TO20 running away

So I bought a TO20 from a neighbor that moved. It needed a battery and the starter rebuilt, and he said the governor needed adjusting. I trust him, but I don't think he's a great mechanic.

Finally got it running, but it idles for a few seconds then it goes full throttle. I found enough online to locate the governor stop screw. Half the screw is broken off so I have to adjust it with pliers. I haven't tightened it in all the way yet, and will, but should I be looking at carb linkage adjustments? He may have rebuilt the carb and screwed up the linkage. I'm fishing right now.

I can hold the governor arm back and make it idle, and nearly burn myself or chop my fingers off, but the engine will idle.

I really don't want to do a full governor on this but I may have to.

Thanks in advance.

There are a few front covers on flea bay with the screws or do a search for this part 760138m1 it is the screw and then add a nut to secure it. If
you don't already get a repair manual, it will tell you how to properly set up the carb and governor.

This is from the I T service manual. I got to thinking about how you said it was running away after starting. I think you need to follow the steps
from 50a on to reset your throttle- governor setup. It sounds as if the mechanical geometry of your system is out of whack and just needs to be
setup from scratch.

A simple test of the governor:

Set the hand lever to the idle position. The carb should be held against the idle stop screw. If it's not, the linkage is out of adjustment.

To determine if the governor is working, and the length of the gov to carb link, try this:

Pull the pin out of the yoke end of the link. Set the hand lever to about mid position. Hold the rod connected to the carb back against the idle stop with one hand, hold slight forward pressure against the governor arm, have an assistant start the engine.

Slowly and carefully bring the RPM up while feeling for the governor arm to push back. Be careful not to over rev the engine, but at some point the governor arm will reach the end of it's rearward travel. Note that position. Shut the engine off, adjust the length of the carb to gov link so that the carb is against the idle stop when the gov is at the end of the noted travel. If you get no push back, the governor is not working.

If all looks good, review the position of the linkage with the speed lever at idle, the carb should be against the idle stop. If not, loosen the U bolt and rotate the linkage until it is held at idle.

Try starting and bringing the speed up. It should max at around 2200 RPM. Adjust the final speed with the U bolt.

Thanks everyone. I'll give it all a try, probably later in the eeek.
I'll follow up when I either discover the problem or have new
info. Thanks again!

Once had a similar problem on a 2000. Turned out to be a carburetor problem, screw out of the butterfly plate or whatever that
little plate about the size of a 50 cent piece is called.

So I've been fooling with it this afternoon. The throttle linkage
(I-bolt adjusted) was not touching the governor arm at all. I
loosened the u-bolt and turned it until it almost touches at idle
throttle position. That seemed to be the only adjustment that
was really out of whack.
Still runs away. I tightened the governor limit screw pretty far
in. Seems like once it runs away, I can't even push back on
the governor arm (which is scary because your hand is
pushing towards the fan) to make it slow back down. I'm
worried now it's maybe a return spring or something inside the
governor.
I also found it's dropping oil between the engine and tranny
when it runs. I'm gonna get this thing right, not because I'm
gonna be able to flip it, but because it needs to be done. lol

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I had that type of problem - Even with the governor disconnected. It turned out to be a bad gasket between the carb bowl and top plate allowing fuel to leak past the float and into the intake.

Just a thought.....