I don't have predator and this probably won't help but my two cents anyway? I have honda GX. Once it surged due to the carb. too lean it would set there and hunt up and down and I could see the same thing the governor moving eraticlly.

IF your new engine it has any adjustments to the carb. I would first mark them to know where you started. Then try turn it counterclockwise 1/16 to 1/8 turn max to richen up the mixture... Heck maybe the EPA has restricted any adjustments on new engines. I Don't know just figure new engine don't have dirty carb. and probably adjusted or jetted lean to pass emmisions----Just guessing...

I have a Predator also, and it doesn't do this. Instead of attempting to fix it and possibly voiding your warranty, I would just exchange it. There are 2 versions of this engine, the regular EPA and the California emissions version, which will be jetted much leaner. You may want to make sure you don't have the California version. There are no adjustments on either engine. I have been pleasantly surprised with mine, I was expecting a bad running weak engine. Boy was I surprised...just hope the durability is as good as everyone elses. So far it has been a reliable powerhouse!

I'm in North Carolina Snuffy, so I doubt I got a Ca model. rcmoser, I should have mentioned that the predator is a knock off of the gx200 but it doesn't have Any adjustments. But again, as I said, it runs completely fine if the governor is blocked.

I suppose it is the obvious thing to trade it in, but I am just afraid that the new one will act identically.

I have Greyhound, Predator and Matador engines they came on market in that order. Greyhound came to HF for market year 2009 so few was sold in last Quarter 2008. With 2 other name changes the main jets where down sized to meet regulations each of these engine had to different model number ones California and one for rest country the California having smallest jetting in each model.Named. The rest of Country Models came in to Lean as well so backing out adjustment screw done real well on Greyhound about 2 rounds the Predator 4 Rounds done fairly well. Any film that coats jet from Corn oil cause 10% lean to engine only product out there that I have found that work to prevent this coating is Star-tron
additive are none deluded Gasoline High test gas helps as well if do use diluted gas.

North Carolina....are you in the mountains by any chance? You may need a high altitude kit...

Nice thought snuffy, but no I'm in the center of the state near Raleigh and Durham at about 400 feet. Anyway, since no one has had anything to say about the action of the governor I am going to do the exchange thing. I have removed the engine from my Horse Tiller and will haul it back the next time I go up to Durham.

Only thing I can figure is the governor just isn't set right. Mine runs flawlessly.

Hi snuffy, yes that is what I think as well, although I can't really figure out what that would mean. I would think if the governor shaft is round with no flat, and it became loose, then it would be like disconnecting it and obviously that isn't the case. I don't recall thinking that the engine surged dramatically when I originally got it 11 months ago.

Anyway: it doesn't matter for that engine anymore because it is back at HF and I have its replacement installed. The new engine runs well. It doesn't surge at all at low or medium speeds and only shows a perceptable (not audible) visual surge at full throttle. I haven't run it under load, other than to determine that I had my tiller belt and pulleys set properly, because the instructions say to give the engine a couple of hours break in at lower speeds. I did the same with the first engine.

Semi-Final Report on new engine.
I took my horse tiller out for a spin and it runs fine with no surging and it does the job without stalling like the other engine would do when it was tipped back too deeply. The soil is soft and I can till deeply and it still didn't stall. I didn't take the oil cutoff wire off. It just ran fine as is.

I suspect that the problem with the old surging engine may have been in the emulsion tube. It wouldn't fall out when I removed the main jet even though I banged on it a bit. Perhaps it was partially plugged.

Glad you got it taken care of! Those are great little engines...

It needs a larger main jet. Purchase one that is .032 and it wont surge with the choke fully off anymore. Or you can buy the adjustable main kit they sell for the carbs on those engine's. Either one is fine. Otherwise you have to run it with 1/4 choke on to eliminate the surging.