spudulike

My old neighbour wouldn't have, that's for sure - he didn't even move his car so our removal van could park outside our house!!!!

Interesting stuff Wes - bet his neighbours love his "Garage antics":lol: I thought about making similar but there just aren't the hours in the day! .....and agree that the comparison shows over 15% increase in HP and it is perhaps the comparison rather than the true figure that is useful - damn sight easier than timing & cutting wood a thousand times over:lol:

After saying what I did earlier, I know what it is like to have bad neighbours and in my case with my ex neighbour, I wouldn't have told him a thing and I have my reasons!!!

Surely the guys pay off is the difference in what you charge him and what he charges the end customer or is this a cash bung to avoid the tax??? I guess it depends on how much business he gives you, how much profit you can make from it, how much you value it, how much you need it and then there are the law & taxes...think that just about covers it:lol:

I use a Tech Tach TT20k, the good part is that it is induction based and needs no wires to attach to the engine, it also has a replaceable PP3 9v battery. Cost is around £75 and worth every penny as I have tuned hundreds of saws with it. The UK rep (Richard) is a decent fellow and they actually send out the kit without payment and then trust you to pay on receipt - very trusting and great service. If you choose another, make sure it is capable of reading to over 15,000rpm and also has a 0.5 second refresh rate as you don't want to be revving that engine flat out for longer than is needed. I do recommend what I have mentioned above though!

It all depends on how much they have pissed you off. I am as honest as the day is long and have high moral values - if you haven't these when stripped bare then what have you got!! If the neighbours are unpleasant, dishonest, have taken pleasure in giving you grief then I may repay the pleasure. Some people just earn that decision:lol: One of my favourite phrases is that "whatever a man sows, so shall he reap":thumbup: Your help may be repaid by them tenfold and may make them "better neighbours"...possibly???

Been damn busy lately, not had time to put up images etc. MS200 in filthy condition, 130psi non runner - now up to 170psi and much cleaner and running sweetly - carb accelerator pump also done to avoid future issues. I also tweaked the squish and did a muffler mod - for an old saw it sounded nice and tight after the rebuild. 346XP (45cc) ported and muffler mod, found the crank side seal was leaking under vacuum so new seal on order - that one repair will have probably saved the P&C in time:thumbup: 357XP - years of grime on this one but now much cleaner and smelling good. It had seized down to the infamous Auto decomp valve which has now been plugged and a standard one fitted. New piston and a cleaned up bore, some fancy porting and muffler mod done. I had a slightly uneven idle on this one and as it needed a new rim which I didn't have, decided to clean and check the carb. Found a slight leak on the welch plug and believe this is the issue. Had exactly the same issue but worse on a 372XP a week earlier. Just received 3 wrecks of saws in today that need rebuilding, sorting and some porting - just when you think it is over:001_rolleyes:

Grinding post codes in to the plastic, castings and cylinder are probably the most permanent - I have thought of grinding the piston crown before now! This may effect any legitimate re-sale value though!

It should do but it is worth checking the bore diameter on the machine before purchasing and I usually scan the parts lists to make sure there were no revisions to the P&C on the machine.

Four stroking on two strokes means the carb throwing in so much fuel in to the engine at flat out revs that every other spark fails to ignite the fuel hence the term. In real terms, you are using the H screw of the carb as a rev limiter - tune it too lean, the saw will over rev and get so hot, the piston will melt on the exhaust side as it is the hottest. The four-stroking phenomena sounds like a reverberating or drumming in the exhaust note at flat out revs, on some very high revving saws, it is almost impossible to hear but the spark plug colour will be a good guide. If you are unsure about this, set the H screw to 2 turns out and see how strangled the machine sounds when revved turn it in to 1 1/2 turns and hear it clean up and then at 1 turn, there will just be a slight hint of fourstoking. A tach is a useful tool in getting a saw up to optimal safe top speed running as you set the carb so the machine will rev up to a set maximum RPM set by the manufacturer. Easy:lol:

I share Rays sentiment - some people don't understand that an auction is exactly that - you bid, you win, you pay:001_rolleyes: This may well not be an ebay purchase so don't shoot the fella:lol: On buying this sort of kit, I work out the worst case - what the item is worth on the bay as an honest non runner or broken as spares and if it still makes purchase viable then buy it! Cylinders are generally salvageable - depending on your skill of course, I believe I have only had a couple that couldn't be sorted - one had sever water damage and corrosion and the other has a lump of plating torn off the cylinder! I would generally look about for pistons before parting with the cash and if no aftermarket ones are available - factor in a genuine piston - £80-100!

