Question for 23hp B&S users, real life answers!

[Peterac]

Thanks John, I guess fuel vaporising causing air lock? Same, I’m on a farm with stock fan on Argo so all should be good.

[Peterac]

Yes I expect vacuum leak but what symptom. Put homemade gasket in and idle has dropped a little but so has top end speed. Will now fiddle with adjustment tab.

[Laird]

As I don't run my argo for much more than 1/2 hrs at a time (due to no where to actually ride) overheating is not that much of a concern. ......yet. So I have ordered a 7in automotive rad fan. I will mount that in the cooling intake duct. I have already moved the oil cooler to that area but bolted to the engine. I also don't have a recoil start because it didn't have one when I bought the engine. Engines with the recoil start will have a restricted area of air flow as oppossed to the open area like my engine. I may get a recoil and carry it with tools needed to mount it in case of starter or battery issues. Probably not till I should have. You know, woulda, shoulda, coulda. Really hope you get your carb issues sorted out. When I went to briggs school we were told 80% of small engine problems are fuel related with 90% carb issues. These small engines can be real hair pullers....as evidence of the old chrome dome.

[john swenson]

one guy told me to mount fuel pump further away from the engine . i did but it still did'nt solve the problem . fans are good ! jb

[Peterac]

I put in gaskets, all good but…..I tried some fiddling. Previously it would top out at 16mph. This is slow so I straightened out my governor/throttle linkage. It went to 23mph but idle went to 1400rpm. Bent it back to where I think it was before and now 1100rpm but max13mph. Suggestions to not effect idle but increase top speed?

[Laird]

On governor there are two springs. A big one and a smaller one. The smaller one has one end hooked to tab. If you bend that tab to put tension on the spring, you should increase the rpm on wide open throttle. Briggs has an actual tool just for that adjustment. The more tension, the farther the butterfly will open. The top rpm for the GOVERENED engine is 3600 rpm. You can bypass the governor and supposedly pull excess of 5000 plus. I thought about it. Without the governor hooked up and throttle straight to the butterfly, you should be able to set your idle down to the point stalling out. You also get the other end oof the spectrum of higher rpm......and a much higher risk of terminal engine damage. I personally can't afford to replace the engine so I will continue to play with it as it is.

[john swenson]

i have heard of some bypassing governor on the vanguards .. but said to be carefull running to high a rpm for too long .. may blow the motor . i'm not sure . i know they do on the harbor freight predator motors . like to know whos done it on the vanguards and how it's worked out. johnboy va.

[trevorakm1]

thanks for the info on the governor. I'm not a mechanic and installed a 23 into my bigfoot and have the idle issue. Yes a blip on the throttle is fine but not always effective and I have to pull the choke. I don't like to have to do this but not knowledgable enough about the governor and the spring/ tab adjustments to get my idle a little lower. Temperature/ air density has some effect on the idle also I've noticed and would be alleviated by lower rpms. There are times my secondary clutch is spinning and times it's not at idle and should be spinning as close to nothing as possible for smooth shifting.
Could you give a more detailed account of governor tab/ spring adjustment for lower rpm please. I'm sure many would appreciate it beyond myself. My motor doesn't seem to have a mixture/ idle screw so the governor is all I have to work with. I haven't found a youtube video that help with my motor yet.

thanks

[Laird]

The spring adjustment does nothing for the idle but works for the top end speed. See if I can find something more visual for you to look at.

[Laird]

Wrong advice. There are two springs. A fat one and a skinny one. I just read that the skinny one works for the low idle speed and the fat one for the top speed. I am probably more confused now than you are. I will play with mine tomorrow to see what is what.

[Peterac]

https://buggiesgonewild.com/

Admin delete this link if not appropriate.
The link is to a forum that mods their motors (ie remove governor and add an electronic tachometer) for all sorts of reasons, including vanguard motors.

Some Vanguards have 2 governor springs and an idle governor spring. Some have 1 governor spring and an idle governor spring. Mine has 1 spring. You can buy a Vanguard service manual that will take you through the steps. It may be available online to view. Contact Briggs & Stratton in your country to get specs for your idle and no load top end rpm. Mine is 4000rpm and 1100rpm for idle from B&S factory not from Argo.

A local mechanic I spoke to said he races the B&S motor by removing the governor and hooking throttle directly to the carby. He gets it to 6000rpm. Lol I didn’t ask about all of this at the time because I was focusing on the idle!

Anyway just food for thought. Maybe collectively we can get somewhere with this idle issue.

I’m doing heaps of reading, learning but obviously not a solution just yet.

I appreciate being able to run this by other like people, thankyou!

If I can upload a photo I will. I’ll be working on it tomorrow.

[Laird]

Soooo, I got playing with the Governor springs today. My engine has 2 springs, a fat one and a skinny one. I took all the tension off the small spring while the engine was running and the idle dropped off to 800 rpm. I had it there but then the idle would go back up to 950 or so. I tweeked the fat spring by adding some tension and brought the top end rpm to 3750. I will leave this alone. I made a tool by cutting a slot in the end of a 1/4 in. rod and in 4-5 in. added a 90% bend. the slot goes over the tab and you twist in the appropriate direction. Worked for me.

[Peterac]

Good one! I used a big bloody screwdriver but like yours better. I bent the tab you said to get the no load top end rpm to 4000. Still won’t go faster when in gear so I will go back to the governor throttle linkage and fiddle some. I feel confident!

[Peterac]

I still haven’t got idle down below 1100 and it hovers mostly around 1200now. Apart from that it’s is running great. Top end no load rpm is 4000. Tabs were bent as you suggested Laird.
I reset the static governor, moved the tab on the throttle swivel to touch the governor arm. Then did the tab on back of the big governor spring to get high rpm. All good but the idle!!!!!
For anyone interested, if I move my governor arm with a screw driver back by 1mm only, it drops 200rpm to the 800-900rpm range. So it can idle where the trans need it!
I’m going to play with governor/throttle linkage again today.

[Peterac]

I tried to attach photos but struggle with the tech on the phone.
Anyway, I seem to have gotten idle down to 700 - 1100 rpm. More consistently around 900. This I’m happy with enough. I have to wait a couple of weeks to see if it stays put.
I put a ‘Utility Extension Spring’ on the governor arm where the governor/throttle linkage hooks into it. I drilled a small hole in the bottom of the heat shield plate that sits under the muffler and hooked the other end of the spring there.
I tried two springs, same length, different tension. I settled on the stiffer spring.
This has the effect of fully pulling the governor arm back to drop idle. The way the throttle plates, linkages and spring work doesn’t seem to make it any harder to turn throttle hand grip.
Century Spring Corporation
C219
15/32 x 4 1/2 x .041 inches
11.913 x 114.3 x 1.041mm
Made in USA

Hope this helps someone.