spudulike

Had an MS460 in over the weekend - not starting when hot so first thoughts were carb related. Took the carb off but inspection through the exhaust port showed signs of seizure - the compression was good but took it apart and cleaned the piston up a little. Pics below before and after. The cylinder was honed very lightly to aid it bedding in, the carb was cleaned and reset to factory. The cylinder had had the plug hole inserted as the thread had gone - this insert duely came out - bugger:blushing: Put it back in with loctite 270 - high temp thread loc and left it overnight after heatig the cylinder a little - this morning, a good belt with a mallet and bingo - the insert was in solid:thumbup: Did a number of other things including cleaning the clutch drum and greasing the needle bearing. Tried to tach it and the saw cut out, re-started it and bang - cut out again:confused1: Tested the spark and it was gone - took the side cover off and bingo:thumbup: the coil to flywheel gap was 3-4 times what it should be - route cause of failure found! Re tached the saw - was running at 14,500 so backed it off to 13,300 and all is good, the low speed was lean and is fine now - should help starting - 48 hour turn around, owner very happy:thumbup:

1/2 a horsepower is a lot in saw terms:thumbup:

It doesn't fill the workshop with smoke when you fire up a saw in it either:thumbup:

The fact that you are controlling combustion by minimising the air going in to the stove means that the heat that normally rushes up the chimney with an open fire gets retained in the chimney and will warm it considerably. Is the chimney lined or unlined?

Sounds like tha guy from Aspen is doing a fine job and has made a very positive gesture on this one. For the record, if any customer want his machine changed over to Aspen I generally change the fuel line and fit a new carb kit. The reason - £20 of parts is nothing compared to the machine forming a fuel leak or playing up after being sent back, especially if it fails on a large job with possibly no back up saw. Most of my work is done at a distance for guys with limited knowledge of carbs etc so my personal opinion is that it may not be 100% needed but is a way of ensuring the saw continues to run as it should and isn't just a way to charge more - I am guessing that your shop may have charged much more than £40 for 2-3 hours work and my fitting of these parts is generally part of a major refurb. On the starting issue - how about this one, the cutter is emptied of fuel, Aspen goes in....damn, filled it up a bit too much fuel cap is refitted, the compression of the cap on the fuel forces it in to the carb and passed the needle valve flooding the engine. Operator totally unaware - damn Aspen, it won't start:cursing: I had a saw in on Friday - exactly that, refuel and not starting - took the plug out, turned it upside down, pulled it over hard a few times. Plug heated with a gas torch, straight back in the saw, pulled over with no choke and bingo - lots of smoke and a running saw:thumbup: How about that:thumbup:

Have you got any large roundabouts near you Barrie, we could hold the National Arbtalk Grand Prix:thumbup:

Sounds about right - means I will have to slum it and leave Hertfordshire though:001_tt2:

You do know you need to earth the base of the plug to test it?? It is a simple job to change it - recoil cover off, take off the plug cap, undo the two retaining bolts, take off the kill wire, refit with the new coil and use a business card between the magnets and coil to set the gap. Reclip the kill wire:thumbup:

Not st all, just trying to give you options

I'm pretty much with Gardenkit on this, probably fuel/carb related. Personally I would strip the carb, boil it in the ultrasonic cleaner at 50 degrees for an hour, check the welch plug is sealed, check the needle valve is holding pressure, check the gauze filter is clear and then reassemble and try again. The symptoms in your case (Barrie has already done these checks) could also be caused by a lightly scored piston or an airleak from a split impulse or manifold causing an air leak. My usual path is pressure/vac test, check compression and then work on the carb if OK - I would check the carb internal gauze filter as one of the first checks - a common part to get blocked and cause the saw to have lack of power in the cut but not free running.

Get a photo up of the exhaust side of the original Stihl cylinder - I have cleaned up cylinders by post before .....if it helps!

Ah, don't worry, we all go through bad patches, keep your head down and keep moving forward - the crap will clear, it always does! Thought you were having another pop - don't give up your day job to become a comic - you will go hungry:lol: Just listen to The Smiths greatest hits, that will make you feel better:lol:

As Barrie says, you need to get a sick saw running well first before doing any tuning work - makes a lot of sense:thumbup:

Sorry, don't know of any at the moment - I am sure someone will have one somewhere soon:thumbup:

I didn't knock Stihl Rich, I recommended saws from each brand that the guys I know use for this type of work. I have never said Stihl are rubbish either so no need to get all huffy on us dude - bad day at work?

Are you OK Rich, the OP wants to cross cut 18 - 20" butts and then mill them with the grain to cut some sort of blanks for lathe work. I think a MS181 would be a little stressed in doing this type of work....not being silly but wouldn't you:confused1: The saw is OK for light logging or hedgework/coppicing IMO

Circa £350 - 450! Think Rich has been on the beer 18" ringing with a MS181 - thats one ring per day:lol:

I had a call from a guy today who had the nerve to ask me to fix his chainsaw - bloody cheek:001_huh::lol: You can try the telephone preference system and going ex directory to stop the ijuts getting your number on the marketing phone list - unfortunately you still need to advertise:thumbdown:

120psi - thats poop:thumbdown: I did warn you those aftermarket cylinders are iffy:thumbdown: If you have the original cylinder, clean it and fit a Meteor piston - it will make 150psi+ if done well, think I sald this earlier:001_rolleyes: A saw recomendation - a 372XP is a good weapon or perhaps a Stihl MS460 if you are looking secondhand! 365 if your budget is limited.

This operation can go 100% fine or you can get issues with leaks and poor running. Try a retune of the carb and go from there, if still bad, then the carb may need new rubber parts including diaphragm and fuel line. One thing I find strange is the time interval of pulling out the fuel and replacing with Aspen, I would expect any poor running to happen after the Aspen had time to have an effect. You may have other issues but retune and go from there and you may need to replace parts if necessary. Just done a MS260 - no issues at all but it had been dry standing for a while!

I had one in and once I had it running thought something was wrong with it compared to my ported 346XP - they are OK but they don't go like the 346XP - the transfer ports are not as wide so it is like a lethargic 346XP.

I know who that was as well! Always appreciated

No, it is held in place by the bezel, it doesn't need to be airtight, it is the parts behind the dial that do that!