spudulike

Going back to basics and not sure how much you know about small two strokes. The primer needs priming and 5 -10 pushes until there is fuel in it is fine. The choke needs pulling out, the off switch needs turning on and if there is a catch to open the throttle for starting then engage it, sometimes this is part of the carb choke mech. Pull the saw over fast until it coughs/fires or pops once. Take the choke off and pull again until the saw fires - this is generally 1-3 pulls. If this doesn't happen then an engine needs three basic things to run, compression, spark and fuel. Fuel should be present on the plug after around 5-8 pulls with the choke ON. Spark - if you take the plug off, push it back in to the cap and earth it on the cylinder AWAY from the plug hole (fuel can ignite - don't ask me how I know) and then pull the saw over and look for a spark - subdued light helps to see it. Other than that, you either need a compression tester or can try the poor mans method of lifting the saw with the starter cord and timing it to fall to full extension - 12-20 seconds is pretty good, anything around the 3-8 secs isn't. You could pull the muffler off and look at the piston through the exhaust port - any scoring and it is a bin job. FYI - the carb has a built in pumping section that uses the positive and negative pressue of the crankcase to move a pumping membrane in the carb to pump the fuel upwards out of the fuel tank and in to the carb - we cal this the impulse line!

You could try Mystic Meg:001_rolleyes: Not one of these quality Chinese machines is it:lol:

Reckon the existing Sales Manager has departed on the news of the face to face sales policy changes....."Challenging" is about right with the changes they are in the process of making:blushing: Hope they have downturned their UK sales budget by 30%

Not putting you off Andy but I am still waiting for a let up but it just isn't happening at the moment! Bear with me, it will happen, just don't know when:001_rolleyes:

Carb kits come in two flavours, full contains the needle, metering arm and welch plugs plus all the normal pumping and diaphragm parts and the Lite kit just has the diaphragm and pumping parts. An impulse line takes the positive and negative pressure of the crankcase and uses it to pump fuel up from the fuel tank by way of the pumping section of the carb and the fuel line connects the fuel tank to the carb and transfers fuel from the tank to ths carb but needs the impulse circuit as the fuel is generally held BELOW the carb:thumbup:

No flies on me M8:thumbup:

Well one of the well known Online Stihl spare stockists have told me that as an existing customer, I can still purchase from them from afar. I have no idea what Stihl are up to, is it some sort of strange marketing ploy, who knows:001_rolleyes: Times have changed - online sales have changed the way we shop hence the demise of the high street shops and why many of us rarely need to or want to drive to a dealer and order locally but do purchase online due to time consraints and ease of purchase, not forgetting the prices being competitive. We may find it is all a bad misconstrued plan but have a bad feeling that Stihl are just rubbish communicators and the new policy just hasnt reached some of the UK agents yet! Never underestimate how stupid our friends accross the channel can be:lol:

Was the horse still in the box for a face to face repair:001_rolleyes: 357XP has come of the rails - crank seal is leaking...bugger, another job to do. Another pile of kit arrived in today - two MS200Ts, a Stihl 011 and a MS180.....what a life....it never stops:lol:

The first one is lack of fuel, as Rich says, tank vent, possibly crap in the internal carb gauze filter, perished/soft or holed fuel line, gunked up fuel filter, cracked impulse line, worn pumping gasket in the carb, blocked jet in the carb due to crap in the diaphragm metering part of the carb..... The second one, try removing the plug and turn the saw so the plug hole is pointing downwards and pull the machine over - it is possible that the needle valve has leaked fuel in to the crankcase and is stopping the saw being pulled over. Other than that, the saw should pull over freely with the plug removed, if it doesn't, you may have something binding or seized bearing etc. The "Kickback" is down to the saw being old and probably having no decomp and the ignition timing being fixed rather than stepped as on later machines - it is normal for older saws to do this if not pulled over with conviction:blushing:

TBH I would put money on this being tired and stretched clutch springs allowing the clutch to engage at too low revs. All the tach will do is set the idle at the correct idle speed and if you have already lowered it to a point that the engine nearly stalls, it won't have the desired effect. If the engine continues to run with the brake on then there is no binding between the clutch drum and the crankcase! All points toward clutch springs IMO - under £5 to purchase and reasonably simple to fit!

Muffler mod now completed on the 357XP, all the porting now complete and just rebeveling the ports. Picture is for Martin the cake:lol:

Thats the special built in cigarette lighting feature, an optional extra on the MS880 - it must be the delux version - I believe this can be retro fitted but only on a face to face basis:001_rolleyes: Seriously - I think Rich is probably correct, you must have unburnt fuel build up in the exhaust which is igniting and causing the flames. It may be your machine is running a little rich but leaving the saw ideling for a while after use will let the saw clear the unburnt fuel vapour. Worth checking the plug colour after a good run - if the central electrode is coffee colour all is well!

2009 saws will generally have the decent carb on them - you can usually tell by the red sealent arounnd the welch plug, which screw was tweaked - I am guessing the L screw may have been a little lean making idle uneven! Glad Chris was of help:thumbup:

Try running it with the fuel cap on a little loose - it could be the fuel tank vent. Other than that, possible shorting of the kill wires or spark/plug issues. Sounds a little strange but if the above doesn't help - try cleaning the carb and checking the metering arm height is correct

Is that your new magnetic bench Rich - dang fantastic bit of kit:thumbup:

She has mailed the carver and will see what they come back with!

Reckon that will clean the drains out:blushing:

A work colleague has purchased a fruit bowl from the Herts Show and forgot to ask what wood it is - I have an idea but anybody know for sure?

Looks fine, as others have said, do it after a number of flat out cuts for the correct results. Is it an 020t carb?

A vibro what...how the other half live:lol: Thought most Stihls were vibro tools:blushing:

Following on from Gardenkits advice, Clutch springs are the usual culprit - does the saw stall when the chainbrake is put on? The springs may look OK but they do lose their tension and clutch spring seats can wear! Other things it may be - tight needle bearing, dirt & grot around the clutch and clutch drum, twine wrapped around the crank shaft and clutch. It may simply be the idle speed - have you tried taking it down a bit so the engine idles firmly without stalling but not racing?

Dear Stihl, You currently appear to be trying to go against the wishes of your loyal UK customers and what we need and want and are potentially running a huge risk with your UK market share of machines, PPE and ancilliaries. We understand the need to only sell dangerous equipment only face to face but don't understand the decision to take all other Stihl manufacctured parts and items off online sale and make them only available through dealers is shortsighted and significantly bucks the trend of increasing sales online in the UK. We are all busy people and to purchase Stihl products online in your own time and when convenient and then get on with other work/leisure pursuits is a huge benifit rather than having to go to your local agent, order parts, have to wait longer and then have to go back to collect them is antiquated and out of date practice in our UK market place. You are causing some very negative comments about your company on this site and should sit up and take note - flexibillity and customer satisfaction should be your goals. Making your products less accessible and purchasing more time consuming will end up in your company losing business at a time most companies are trying to retain customers and give them what they need.