tbonpc,
Surging on a governed engine is nearly always due to a low fuel air ratio.
Either because it is not getting enough fuel or air is leaking after the carb.
Occasionally , well quite rarely it can be electrical.
SO to get rid of the electrical bit, start the engine and hold the governor with your fingers.
Start with it running slow then slowly move it up to full speed.
If it runs fine slowly then starts to spit back through the carb you have a fuel problem.
If it backfires through the muffler then you have an electrical problem.
Having decided it is fuel then we start with the easy bits first
1) replace the solenoid in the carb with a bolt
runs fine = solenoid problem
2) pinch the fuel tank from your push mower ( or anything else that is handy ) and hang it from the rafters so it is a good 1' - 2' higher than the carb & connect it to the carb
runs fine = obstruction in the fuel supply.
3) do as Bou described , spraying the WD40 all over the inlet manifold , only hold the governor rod so the engine is running about 1/2 to 1/3 full speed.
As he mentioned, if the engine faulters & blows white smoke then you have an air leak.
Now just because ou bought a new carb, do not assume it is a GOOD carb unless you bought it from a real mower shop or real mower parts supplier.
And by real I mean one that has a street address when you can pick up from.
The only scrap in China is what they import to make new parts from.
Everything that rolls off an assembly line gets sold.
So the carbs that Briggs reject as being substandard / faulty will get sold on line as an OEM carb, what they fail to tell you is it is one that might not work.
If you get the entire kit, put a steel rule across the ends and make sure the rubber seals sit slightly higher than the end, if not, it can not make an air tight seal.There was a batch that ended up down here where the red rubber rings were all too thin