Another problem with my newly purchased TCM forklift. The mechanical governor that is driven by the fan belt has the bottom of the casting blown out and the internal guts are missing. What is the governor for and do I need one on this lift ?
In general a governor maintains the speed when the hydraulics are used to keep the load from stalling the engine and it keeps the engine from running too fast when you use the throttle. If you can use it without the governor then you're not hurting anything as long as you don't rev it too fast.
The last one that I replaced for a customer was 15 years ago and had trouble getting the correct one. The dealer wanted 1250.00 for it so I installed a velocity governor instead. It wasn't easy but it worked for many years. If you do locate one, make sure you change oil in the governor from time to time. The service company doing the pm's never changed it and didn't even know they were supposed to. See my post in your steering box request.