spudulike

The melting seal, you need to make sure the seal is driven home fully and the thin shim washer has to be fitted to keep the oiler pinion from contacting the seal.

Bark looks like Poplar to me but what do I know

OK, sounds like it is running rich, make sure the choke flap valve is opening fully, make sure the air filter is clean, the H screw should be one turn out if the limit cap has been removed and if it is still bad, I would suspect a leaking check valve so a deep Ultrasonic clean may be in order.

Just make sure you clean the bore thoroughly if there is any transfer build up on it if it has been seized.

Be thankful it doesn't have fuel injection and auto tune As others have said, check the impulse line as without it, there will be little fuel being pumped in to the carb. Check the pump diaphragm is in good condition, especially on the pump flaps that can get pierced by the hole underneath. The most common carb issue is the good ol gauze strainer. It can sometimes look clean but take it out and use a strong light and magnifying glass to look through it and ensure those open areas are OPEN! Check the tank breather, unlikely to be fully blocked but worth cleaning off. Make sure the fuel line is OK, not likely to fail on a 4 year old machine but you can be caught out. Change the plug, they can crack and do all sorts! When it starts: - 1) Are you able to rev it out to near maximum revs? 2) is the engine smoking and running like it is on choke? 3) is the engine screaming? 4) Will the saw idle but not rev? 5) Does the saw pulse and misfire? 6) Is the idle speed high if the saw can idle? Sometimes these carbs get some pretty strange issues and I have found that the only way to clear them is 1 hour in a dedicated ultrasonic cleaner on high heat and using a decent carb additive. I am guessing in these cases, the check valve or some of the hard to get to cavities have resin, water or debris in them and only a good boil will shift it as carb cleaner doesn't touch it. In this I am assuming, from your description, that the saw has decent compression!

Had the saw in, the helicoils the OP had fitted were OK and holding strong. Inserts are OK if there is a lot of land around the hole but not so good if there isn't. Helicoils are generally a good repair but do use solid inserts on plug holes. The carb had a small piece of random rubber, probably from the fuel/impulse line stuck in the impulse holes in the carb and should be running fine now.

Depends on the gauge and what it measures on a saw that runs well. All gauges are not equal! If it measures 150-170 on a good saw, 105 is pitiful as you should be looking at 150 bare minimum.

Another 357XP of course

For those wanting to test the operation of the brake guard handle, try operating it on both far top edges of the guard handle. I usually find that any saw with excessive wear in brake components doesn't operate well when you push forward on the top edge of the brake handle guard nearest the recoil cover. If it doesn't work as well as it does in the middle or not at all, you have issues. Seen this on a few models of different manufacturers saws and is a useful check.

65, got a muffler that sets dry grass in fire ? Heavy but well made and will cut your firewood!

If the issue is faulty manufacture, material or parts then it will and should be replaced, if it was down to the way you were using it, foolhardiness or forcing it then expect no replacement.

Not much you can do if it has been sitting in water for a few months?

It shouldn't and means either the throttle valve isn't held open sufficiently or the low speed fuel setting is far too rich. Make sure the L screw is one turn out and take a visual on the throttle valve with the choke setting on fast idle and make sure the valve is kicked open by a few mm.

Found a Tanaka in a ditch in front of a hedge once, bit of a state and will never run again....the wife spotted it, the training is paying off?

Grounds for divorce or the rule of thumb to be invoked!!

I would suggest that in trying too many times to start it, the crankcase is filling with fuel causing it to lock. You only need to pull it over a maximum of around five times on choke before it pops. When the saw has popped and starts on the fast idle, does it spin over fast or does it run at pretty much normal idle BEFORE pulling the throttle and the idle settles to normal. No saw should need over 15 pulls to get it going and a lot less if it has run in the last week.

Use Parcel Monkey, they are a broker and offer cheaper rates for the same service from the big couriers. Parcelforce and UKmail are good in my experience and take saws, Hermes can take forever if you don't use a 24/48 hour service - I only use commercial couriers, Hermes are a bit eBay cheap and not really cheerful. Drain the saw of fuel and oil, usually better to let the fuel tank dry as couriers don't like the smell of petrol in their vans...for obvious reasons. Wrap the saw in a bin liners as it will seal any residual oil and smell in. Place in a well padded box, strengthen the sides top and bottom of the box with extra board and ensure the dogs and saw body are padded from direct impact on the box outer. You should be able to drop the box from head height on any side with no fear of breakage. Make sure contact details are inside, you would be amazed at the number of times I have to phone round asking if the £700 saw is theirs? Make sure the lids AND bottom are securely taped, a this is damn obvious but the packing on some of the kit I get in is laughable!!!

Just check the serial plat for the date of manufacture.....assuming it has one!

You won't see the crank wobble with a damaged big end bearing but expect big knocking and loss of compression. With worn crank bearings, the crank will wobble and is likely to scuff the plating off the bore if run for a while.

The colour doesn't matter, the size does in this case. The seal size is often moulded in to the rubber part!

You need to start with a budget, the latest version is the MS261CM but you are looking at Mtronic and something like a £550price tag. Just depends on what you actually need and what you can get hold of. You can still get hold of decent MS260s and are a decent saw.

I think you will find that a flanged bush pushes in to the seal and then has a shim washer that fits over it like this: - Parts 3 &4

The Picco can be a 3/8th low profile chain which is typically the chain fitted to the 135! The 135 is pretty much a Husqvarna version of the Stihl 171. I would be looking at something like a MS260 to make a big difference rather than just swapping brands like your present suggestion is doing. If you want a Husqvarna then a 345/350 may suit - these are old models and may fit in with a smaller budget!

I think you need a new screwdriver, looks like the dog has been using it as a chew

It is pretty much a standard strato type piston, there are other systems based on reed valves (Dolmar) and other strange diverters used with windowed pistons as in the MS461 but this type of piston is typical on modern full strato saws!