I want to personally say thank you! My Honda HRN216 was having HIGH RPM. Cleaned the carburetor, new spark plug and nothing. Watch your video and immediately fixed the issue. Thank you again , god bless 🙏
Was picking up leaves under my shrubs and the mower caught on a branch and the engine revved up. When I got it out of the shrub it was running slow. Your video fixed the problem with the governor! Thanks!
Thank you SO much for making this video. I have a Troy-Bilt, but the lever, shaft, spring, and tab are all basically the same, and in roughly the same places.
To set this governor, turn the shaft clockwise until it stops and hold it there while placing the lever at the full throttle position. Now tighten the nut. That's it.
The governor is the biggest pain on Honda small engines. That nut coming loose is somewhat common. I use low strength thread locker to hold the thing in place.
Lightweight is good and what did I use it for it’s a lawnmower ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxTPN04aT-Qdjr_KS3ql7ng8wnU3wwsCqk also recommend Yes it is lightweight so hence not as robust as our old one. But if you take care it does the job really well.
Yes this actually worked on my GCV160 engine, but the shaft on mine either doesn’t have the flat surface to grip or it was a very slight flattened surface… I had to file a flatter surface on the shaft to grip with the pliers.
Why not adjust it as Honda says to in their service literature instead of guessing? ①. Loosen the governor arm nut on the governor arm. ②. Push the governor arm toward the opposite side from the carburetor, and open the carburetor throttle valve fully. ③. Holding the carburetor throttle valve fully open, turn the governor arm shaft clockwise fully, and tighten the governor arm nut to the specified torque. TORQUE: 10 N·m (1.0 kgf·m, 7 lbf·ft) ④. Check to see whether the governor arm and the carburetor throttle valve operate smoothly. ⑤. Start the engine and warm it up to the normal operating temperature. Move the control lever to the maximum engine speed position, and check the maximum engine speed. Maximum speed (no load): 2,900 - 3,000 min-1 (rpm) (European model, with flywheel brake) 3,100 ± 150 min-1 (rpm) (Except for European model) ⑥. Adjustment is made at the governor spring installation position of the control lever.
Honda's instructions aren't well written, and the ones people might stumble upon online don't equally apply to all of their engines. That's why not automatically use them. For example, my mower's owner's manual discusses this but its diagram points to the governor shaft inside the engine, as if that can be accessed. Anyway, the shaft doesn't meaningfully turn much, whereas the lever does (a little). Step 6 here is poorly written to the point of irrelevancy, but the video shows why this additional adjustment capability is there. Note: not all of their mower engines have the tab at the bottom of the governor lever that can be bent. Instead, some engines have additional holes on the control plate that the governor spring may be attached to (i.e. at the other end of the spring.)
... and then, throttle cable, high idle speed, low idle speed, choke adjustments all come after the governor as needed. It's worth noting that if you're using the governor to get the high idle speed "back up to where it should be" something else is still probably wrong, because high idle speed (that circa 3,000 RPM spec) is FINALIZED by the lower of the two screw down low on the control plate. The governor is just that > a safeguard so that it doesn't regularly spin faster than about 3K.
that's what i figured out. move that metal bar that the spring is attached to. If that engine is surging there could be a good chance that the governor bar to the spring got bumped by something.So you just might as well be bending it back to run normal. I wish i figured this out before i adjusted the governor bolt! lol
Thanks for video but i have a problem...When i adjust the govenor and tighten the bolt, my buterfly wont return and if i loosen the nut a little ,than my buterfly returns but if i start the motor than the rp its over the roof..(btw im ajusting without a tachometer because at this moment a dont have one) and if i tighten the nut so that my buterfly stays on the correct position , then i can't control my speed ..any suggestions ?
@@jeffslawnmowerrepairandservice after trying like 50times it now Works and runs ok again and i can adjust the speed again... tis not perfect but i just ordered a tachometer...
