governers...

can someone explain to me the details on how a governer works, and the ups/downs of disabling one? how would you go about disabling a governor?

If your talking about a transmission governer, you shouldn't and most times can't disable it. The governer is a small gear, usually meshed with the output shaft, with 2 wieghts attached to it. Then there is usually a needle attached to the weights. When the governer is slowly spinning, the weights don't fly out, which will not put the needle in its seat, which in turn keeps the pressures inside the transmission low, because a lot of fluid pressure isn't needed at low throttle angles and low speeds. (A boost valve usually boosts pressure in low gear to keep the clutchs from slipping). When the governer begins to spin faster, the weights fly out slowly in relation to speed and begin to put the needle in its seat, which raises internal line pressure, which holds clutches tighter. In some instances, governers control shift points also, but these work pretty much the same way as a pressure-controlling governer. The only difference is these push on a shift valve when pressure is high enough, which causes a shift. I didn't get into super details, but if you want to know more i can help ya out.

The other type of governor I can think of is a throttle governor. Stationary and industrial engines (as well as most agricultural tractor engines) operate with governors. Take for instance your typical generator. It operates at one RPM regardless of load. There is a sensor that monitors load and adds more throttle as it drags it down.

It depends on the engine, but some are easily replaced or removed to operate normally like in an automotive situation. Most gas engines with governors just require removing or disabling it and hooking up a cable to the throttle like Henry Ford intended it. Diesels typically require a completely different injector pump and computer (if it uses one). Diesels don't have throttles, so the governing happens entirely in the fuel distribution system.

You may be talking about some of the later speed governed cars. In this case, top speed is governed by the cars computer so it's not so easy to change. Sometimes you can find companies that sell aftermarket performance chips that remove this parameter(or raise it).

hey thanks for the feedback, im specifically wondering for my 91 explorer, im thinking about things i could do to help it run faster and i was looking at that. think its a good idea? know the specifics to disable it on that model? i wonder if alldata might have it...

So I'm guessing you are talking about the speed governor. You do realize this wont make it accelerate faster, it will just have a higher top speed. Also I'm not really familiar with that specific car, but it maybe the case that it isn't governed, it simply reaches the point where drag overcomes power and your car can't push itself any faster against the wind (many confuse this with being governed)
If by chance you do have it and remove it, make sure you get properly speed-rated tires to handle going at higher speeds, especially in an SUV. Many companies have placed governers on their cars because they don't want to spend more money equipping their cars with higher speed rated (more expensive) tires, so they simply limit the cars top-speed potential and don't have to worry about it.

My opinion, you could ask in the explorer section and find out specifically about your car. But the easiest way to make a car a bit faster (and I mean acceleration) is to free up it's breathing with a free flowing intake and an upgraded exhaust. They are both relatively cheap and simple places to start.

I'm assuming your car goes up to about 90 and then back down. I doubt you want to even go that fast in a 91 explorer. Theyve been known to be called Ford Exploders for a reason. I saw a kid own one for about 6 months and he beat on it like that and the whole engine was destroyed. NOT a good idea.

That and those sh**ty tires......

yeah, i was gonna say, i thought governors were only on lawnmowers and other constant rpm stuff