44S977 (0002-G1) Briggs and Stratton Engine - Overview

Clean engine with a Gunk type product. Remove valve cover. Loosen bolts and remove old cylinder head. One bolt is located inside valve cover area. Remove old gasket and inspect and clean that surface. Attach new head with new gasket using existing bolts. Torque to 18'#s with a cross type pattern. Attach new rocker arms and push rods. Set valve clearance to .004 - .006. Attach valve cover with gasket. Check oil level. Start and let it warm up. Let cool remove cover then check valve clearance again. Replace cover.

Had to pull the engine off the rider mower. Drained the oil took shield off the flywheel. Set it upside down on a 5 gal bucket. Took a 7/16 hand wrench to remove governor lever from bottom of engine. Left it in its location. Pulled 10 1/2 " bolts. Split engine case. Found the old governor had broke into pieces. Had to use a magnet to remove all the pieces. Removed the small clip and removed gear. Lubed shaft slid new on put new clip on. Lined governor weights with center piece tapped it in place very lightly. Cleaned gasket flanges pulled the shaft seal. Used the old seal as a seal driver. When putting the cover back on make sure the seal dont roll out. Take a mini screwdriver and tuck it in around shaft. Put bolts back in and tighten like instructions

Look on YouTube for video's on how to replace a Briggs governor. There are several there. My favorite, with best explanation, is, "Easily Replace Briggs Governor Gear (V-Twin Intek Engine) with Taryl". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn3eanGxSEA&t=152s.

Taryl (probably not his real name) does a very good job of showing step-by-step the whole procedure, along with some additional hints/tricks/techniques of value.

Not including oil and filter, I spent less than $50 for a new governor, gasket, and drive shaft seal. That's all that is really necessary to replace is those three parts. That is, unless pieces of the old governor tore up a gear, valve, or something else. Inspect everything! {I was lucky and only the governor was destroyed}

One word of note. Be sure to clean out all of the debris from the blown governor. Be sure to remove the spark plugs and carefully rotate the drive shaft while looking for nooks-and-crannies where debris can hide. I tried to use a magnet to help, but it didn't help much, even though the block is aluminum.

Good luck.