Everytime I unscrewed the lever, held the shaft, pushed the lever all the way towards the carburetor and then tightened the bolt the lever always went back to its original position. Please explain why your mower didn't do this?
maybe the lever is not pushed onto the govenor shaft all of the way so when you tighten the bolt it is not clamping onto the shaft the way it is supposed to
I wonder if doing this is necessary when replacing a damaged crankshaft because I had to replace the one in mine and now it revs much higher than normal. I left the governor the way it was, never adjusted it at all. Also, I wonder if the governor linkage ever loosens up and loses its adjustment over time 🤔.
Thanks. I have a Honda HRU19. Good Mower but its tearing my lawn a bit. More then I think a rotarty should. I am just checking if the revs a lower than it should . Already sharpened the blades and same result. Can I increase revs while the mower is running so I can hear the difference?@@jeffslawnmowerrepairandservice
I HAVE A GXV160 ENGINE WITH THE SAME SYSTEM (SHIT SYSTEM ! ) TO ADJUST THE RPM, I HAVE JUST NOW BACK FROM A HONDA AUTHORIZED WORKSHOP MECHANIC AND IT HAS LOST A WHOLE AFTERNOON TO ADJUST THE RPM OF THE ENGINE: FINALLY MANAGED TO ADJUST THE LAPS WHICH WERE TOO LOW.
Guy, you had the gov adjusted proper. You never readjust for proper revs after the initial setting. All you had to do was loosen and move the throttle cable back or forwards.
My problem is just the opposite. I need more RPMs my grass grows so thick and lush that I can’t run it at full speed nor do I want to, but it is a hindrance. I tried to turn the bar clockwise to increase my RPMs just a bit ( no go ) didn’t work. What can I do? Can anybody help? thanks, Good grass in Seattle. ❤
Make sure the govenor lever is adjusted to correct position, see details in the video description. After that if still more rpm's needed, tighten spring that is attatched to bottom of govenor arm. I do this by bending the small bracket up, that it is attatched to or by making a "kink" in the spring to make it very slightly shorter/tighter. I hope this helps and makes sense, not easy to describe...
I did that to my mower, increased RPM and it wasn’t over revving at all went to engage the blades and and they were barely spinning and the motor was running fine not over revving and not running slow either do you think there is a problem with the clutch or the belt that goes to the clutch, might of got stretched?
I was pushing my mower to close to some sticker bushes and it popped my governor spring off the mower. I put it back on after figuring it popped off and it seems to be at lower revs so I might try this type of technique out
Just not a fan of my Honda mower. Day one the in line fuel filter restricted the flow to the point it wouldn’t stay running. One year later that stupid wax auto choke failed. Now I believe it is have governor issues after I replace the thermowax choke. It’s revving too high and dying after about ten minutes with a load(mowing). Just sitting it will run all day, but once it hits some grass it just dies like it’s losing power. I bought a cheap Skil battery powered mower to back it up. So I will manage with it until I get a rider. But, just best to avoid Honda small engines. Briggs still the best in my book.
Just one remark: all time when adjust guvernor, remove blades. By mistake if you run it on high RPM must be sure never-ever something do not hit the blades, so best is to be removed.
The circlip is not there for any other reason, other than to stop the govenor shaft from moving into the engine casing too far. Not much fun having to split the engine casing apart to retrieve the govenor arm inside the motor. Never try and adjust the RPM by moving the circlip.
Not all of the Honda engines have an idle adjustment screw. Some have the tab that the spring is connected to, that is shown in the video, where you can make small adjustments. My leaf blower has the Honda GC-160 engine, there is no idle adjustment screw.
That screw is intended as an idle speed screw. By definition the governor arm should be twisted clockwise or moved away from the carburetor and the governor shaft itself moved clockwise and somebody had stated earlier in this video.
What do you mean you wish you knew the correct procedure to adjust the governor? I would’ve thought you’d know exactly what you were doing, before making a video. Just saying.
Exactly. Honda has a spec for the commercial mower's max rpm. They come set from the factory at a lower rpm. After break in the rpm is raised by the dealer to max rpm using a tachometer
After 6 years this video is saving Us ,after an hour trying to set up the governor ,I made it thanks to this Video!! You have my subscription!
