Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - kohler engine revs fast

I have a kohler CV18 engine on my New Holland LS45 lawn tractor which statrted running fast and blowing smoke. Dealer says its the internal governer and will cost approx. $1000.00 to fix. Does this sound right and can I fix this problem myself with the right parts?

Negative!!! That is BS. Your dealer is full of crap! It does not cost 1000 dollars to fix a govoner. I think you need to go to a new dealer. I would not trust this guy at all. I can buy a whole new 22HP engine for 1000 dollars. A new governer system would probably cost 20 to 100 bucks. Give or take labor or not.

There are several things that can be checked b4 an engine needs to be torn down to get at the governor.
With the engine running see if you can control rpm by moving the throttle valve on the carb. If so...
Find the govenor lever, and see if by moving it, you have any change in RPM.
Also check that the govenor lever is tight on the shaft and that they both move as one.
There are also linkages and springs that control all of this, possibly one has bent broke come off...........
I am not familiar with your engine so I don't have any exacts for you, but those few things can be looked at untill someone who knows more about your specifics gets here ;)

Governors don't often go bad, but they do. That could be the problem here, but check the other things mentioned. did it just suddenly do this while the engine was running, or did it start up and rev right off the bat? Has it run for any length of time like this? If so, the engine is probably damaged, hence the $1000 repair bill, which still sounds extremely high. I agree, that engine can be bought new for less than that. It's not hard to work on that engine, if you want to give it a shot. We'll be here to help.