver to turn the shaft. Also explained in the manual.

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Yup, read that manual like 3 times. You will get more tips and tricks the more times you read it. Follow it to the letter. Everything you are asking about is all in there. Just make sure the engine manual you are looking at is YOUR engine manual.

Thanks guys, please link the manual you are referring to. I've been using the one direct from kawasaki's site for this exact engine and it gives no information on governor adjustments. Every mention of the word governor insists on not touching the governor adjustment and "taking it to an authorized service center" (that part always makes me laugh). I did find the pinhole you mentioned and did a full governor adjustment very carefully. Double checked all linkages and the idle screw is set to almost the lowest setting. Still, as soon as i fire it up, it starts climbing up to max RPM with the throttle lever at the control panel in the lowest setting. Have my tach hooked up to it and everything. Interested to tear into the manual you guys have found

The actual service manual is only on Kawasaki’s dealer portal. Not available to end users. I’m sure someone will provide a link.

Well I decided to dig around for the kawasaki service manual to see if anyone had posted it online and sure enough:

Covers the whole family of engines including mine. Gave some great insight into the low and high speed idle adjustments which revealed that I had neglected to adjust my low idle at the control bracket. I had only checked the low idle adjustment at the carb. That fixed my over revving at low idle but now I cant seem to properly set my high idle. I get about halfway through the throttle control travel and i'm already over the 3600 rpm high idle spec. back to scratchin my head some more

I just went through that with a FH580V. You have to follow the steps to the letter. Don't forget to use the 1/4 (6mm) drill bit or pin when adjusting I found the ordeal a bit frustrating. Make sure the screw at the bottom right of the control plate is backed out all the way. It is used only for low idle speed adjustment.

You missed a step as others are hitting on. Like full throttle setting and making the carb linkage do the same. Verify rpms with tach once completed and while adjusting. Read line by line.