Cool! good job
I want to personally say thank you! My Honda HRN216 was having HIGH RPM. Cleaned the carburetor, new spark plug and nothing. Watch your video and immediately fixed the issue. Thank you again , god bless 🙏
Great to hear!
Was picking up leaves under my shrubs and the mower caught on a branch and the engine revved up. When I got it out of the shrub it was running slow. Your video fixed the problem with the governor! Thanks!
Thank you SO much for making this video. I have a Troy-Bilt, but the lever, shaft, spring, and tab are all basically the same, and in roughly the same places.
To set this governor, turn the shaft clockwise until it stops and hold it there while placing the lever at the full throttle position. Now tighten the nut. That's it.
The shaft doesn't move for me at all only a slight bit and when I tighten the lever it goes back to its original position?
Same here. WTF?
I can move mine, but a slight movement, puts it up way higher that i should be, and move it minutely, its back to too low.
@@BrettBrainsack-qy8tp yeah it makes no sense to me .. Ive tried many times
@@mrPauljacob yeah. There must be another issue with the spring or something else. ???
Super fantastic.... you saved me a trip to the repair shop... and the additional comments helped also...
The governor is the biggest pain on Honda small engines. That nut coming loose is somewhat common. I use low strength thread locker to hold the thing in place.
Thanks, it's nice to see action shots of the details.
Lightweight is good and what did I use it for it’s a lawnmower ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxTPN04aT-Qdjr_KS3ql7ng8wnU3wwsCqk also recommend Yes it is lightweight so hence not as robust as our old one. But if you take care it does the job really well.
❤0
Yes this actually worked on my GCV160 engine, but the shaft on mine either doesn’t have the flat surface to grip or it was a very slight flattened surface… I had to file a flatter surface on the shaft to grip with the pliers.
Why not adjust it as Honda says to in their service literature instead of guessing?
①. Loosen the governor arm nut on the governor arm.
②. Push the governor arm toward the opposite side from the carburetor, and open the
carburetor throttle valve fully.
③. Holding the carburetor throttle valve fully open, turn the governor arm shaft clockwise fully,
and tighten the governor arm nut to the specified torque.
TORQUE: 10 N·m (1.0 kgf·m, 7 lbf·ft)
④. Check to see whether the governor arm and the carburetor throttle valve operate smoothly.
⑤. Start the engine and warm it up to the normal operating temperature. Move the control
lever to the maximum engine speed position, and check the maximum engine speed.
Maximum speed (no load):
2,900 - 3,000 min-1 (rpm) (European model, with flywheel brake)
3,100 ± 150 min-1 (rpm) (Except for European model)
⑥. Adjustment is made at the governor spring installation position of the control lever.
Nice! Thanks Tim!
Honda's instructions aren't well written, and the ones people might stumble upon online don't equally apply to all of their engines. That's why not automatically use them. For example, my mower's owner's manual discusses this but its diagram points to the governor shaft inside the engine, as if that can be accessed. Anyway, the shaft doesn't meaningfully turn much, whereas the lever does (a little). Step 6 here is poorly written to the point of irrelevancy, but the video shows why this additional adjustment capability is there. Note: not all of their mower engines have the tab at the bottom of the governor lever that can be bent. Instead, some engines have additional holes on the control plate that the governor spring may be attached to (i.e. at the other end of the spring.)
... and then, throttle cable, high idle speed, low idle speed, choke adjustments all come after the governor as needed. It's worth noting that if you're using the governor to get the high idle speed "back up to where it should be" something else is still probably wrong, because high idle speed (that circa 3,000 RPM spec) is FINALIZED by the lower of the two screw down low on the control plate. The governor is just that > a safeguard so that it doesn't regularly spin faster than about 3K.
Not everyone has the service manual readily available.
@@TheDeckerts Nice writeups.
thank you for posting this saving me some big headaches
that's what i figured out. move that metal bar that the spring is attached to. If that engine is surging there could be a good chance that the governor bar to the spring got bumped by something.So you just might as well be bending it back to run normal. I wish i figured this out before i adjusted the governor bolt! lol
Like to see videos like yours that show errors, shows what not to do, thanks.