Try starting on one turn on each of the screws, most saws use this setting, the rest comes down to tuning the L screw for correct running and the H screw so the saw four strokes a little at the top end.

I quite like the old Kawasaki powered straight pole strimmers and the Komatsu Zenoah ones - always seem light and powerful.....not too expensive if you can get a little used one.

That was a big one, must have stressed the chipper:lol:

That's OK Ray, it's amazing what gems can come forth after too much vino and a BBQ:thumbup:

Check the fuel tank breather - the fuel expands with heat, if it is a one way affair, it will push fuel past the needle valve:thumbdown: - you could try leaving the fuel cap a little loose:thumbup:

Get some pics up, Coil???? is this the brake band or spring? Sounds like the side cover may have some distortion in it but can't tell from your description.

Its a two stroke - same as any saw really:lol: Take an expansion chamber andthe dremmel - you must be able to get a few extra HP out of it - stick a chair on it and let it rip:001_rolleyes:

I don't know but it was probably to cover an issue with quality at some stage in the history of Stihls product range - possibly the old 064/066 with the 13mm crank that kept twisting the flywheel off - thats why the MS660 has a nylon flywheel and a fatter crank! Mail Stihl UK and ask the question:thumbup:

You may have one of two things, something wrong with the fuel system causing the low speed fuel delivery to lean out a little or an air leak. To do a pressure check correctly you need to plug all the ports and holes in the engine and then pressurise the crankcase and see if the pressure drops over time and do this also whilst rotating the crank. You also need to do the same with Vacuum in the crankcase as seals can seal 100% in one direction but leak in the other. I use some home grown system based on a sealey brake bleader for vacuum and a gunson low gauge for pressure - it didn't cost much over £50 but is a little modified for the job. Doing what I do, being able to perform these checks hs resolved many issues and also flagged up some impending air leaks before they have caused severe damage. Any two stroke tech that doesn't understand why doing these checks is important, doesn't know his craft IMO! So, your saw - you could plug all the holes, put some sort of adaptor on the spark plug hole and then inflate a baloon and use this to presurise the case and use soapy water around the crank seals and manifold to check for leaks - it may work for you. If any seal will leak, 95% of the time it will be the clutch side one - you couldjust replace it and see if it resolves your issue:thumbup: Buying the bit of kit is half the issue, plugging all the ports is the other, a friendly shop should do the job for an hours labour if you catch them at a good time but take it with the clutch, exhaist and carb off to save them the hassle but take the parts with you:thumbup: Good luck

The usual weak points are piston to cylinder fit, circlips and brittle piston rings, it will be one of these if it fails!

The hole should be of no consequence, I did check an OEM 026 I have in the workshop and it doesn't have the hole but TBH, it is of no importance, it just leaves a small bit of the top cooling fin unsupported. I wish this was the only thing giving me worries:001_rolleyes: You pay £60 for a piston kit rather than £230 and this is what you get!

Saw troll listed the usual suspects,fuel, air leak or carb setting/fuel delivery. Any saw tech who is any good will check these things on reassembly and correct as necessary. The saw d also be tach tuned 500-1krpm below max revs.

If it was running a little lean, it may have pushed it over the edge but it is very difficult to tell. I always pressure and vacuum check all seized saws to verify the integrity of the crank seals, inlet manifold and impulse line etc and then check the fuel lines, decomp and tank breather then do a tach tune to ensure the maximum revs are correct - lots of work but well worth it if you want a reliable saw.

I think Rover may have said too much:lol: Stubby has it spot on, P&Cs fail for a reason, air leaks, old fuel and lean carb settings are the common culprits. If you do fit new components then the cause for failure needs to be corrected or the new parts will fail again. Personally I always try to salvage the cylinder as the OEM part is manufactured with tighter tolerances than the aftermarket kit and have around 95% success rate of doing this with zero failures on I guess 60+ machines. I have used one Hyway kit and found build to be OK but the piston to cylinder fit was looser than OEM and that is one of the key reasons I like to fit Meteor pistons on OEM cylinders - for the premium compression! Tesgol is one of the best sellers I have known on eBay and will actually resolve issues if they arise!