JD LX188 engine problem

The starter is getting weak and I haven't taken time to fix it. To help it start quicker, I have been giving it a little sniff of starting fluid. Yesterday, I gave it a little snort and hit the starter and it popped right off, ran about 10 seconds and then ran away. I shut it down, was afraid it would make an inspection hole in the block. I let it set a bit and tried it again, same thing, start right up and over rev. I checked linkage to carb, governor arm moves like it should, all seems OK. Any ideas what happened?? Thanks, Chris

First of all. Throw that can of ether away. The stuff causes more trouble than it fixes. There are engine rebuild shops that would close their doors if ether was banned.
Back fire up the intake that jammed the throttle blade open or blew the throttle blade off ?
Maybe time to go and price a new 500 series tractor. Stay away from the light duty lawn tractor transmissions in the L & 300 series.
A new 340CCA battery, new starter and set of HD cables may have been cheaper than the ether.

Carefully check gov/throttle setup,looking at assembly drawing/parts list for eng there appears to be three springs associated with same,the throttle control has one spring & the gov arm has two springs connected to it,one is the actual gov balance spring & the other goes to arm on carb throttle shaft,check that all springs are intact & not broken/disconnected.

After that check that throttle shaft in carb operates freely & not stuck in full open position,if all springs intact/connected & throttle shaft operates freely,after eng starts grab cam on carb throttle shaft & hold at idle position,if eng speed high for normal idle speed or eng runs rough,misses or dies I would suspect an ign timing issue.

If a timing problem check that flywheel key not bent/sheared changeing ign timing,if key not damaged/intact problem may be in the ign system itself,looking at all the parts listed for ign system in assembly drawing/parts list this eng appears to have an all electronic ign system same/similar to the kohler smart spark system that advances/retards ign timing according to eng speed/load,if you have a problem in this system you'll need the service/repair manual for eng to troubleshoot.

As far as the eng starting issue,you may have starter speed problems due to elect problems on tractor/internal wear in starter or depending on mod yr of tractor you're dealing with an eng 15-22 yrs old & getting tired/low on compression due to cyl/ring wear,other worn parts,leaking head gasket(s) or carb/manifold air leak & the normal air/fuel mixture may be too lean for eng to fire.When you hit eng with ether you're giving eng a richer fuel mixture & probably raiseing compression enough for eng to fire/run.

Well trying to save the starter repair have cost you a lot more. DO not use either on small motors. It can make them fire early and then they kick back and break internal parts.

Here is a picture of the governor on the LX 188. It is a set of weight they fly out and push up on the governor rod/arm. You may have had the linkage slip and then the governor can't react because of that. The more likely problem is that the governor flew apart because of the "fast" start with either.