Thank you, shall be doing this in the morning
My Honda izy cuts out when I engage the self drive any tips will it be the throttle setting causing it to cut out 🤔
Yes perhaps the rpm's need to be adjusted up
That lever is more sensitive then my wife’s feelings
You ain't kidding . I adjusted mine yesterday. I couldn't even tell it moved. Then I bent the arm a little bit. Lawn mower works good. 3100 rpm
this helped me fix my over-rev problem. thank you very much
Glad it helped
Thanks for video but i have a problem...When i adjust the govenor and tighten the bolt, my buterfly wont return and if i loosen the nut a little ,than my buterfly returns but if i start the motor than the rp its over the roof..(btw im ajusting without a tachometer because at this moment a dont have one) and if i tighten the nut so that my buterfly stays on the correct position , then i can't control my speed ..any suggestions ?
the internal govenor mechanism may be bad
@@jeffslawnmowerrepairandservice after trying like 50times it now Works and runs ok again and i can adjust the speed again... tis not perfect but i just ordered a tachometer...
Everytime I unscrewed the lever, held the shaft, pushed the lever all the way towards the carburetor and then tightened the bolt the lever always went back to its original position. Please explain why your mower didn't do this?
maybe the lever is not pushed onto the govenor shaft all of the way so when you tighten the bolt it is not clamping onto the shaft the way it is supposed to
@@jeffslawnmowerrepairandservice how do I make sure it's on the shaft then?
So is this changing the maximum acceleration or the RPMs?
I want to increase my RPMs, is this the right way?
No you just tighten the govenor spring to do that. I crimp/bend the spring to make it shorter
I wonder if doing this is necessary when replacing a damaged crankshaft because I had to replace the one in mine and now it revs much higher than normal. I left the governor the way it was, never adjusted it at all. Also, I wonder if the governor linkage ever loosens up and loses its adjustment over time 🤔.
sounds like the govenor may not be positioned correctly (on the inside of the engine) or it is not fucntioning correctly for some reason
How’s the fuel consumption after this is done?
good
Can low revving mower not cut your lawn blades properly?
yes
Thanks. I have a Honda HRU19. Good Mower but its tearing my lawn a bit. More then I think a rotarty should. I am just checking if the revs a lower than it should . Already sharpened the blades and same result. Can I increase revs while the mower is running so I can hear the difference?@@jeffslawnmowerrepairandservice
I HAVE A GXV160 ENGINE WITH THE SAME SYSTEM (SHIT SYSTEM ! ) TO ADJUST THE RPM, I HAVE JUST NOW BACK FROM A HONDA AUTHORIZED WORKSHOP MECHANIC AND IT HAS LOST A WHOLE AFTERNOON TO ADJUST THE RPM OF THE ENGINE: FINALLY MANAGED TO ADJUST THE LAPS WHICH WERE TOO LOW.
My engine has automatic choke and no manual throttle control.
How do I adjust the the governor on it?
tighten the govenor spring some how. bend the tab the spring attaches to or put a smal z shaped bend in it to shorten it
Guy, you had the gov adjusted proper. You never readjust for proper revs after the initial setting. All you had to do was loosen and move the throttle cable back or forwards.
My problem is just the opposite. I need more RPMs my grass grows so thick and lush that I can’t run it at full speed nor do I want to, but it is a hindrance. I tried to turn the bar clockwise to increase my RPMs just a bit ( no go ) didn’t work. What can I do? Can anybody help? thanks, Good grass in Seattle. ❤
Make sure the govenor lever is adjusted to correct position, see details in the video description. After that if still more rpm's needed, tighten spring that is attatched to bottom of govenor arm. I do this by bending the small bracket up, that it is attatched to or by making a "kink" in the spring to make it very slightly shorter/tighter. I hope this helps and makes sense, not easy to describe...
