I just order a new carb $41 and that is even cheap for Canade where we get stiffed for everything we buy. Must be our national health care. Oh just forgot I now have a honda carb I can kick around the garage floor. later

I've been a mechanic for over 35 years and my father was a master mechanic. I've worked on everything from lawn mowers to heavy equipment, gas and diesel. The internal combustion engine basically needs three components to run, fuel, air, spark............it gets much deeper from the mechanics perspective but this is sufficient knowledge for the do-it-yourselfer! One fella on here says his engine will run if he keeps dumping gasoline in the carburator which should have told him right from the get go that its either plugged or leaking fuel lines or the carburator diaphram has a hole in it. Not much else can cause that problem other than being out of fuel or starving for fuel. The spit and sputter/stalling issue depends upon the engine but in general, I would be looking at fuel feeding the carburator to make sure it is clean, not contaminated, and in sufficient supply. Outside of that, I would be looking for an electrical issue. If you have cam, valve, or other issues, the thing will either not run at all or very erratic all the time, so that eliminates those issues in my opinion. Depending on the engine whether or not any electronics are involved like the Inteks, you have an electrical safety shut off on the bottom of the carb that shuts the fuel off when the key is off to prevent fuel from leaking and causing fires. You also have a bunch of safety switches such as the seat, brake/clutch pedal etc. Anyone of those items can cause the run/stall with the most emphasis on the carb shut off. There's a plunger in there that can varnish and stick and will for surely cause that erratic running behavior. Many of these switches are comparitable to "idiot guages" on your vehicle for people who don't understand how to interpret full guage readings. The idiot gauge uses a light, red light means stop.....diagnose......repair even though most interpret it to continue driving till it pukes! I always maintainence my equipment on a regular schedule changing filters, fluids, etc which prevents many of these issues.If a hose or line looks frayed or damaged, heat cracked, etc............change it before it becomes a major event! GOOD PM is mans best friend!!!

Must still be some dirt in one of the jets. Probably the main jet.

First off, thanks for all the replies so far. I think I am on the right track. I started the engine, immediately started to surge, let it warm up for a few minutes, still surging. I can stick a screwdriver under the governor linkage and apply very slight upward or downward pressure and it will stop surging immediately. At WOT, if I keep the linkage from bouncing up and down for a few seconds and slowly let go, it will not surge for 20-30 seconds. It then starts surging very little but quickly ramps up to the full on surge in a matter of a couple of seconds. Keep in mind the surge from high to low and back to high is less than a second. I observed a few other things. It doesn't surge at idle, but starts at about half throttle. The spring from the throttle to the governor, at idle, has a slight amount of tension. The only adjustment I can see making, on the governor, is actually repositioning the linkage either up or down on the shaft that comes out of the governor. Would this be my next step? I like my JD dealer but I don't want to think about how much he would charge. Especially, since he has to come get it or I have to rent a trailer. Scott