OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Briggs & Stratton Engines Governor springs - 158cc Briggs and Stratton

Hi guys

Have a 2nd hand mower been using for a month or two. Starts and runs well but has no real throttle control. Checked the air filter and going to replace that and while it was off checked and the throttle linkage seems a bit off, one of the springs is badly stretched and bent.

Basically it will start fine but has no real throttle control between start and stop, which also works. Just always running at pretty high throttle.

Have no other complaints at this stage, is this worth fixing while getting other parts ?

BTW - Is the engine code under the covers ? Got this on a sticker on the engine tbs158u1g1, seems to be a Classic or Sprint late 90s. I believe air filter for it is 698369 if that helps ?

If it is a Chinese one, than throw it out. The way to identify this is to look at the back of the engine and see if it has fins cast into the engine block. If it doesn't, it is an American one and worth saving. Btw, u should be able to go to the tip and probably find a stuffed Chinese version of ur engine and that should probably have a decent governor spring. Don't bother stuffing around with mower shops and places like Bunnings as they will try 2 get u to buy a new mower. Ps my user name is actually totallyrandomVicta but the username thingy cut my username short.

I heard that American mowers typically have no throttle control. Just low and high setting on the side of the engine itself. Australians are the ones that insist on setting the revs on their machines.
Sure it's nice to have that indulgence as the factory intended, but if it works fine otherwise...

Any Pics? will help to see it.

I believe it's a US one ?



True. If it ain't broke and all that. More just need a few little bits and pieces so was doing a small list and considering whether or not to 'fix' this.


Sure.




There she is.

Engine is 10A902-2135 E1-98060455

Yep, it's a 10 cubic inch 158cc Briggs and Stratton Quattro 40.
Firstly, remove the cowl and clean all the grass etc under there, sometimes it impedes the governor function. After you've done that start her up and adjust the governor setting by bending the tabs, where the springs are anchored to, in or out to increase/decrease engine speed. The large spring controls high speed RPM while the small spring generally controls the idle speed.
Don't worry too much about the mangled larger spring, you can cut those coils off and and bend out a new coil to anchor to the bendable tab.
Let us know how you go.
Cheers, Ted

Good little motor,and as bigted says , bit fidley to get the springs to work properly but it will work

If you could post some pics of the back of the engine, that would determine the origin of the engine. In the mean time, i would suggest haunting the local tip until you find a briggs and stratton sprint 375, classic 37 or quattro 40.

Totally, what is your dislike of the Chinese Briggs, they seem to work ok, it is the Chondas that are tip material when they start to give trouble

Ha, hopefully find an old school Briggs with side mounted, vertical pull starter and exposed spinning top.

Mowerfreak, I have a number of those, good old motor as long as you keep the oil up to them

Is that apart from the fact that they can be just as bad as chondas in some cases? But I agree with what you said about chondas

Are you Nostradamus ?

Yeah quite a bit of clippings underneath.

Have had a play and can see how it works, without that big spring working there is very little effect of throttle lever movement on the plastic throttle thing whatsit on the carby.

Other than that seems all good. Will get a few bits and pieces and sort this. Bloody new Echo has an issue with the starter cord and so am currently trying to sort that.

Thanks guys. Wouldn't have thought Brigs would've been in China in the 90s ?

It wasn't as much as the consumer choice here for the throttle-less control. It was force onto us by the manufactures as a cost saving method. And some the mowers here only have one governed speed and no high/low setting. Part of the blame also lays with the consumer too as they only want to buy the lowest priced mower.

It just like not having oil drains any more on some engines. Now we either need to turn the engine on its side or use a siphon to change the oil.

From my view as a tech and operator these versions are very inconvenient to me especially as you can't change the self propelled speeds without heavy drive belt wear.

No, Briggs started making in China in 2002 (I'm pretty sure) and basically all modern Briggs engines are Chinese. And for your info normk, when I say that Chinese Briggs are just as bad as some chondas, I mean this. An example of this is a 6 month old victa classic cut ohv that I spotted at the local mower reconditioners and asked what it was doing there, he turned it round and it had a 10cm by 5cm hole in the side of the CHINESE cast alloy block. This mower had not had much use and had the right amount of oil in it.

Totally I know they are all rubbish, everything is made in China, but this is the world we created and now there is nothing we can do about it

G'day all

This is an interesting thread because it involves history as it is unfolding.

I feel China can make products to any quality chosen.
I know they make great China - and have done so for centuries!

In many ways, the market is way beyond any one manufacturer;
but every manufacturer must 'fall in line' to remain competitive.

My contempt is with respected manufacturers that hide behind a veil.
That is, they do not sufficiently control the quality of products they
choose to have made in China under the banner of their name.

China has very obliging manufacturers that may produce the very best -
or the most dodgy. I think there is no case for 'industrial racism'.

There is a secondary problem: the advent of the entry-level, domestic
lawnmower as a mere appliance - a throw-away job with a limited lifespan.
This is relatively new concept in lawnmower history.

As such, manufacturers have responded to the 'pizza' market ... but
that should not absolve them of a decent base product.

---------------------
Jack

Cyber Jack, I agree that the consumers are driving the market and that manufactures are bowing to the pressure instead producing a good product and insisting on a fair price.

I don't think our factory workers along others understand that buying something that last is important than the instant gratification of a cheap unit. They buy and gripe like heck because it is a piece of junk then complain about their low wages. In order for manufactures to pay good wages they must be able to make a profit on what they sell.

It is a ferocious cycle that will only end with everyone being unhappy.

I recently purchase a blown Briggs 09P series engine that had about 30 minutes use. It had thrown a rod. You can not blame it on the engine quality though. The user had ran it without even putting oil in it. On top that this crankshaft and blade was bent. Apparently the users had no business even operating the SP walk behind mower in the first place.

This whole sorry saga has been slowly picking up speed for 20 years, it is only now that we are seeing what devastating effect this is now having on the economies of the previously strong financially stable countries. I see little for future generations to smile at

Cyber jack, I agree with what you've said, but sadly most of them are made on a budget like Chinese Briggs and chondas