Great video. Thanks Steve! I’d love to buy you a Grolsh
Thanks friend! who is Steve?
ha! I just watched that guy, too. Steve is another channel and he has a Grolsh delivered to him while working.
does anybody know where the rpm adjustment is on a BMC lawnracer
Mine is either way too high or too low. Barely moving the setting. I can mow on the low setting, bit a little more rpm would be nice
What do I do if it doesn't return the idle
This is really helpful it helped me with my lawnmower
I did that to my mower, increased RPM and it wasn’t over revving at all went to engage the blades and and they were barely spinning and the motor was running fine not over revving and not running slow either do you think there is a problem with the clutch or the belt that goes to the clutch, might of got stretched?
it could be the blade clutch
Lawnmower Repair and Service Maintenance Tips Thanks that is what I’m thinking
When you're messing with the governor always market. It's usually the little spring on the governor that goes bad.
I was pushing my mower to close to some sticker bushes and it popped my governor spring off the mower. I put it back on after figuring it popped off and it seems to be at lower revs so I might try this type of technique out
Excellent video
🙏🏻 thank you so much
Thank you man I just replaced a motor on my friends mower doing the same thing.
I got it now
Appreciate the solid video brother !
Just not a fan of my Honda mower. Day one the in line fuel filter restricted the flow to the point it wouldn’t stay running. One year later that stupid wax auto choke failed. Now I believe it is have governor issues after I replace the thermowax choke. It’s revving too high and dying after about ten minutes with a load(mowing). Just sitting it will run all day, but once it hits some grass it just dies like it’s losing power. I bought a cheap Skil battery powered mower to back it up. So I will manage with it until I get a rider. But, just best to avoid Honda small engines. Briggs still the best in my book.
Arent you supposed to move the mower spped to full throttle 1st the make adjustments...??
Thanks. You saved my $500
Just one remark: all time when adjust guvernor, remove blades. By mistake if you run it on high RPM must be sure never-ever something do not hit the blades, so best is to be removed.
This affects idle speed and full throttle?
pretty much, It has to be set correctly or it will rev too much or not enough
Easy fix 🙌👍
You also need to do this with a tachometer.
Looks simple enough
Hit and miss method.???
lol yep
easiest way to calculate adjustment on the governer arm is polyciment a bit of string to the arm and to the shaft.... you're all welcome ;)
What does that even mean???
Nice Vid, thanks for uploading
thanks you just save me $100.00 for service my lawn mower
A simple manual choke and manual carb/theottle setup and i wouldn't have to deal with this shit.
Little cotter pin behind that arm you had the pliers on that is how you adjust the rpm.
The circlip is not there for any other reason, other than to stop the govenor shaft from moving into the engine casing too far. Not much fun having to split the engine casing apart to retrieve the govenor arm inside the motor. Never try and adjust the RPM by moving the circlip.
The first thing that should have happen is show what happens when you try to start it then explain the possible fix.
I’m not sure that’s the correct spring.. Good job, though
There is literally a screw you can turn to adjust the rpm.
but when that doesn't work......a govenor adjustment may be needed
Not all of the Honda engines have an idle adjustment screw. Some have the tab that the spring is connected to, that is shown in the video, where you can make small adjustments. My leaf blower has the Honda GC-160 engine, there is no idle adjustment screw.
That screw is intended as an idle speed screw. By definition the governor arm should be twisted clockwise or moved away from the carburetor and the governor shaft itself moved clockwise and somebody had stated earlier in this video.
Where is the screw you are referencing?
@@davidweum9334 on the carburettor
Is that you Steve?
nope it's me, Jeff
Il mio hrh va a 3250 rpm.ho portato la molla nella posizione più bassa nella leva sinistra.
What do you mean you wish you knew the correct procedure to adjust the governor?
I would’ve thought you’d know exactly what you were doing, before making a video.
Just saying.
In all of my videos I pretend to not know what I am doing. It's my schtick
@@jeffslawnmowerrepairandservicewhat a crock
No man you wrong.
So that's not the correct way to do that.
The correct steps are listed below the video in the description section
This is Worthless without a tachometer to set rpms with.
lol!
Exactly. Honda has a spec for the commercial mower's max rpm. They come set from the factory at a lower rpm. After break in the rpm is raised by the dealer to max rpm using a tachometer
If you don’t know the correct procedure to do this, then why are you making a video and misinforming people who need to know how to do it correctly?