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After a long day of rough cutting, my old Craftsman 19hp I/C gold twin lawn tractor made a "freaky" noise and then started "screaming" with the engine at beyond full blast. I tried to lower the throttle, and idle the engine, but nothing worked. After turning it off, I was able to restart, but it still screams and feels like it is going to blow apart. Now, it turns over, but doesn't start. Probably not a good idea to restart it anyway if is what I think it may be (based on very limited knowledge, a bit of common sense, and a bit of research). Does this sound like a governor gear inside the engine coming apart? If so, what kind of repair bill am I looking at? The mower has/had great power, but it was/is missing a gear. Still, was doing a good job cutting my rough property which is a bit over an acre. What other issues could this be if not a governor?

I appreciate everyone's help. I basically need help deciding if this is fixable, or if I am looking at a new mower. Thanks.

Could be a governor gear failure, but lets first check to make sure that the linkage to the carb isn't binding up , or one of the screws came out of the throttle butterfly and is jamming the throttle open.

No, all of the linkage seems to be working. I have checked it a dozen times over the last few weeks hoping to find something, but all seems well. Moves well, and no springs that look odd/bent, or anything. Nice and tight when the throttle is in full, and a bit looser with it off. I removed the carb cover, and air cleaner, and looked thru the choke and moved the throttle lever and the only thing weird was that it didn't quite completely close with the throttle all the way off. When I moved it up (by that I mean giving it gas) the butterfly opened fine. To see if it would close completely, I took a screwdriver and pushed it completely closed. There was about 1/8 " gap until I did that. Seems like that would only come into play when shutting it off though.

This thing sounds like having the throttle on full and more. I had never heard it that loud. Plus, it wouldn't throttle down. Now that I think of it, the only way to shut it down was by turning off the key! A governor is supposed to work at high rpm, right? ...and actually keep the engine at a steady rpm when under stress? If one is broken, does it cause all engine idle control to be lost?

From your latest description it does sound like the governor gear came apart. the governor spring opens the throttle to give it more gas. the job of the governor gear is to slow the engine down. those two have to work together.

is this an expensive repair? this is an old mower, although it has been doing the job pretty well. the transmission is missing 4th gear, so that is also a consideration and not something I would want to have to replace. should I consider a repair? new engine? or new mower? if you saw this in your shop, what estimate would you give to go into the engine and repair the gear?

I appreciate the help, and advice. I don't want to throw good money after bad on an old mower, but I don't want to buy a new one until I have to.

A lot of the price comes down to how hard it is to get the engine pulleys off, If everything goes right I could see a repair going in the $150-200 range, depending on problems encountered. Price could be slightly less, or slightly more.

Thanks, I appreciate the help! There is a shop here in town I can talk to and see if his estimate sounds about the same. I wouldn't mind spending that much to get it back up and running.

I don't know what engine you have in the mower but if it came into my shop and I work on the cheaper side I wouldn't be giving you a price till I knew what was wrong with it. If the engine has to come all apart to install a governor gear I really don't think that 200 dollars is going very far with the price of parts. If you do take it to a shop be very clear as to what you want to spend and have done because I can see you getting a 100 dollar bill just to tell you what it needs. I have seen these prices on this forum and really don't understand where they get them from??? The mower already have a transmission going bad, now (If) it only cost 200 dollars to fix the engine and the first time you use it the transmission go's out your mower just turned into a money pit. Just saying CAUTION

wwjr said:

No, all of the linkage seems to be working. I have checked it a dozen times over the last few weeks hoping to find something, but all seems well. Moves well, and no springs that look odd/bent, or anything. Nice and tight when the throttle is in full, and a bit looser with it off. I removed the carb cover, and air cleaner, and looked thru the choke and moved the throttle lever and the only thing weird was that it didn't quite completely close with the throttle all the way off. When I moved it up (by that I mean giving it gas) the butterfly opened fine. To see if it would close completely, I took a screwdriver and pushed it completely closed. There was about 1/8 " gap until I did that. Seems like that would only come into play when shutting it off though.

This thing sounds like having the throttle on full and more. I had never heard it that loud. Plus, it wouldn't throttle down. Now that I think of it, the only way to shut it down was by turning off the key! A governor is supposed to work at high rpm, right? ...and actually keep the engine at a steady rpm when under stress? If one is broken, does it cause all engine idle control to be lost?

