QuestionI have an SRC621 with the Briggs engine (2002 model year?). I bought it new at the end of the 2002 season although it's only been used for three seasons on a small city lawn. It's always been a great runner and very easy starter, even the first start of the season.
About three weeks ago, it began smoking slightly. Two weeks ago it ran out of gas while mowing and would not restart. I pulled the plug which was quite wet but not fouled and it produced a healthy spark. I figured that it had flooded because I had primed it too much. I let it sit for the night with the spark plug out to allow the cylinder and the plug to dry out. The next day, I reinstalled the plug and tried to start it with the same result as the day before: Nothing. I then smelled the gas and it smelled sour. It had been purchased last fall for my snow blower so I figured that it started going bad two weeks before when it started smoking slightly. I drained the tank and removed and disassembled the carb completely, cleaned it out and left it apart all night to allow it and the tank to completely dry. The next day I filled it with new gas (in a new gas can) but still got nothing. After letting it sit for a couple of days, I attempted to start it and it started fine and ran fine for five or ten minutes the began to run a little rough and smoked slightly. I shut it off and attempted to restart it. It was very hard to start and once started, began to smoke slightly again, ran a little rough and at a lower than normal rpm. I then began to move the governor rod back and forth to open and close the carb butterfly. The engine then jumped to wide open and when I closed the butterfly, it would no longer run at anything other than wide open. For the few seconds it ran at wide open, it was smooth and there was no smoke.
Any suggestions? I'm sure that the problem is in the carb or governor but I don't want to just start replacing parts until I run it past the pros.
AnswerThe link below describes how to adjust the governor:
http://www.briggsandstratton.com/engines/support/frequently-asked-questions/Adju...
Can you manually hold the carburetor butterfly closed to keep the engine running at low speed? Make there the governor to carb linkage(s) are not binding. I have had some butterfly shafts wear and cause the linkage to bind. Is the butterly shaft moving freely? If you remove the butterfly shaft make sure to MARK the butterfly shaft metering disc, inside the carb, as it must go back in corrcetly.
Let me know if the linkages are alright and if the link helps.
Eric
