spudulike

Why oh why do owners do it to the tools of their trade! Just had three MS201s in, man they were really minging - think that is the modern way of saying covered in ye olde shyte! I don't expect pristine but do expect the chip to come off with no more than two applications and scrub with a brush and white spirit!

Identify the thread on the stud that screws in to the hole - it will have an external diameter and a number of threads per mm - something like M5 x 0.8 etc, you will need to purchase a helicoil of the correct size and a tap that will cut a receiving thread for the helicoil and will match the outer thread of the helicoil (not the internal thread). I have done a couple this way and had success with it as a repair - the saw should have an alloy crankcase!

I will take your word for it Matt but you do wear your hair a little long anything we should know about Just kidding!

I usually take the muffler off and wobble the flywheel to and forth and you can see the play caused by the ring groove and the rest is backlash and movement in the bearings. Generally on a healthy engine, you only get a little movement on the ring groove and little else on the big and small end. Worth trying at TDC, BTDC and mid stroke as it will also show up wear on the piston skirt - you did vernier the piston top middle and bottom or put it in the cylinder and wobble it in the opening to check for skirt wear? You can remove the clutch and fire it up without it - admittedly this is a bit of a sod of a saw having that strange top hat flanged bush that may come out of the PTO side but it is probably the clutch rattling....more common on the 346 though. Check the ends, then the mains and if the saw hasn't got the "Death Rumble" of bad mains, you should be OK.

Perhaps big strong manly arb types having pink bags perhaps

This is a blast from my past, we once had a rotary machine with carriages and had to control ramp up, ramp down and maximum speed. The box of tricks you need is a motor inverter. I used to enjoy tweaking the thing to give the pest performance whilst keeping the machine smooth. I guess you will need a 3 Phase AC motor Inverter, google it and am sure a number will pop up. These are the sort of things needed on supermarket conveyors to smooth out the first kick of power that sends all your bottles flying It should be programmable for ramp up, slow down and min/max speed!

I have one of the Stihl seal pullers and do use it but there are always other methods that work effectively and work well. Case splitters - got a good selection and the usual method of getting them is just to amortise the cost in to one or two jobs where they are needed and then you have a set for future. One set I made for £10 and work well despite me sticking a broken 6mm drill straight through my thumb! Pictures are somewhere on this thread.

The cheapest seal puller: -

Good going on the weight loss, I lost nearly two stone when I got out of the desk job and am on my feet most of the day. Feel better for it, less out of breath on a fast walk and generally more healthy. I guess much depends on where you started and where you end - me, 6'1" and 12 stone 10lb now so pretty much right.

I think any arb company on setting up should be made to purchase a compressor, 3 litres of white spirit and a box of cheap paint brushes!!!! Judging by most of the saws I get in, they are all strangers to regular cleaning and servicing. The other great thing about having a compressor to run an air line is that you can pump up your tyres without getting tired - see what I did and an impact gun makes your workshop sound like a Formula 1 garage....Oh, damn I am good....work it out!

I used to live in Edenbridge, probably find it on the site between Edenbridge and Hever!!

If you are running one of the decent Stihl, Husqvarna or other leading two stroke oils, 50:1 is fine.

Just a case of metering out the earth point, through the wires to where they connect to the coil. It is possible the spade connector to the coil has fractured but the most common area the circuit fails is the yellow and green wire from earth to the switch under the front top AV mount. You have metered each wire haven't you?

Lubricated!

This is like Groundhog day, the oil dictates the mix and not the engine. Most decent modern oils will run 50:1 and this engine will be fine on this mix. To put it in to context - a 346XP will rev to 14700rpm and is fine on 50:1 so why should a cheap old lump of Chinese strimmer need more oil than that? Yup, more oil means less fuel and air so it is running leaner but it isn't the normal conventional "lean" where the fuel/oil is replaced by AIR. You are replacing fuel and air with oil which at worst will carbon up the engine and may make it smoke and cough a bit. Just run it on a decent oil 50:1 and if it still won't run right at the top end, turn the H screw anti clockwise whilst giving it full tilt and see if it improves, if it does, keep going until it starts coughing and then turn it clockwise until it JUST ABOUT CLEANS UP but not fully. If it gets worse when doing the above, turn the H screw clockwise until the thing revs out better but make sure it doesn't scream, the carb H screw setting should stop the saw over revving.

Seen a few in over the last two years. Not common but then again, I have seen a handful.

I would make sure that you are drilling in the right position - take care on that part. I would use a 2.0 - 2.5mm drill and make sure it is sharp as some of this alloy isn't easy to drill. Pop a single hole through from the outside and then use a 2mm drift to knock it out - a broken drill with the broken part ground flat would make a good drift. You won't be weakening the structure of the casting at all as the strength needed is in the vertical structure when in position and not the horizontal. Manufacturers often have small holes in these covers to drive out the end of the chain brake band which can get stuck in the casting over time. If you really want, you could seal it with a bit of epoxy afterwards but wouldn't bother myself. Start at 2.5mm and wouldn't go much over 3mm - you can start small and go bigger if needed but not the other way round! You could use a little bearing retainer fluid on the new pin but is an interference fit with splines so shouldn't need it. That's how I would do it - if it all goes tits up, you can still just purchase a new cover so no drama TBH! I am sure Mark can help with that

If you buy second-hand, just check the top end is original OEM and not Chinese!

I wouldn't say no older than three years. I often see some very nice MS260s/346XPs come in and look like they have been used an hour per year. Just ported a 2012 550XP and it looks like new - you can get lucky!

I would reckon that the little pin would be hardened making drilling it out almost impossible with the risk that the drill will drift in to the alloy! Marks idea is exactly what I was thinking before I read it and is of minimal risk to the cover.

Why do I bother!!!! I had a MS460 once do exactly as yours, 5 mins and pop, it would stop and not start. The coil gap was just enough to spark when cold. When the coil warmed up, it would stop working. I adjusted the gap and bingo, still running 3 years later! I did Bills 361 and found it had a dodgy coil that would work fine and the saw would idle well but it wouldn't rev past 7.5K and was like it was rev limited. I changed the coil and it worked fine.....until the new coil failed recently!

How about running it until it flubs, keep it running, put it on its side, loosen the fuel cap and see if it suddenly clears or if it still has the issue - that is probably the easiest for you. The tech way is to remove the fuel filter and carb then pump the air out of the tank through the fuel line with a vacuum pump and see if air is replaced through the breather. There is usually a load of woodchip under that little cover and it blocks the breather, You can double check the coil to flywheel gap or reduce the gap right down to the thickness of A4 paper and see if it has any effect.

But do they know where the breather is Hidden behind that plastic cover where the top handle joins to the side of the fuel tank! It is the most likely problem but the coils on these machines can also go wobbly stopping the engine making full revs!

Sounds like the ring has worn, seen them get very thin on the ends before. I usually just pop in a new piston, lightly hone the bore and normal service will return

And because you should have a bit more time available in retirement, that is why you have a pension so you can enjoy that stage of your life between working hard and going in to an old folks home!