Small engine trouble

[Jim Nelson]

Those little Robin engines were used in a lot of golf/utility carts ,EZgo used a lot of them.If you google EZGo governor you will find some info. There are a couple of seemingly pretty good forums for those rigs with some experienced guys willing to help.

 

[Egon]

Will the governor linkage move when running? Can it be externally seized?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I think you are looking at the wrong thing. The clue is that the throttle does almost nothing. The throttle is either disconnected or broken. Take the carb back apart and fix it.

 

[teejk]

I think you are looking at the wrong thing. The clue is that the throttle does almost nothing. The throttle is either disconnected or broken. Take the carb back apart and fix it.

I think he said earlier that manual operation of the governor rod made it work. I'm hardly an expert (or even much more than a novice) on small engines so I'll shut up after I explain my rather limited knowledge of governors. Either internal (weights) or external (that little flag that blows off the fan in the blower housing). Purpose of either is to keep the throttle closed. The balancing factor is the spring whose purpose is to keep the throttle wide open. They somehow work things out for perfect harmony. Not knowing anything about that engine but based on the OP's last post where he said there were only two holes on the arm, I wonder whether he got them mixed up. Over and out...

 

[CCWKen]

Typically, the governor spring will hold the throttle wide open when the engine is NOT running. When the engine IS running, flyweights (or fan sail) try to force the throttle closed. The faster the engine runs, the more force applied to close the throttle. As the engine slows down, less force is applied to counter act the governor and the throttle is allowed to open. This action is what allows the engine to compensate for different loads.

 

[dstig1]

As best i can tell Ken has it correct, at least for this motor. The throttle LEVER only really does one thing - add more spring pressure against the governor which helps keep the throttle plate open more. It does not directly act on the throttle plate in the carb. Throttle plate is fully open at rest, and the governor should pull it closed to modulate the speed. Or at least that seems to be how it looks to work from my manual tugging on it and looking it over. I'm guessing this one uses internal weights as the visible linkage stops at a pivot that goes into the main engine housing. I'll get some pics tomorrow as it will be rainy so I can't get anything else done...

Thanks for the tips on the EZGo forums, Jim. I'll start looking into those too.

More to come..

 

[GLyford]

I'd go back to basics, float, needle, jets, clean the heck out of it. I get a lot of engines running again just by freeing up the float and needle.

My local small engine guy says that he sees a lot of corrosion in diecast carbs where the zinc is basically being eaten away by the water/alcohol dissolved in the gas, sometimes to the point of being porous. If you see a lot of white residue in/on your carb, it might be time ahead to find another one.

 

[teejk]

I'd go back to basics, float, needle, jets, clean the heck out of it. I get a lot of engines running again just by freeing up the float and needle.

My local small engine guy says that he sees a lot of corrosion in diecast carbs where the zinc is basically being eaten away by the water/alcohol dissolved in the gas, sometimes to the point of being porous. If you see a lot of white residue in/on your carb, it might be time ahead to find another one.

Dunno...the problem is that the engine is "racing"...almost as if the governor weights are stuck. An old engine hand book mentioned that the governor spring will speed up an engine the closer the connection the pivot on the carb. OP said there are only 2 holes...

 

[GLyford]

If the float isn't seating and the carb is flooding, don't you think that might affect how it runs a little? Just spitballing anyway to see what sticks.

 

[teejk]

If the float isn't seating and the carb is flooding, don't you think that might affect how it runs a little? Just spitballing anyway to see what sticks.

I didn't see anything about flooding but maybe I missed it. Sounds like the governor spring has taken control and the counter balance (weights/vane) have waved the white flag. Seems as though the OP didn't replace the spring so I doubt it got stronger than OEM. OP did say that the machine sat idle for some time...guess it's plausible that internal weights would seize up and perhaps need to be run for awhile to free up...but like you I'm spit balling!