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That is exactly what my newest project does. Sorry I can't help you

reynoldston...I hear what you say. I have a lot to think about, but I will certainly speak to the repair guy before anything other than an estimate is begun. They said they would charge me $50. to "check it out", but I'm sure that if he got into the engine and found more than one issue, it wouldn't be worth spending more than a couple hundred on. The transmission thing is just a bit annoying and it doesn't shift flawlessly from one gear to another like it should. The engine is Briggs/Stratton 19 hp twin. I will have to decide whether I go any further than an estimate because of the age of the mower. When I got it, it had broken spindles, etc., but once repaired, it cut really well...until it didn't!

Happy new year and thanks to everyone for the help!

I try very hard to be up front with my customers. Yes I do lose work by being so. When I get a worn out cheap junkier in my shop I try to talk them out of the repairs. Now also it depends what I am working on. Do you spend 600 dollars on a 1200 dollar mower but 600 dollars isn't that bad on a 8000 dollar mower. You know what you have and for 200 dollars can now get years more out of your mower you are ahead in this game.

gees,
You & I must have been soul mates on some other astral plane.
I try & discourage big repairs on oldr motors and oft give a good trade in.
If I am then going to rebuild the engine, it will be when I have nothing to do so it does not attract my general Hourly rate.

As for the owner,
Look at the cost of replacements at places like Small Engine Warehouse & Small engine Services & Repower & jacks Small engines, there are stacks of them.
They buy surplus engines and dispose of them very cheap I oft see 20 Hp V twins going for around the $ 500 mark .
It becomes a no brainer, brand new engine & carby which when you sell your existing mower will be a higher value selling point for not much more than a repair.
If you can not do the job yourself most reputable dealers will do it for around 2 to 3 hrs at their usual rate, some a bit cheaper if they keep the old motor.
most commonly they will have a brand name like Cub or Husqvarna or Toro etc on them because they were ordered from B & S but never used.
A John Deere branded one is worth the extra because they are a substantially better build ( built to horizontal shaft specks so have 10 times the life span )

Well, at this point, I think I'm gonna try and find another mower. I don't want to put a lot of money into something that's old and has other issues, even if those issues have been something I could live with to this point. If I'm gonna have to spend $500. rebuilding or replacing an engine, I'd rather spend $1,200. on a new one, even if ii isn't the best on the market. I was really hoping it was something I could put $200. into and use for another couple years, but, it isn't looking or sounding that way. If it's inside the engine, its a big deal.

Thanks for everyone's help. The next one I get, I will take better care of. This one was used when I got it though, and needed other repairs, just not the engine.

wwjr said:

Well, at this point, I think I'm gonna try and find another mower. I don't want to put a lot of money into something that's old and has other issues, even if those issues have been something I could live with to this point. If I'm gonna have to spend $500. rebuilding or replacing an engine, I'd rather spend $1,200. on a new one, even if ii isn't the best on the market. I was really hoping it was something I could put $200. into and use for another couple years, but, it isn't looking or sounding that way. If it's inside the engine, its a big deal.

Thanks for everyone's help. The next one I get, I will take better care of. This one was used when I got it though, and needed other repairs, just not the engine.

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Trouble with just about every engine other than latter Kohlers is you have to pull them out to pull them down so there is 1.5 to 2 hrs before you start.
Pulling the engine down will go another hour , Often a lot more but most reputable repairers charge book time ( 45 min to strip the engine ).
It is not uncommon to take a full hour or more just to remove the pulley.
A gasket set is about another hour ( in price ) so if it is nothing more than a nut come loose the minimum price will be around 4 hours

OTOH if you want to download the manual and do the work yourself then yes you most likely will get out of it with $ 200.
There are moe than enough here more than happy to walk you through the process

Hello take the engine a part then make pictures governor replacement is not a big job but went the shaft where it sit on is broken or pull out then you problems

not sure just yet how I am gonna proceed with this situation. got car issues I need to deal with as well, so I would love to just go buy another mower, but that isn't going to be easy. I hope I can do that though sometime in the next month. as far as removing and rebuilding the engine in my current mower, I am not sure if that's something I could do or not. I will think it all over and make a decision soon. I love all the advice and info though regarding removing and working on it. i might give it a chance before I shop for a new one. thanks.

I guess the thing about buying a new mower if your don't have the cash you can always do it the American way. The payment plan. Just think about it, you can even buy a better model that way. been there and done that. :thumbsup: Hope your car isn't too bad :frown:

Thanks reynoldston,

I appreciate that. You know how it goes...things come in waves. Car starts acting up, mower dies, barn roof reaches critical mass as far as leaking, etc. As much as I value good old hard work and American ingenuity, I'd still like to have enough cash to just pick up the phone and hire someone else to do a lot of the things I do myself. At least the ones that I can't do easily. One thing at a time though.

It is a BIG help to get advice from those in the know so you know which way to go, though, so this forum is a good thing.