spudulike

It won't start but if you yank the saw over with the plug out or being earthed on the cylinder to check the spark, the saw will kick out a fine fuel vapour out of the plug hole and if this reaches a spark, it gets pretty exciting - I have seen 1' flames like a blow lamp coming out of the plug hole. Easily done and worth mentioning. If you don't believe us, pull a saw over 15 times on full choke with the stop switch on, take the plug out, earth it with the electrode over the plug hole and pull the saw over with the switch set to "On". If you are still with us after trying it, report back

I can see where you are coming from and have had one or two occasions when after working on a carb for a while with no change that fitting a new one may have been a simpler option. Being self employed, the time was just absorbed in to the overall cost of the job rather than billed as it would be for a bigger business. We all have different ways of working and personally I don't like throwing away any kit that has years of life in it whatever it may be. I look at carbs and coils as relatively expensive items so like to know the only option is to replace them rather than just swapping parts but that is my way treating my customers £££ like my own. With a reasonable chunk of my business being MS200Ts, replacing the carb would have added a good £120 to each rebuild rather than taking a tried and tested route of new accelerator pump and possible diaphragms at around £15 giving a very similar end result and a happy customer plus I always had those parts on the shelf! Each man to his own

I would be less concerned on the part code and more concerned as to why they are fitting a new carb. In repairing saws, I have rarely had to fit a new carb and at a guess would say I have only ever fitted perhaps 15 in a few thousand repairs. Normal reasons to replace are - The carb is worn - normally on strimmers and trimmers linkages due to the constant blipping of the throttle - KM56s are common. - The carb just won't tune in after a normal clean, inspection and service. - Carbs with faulty accelerator pumps that can't be repaired through the carb design the 357XP comes to mind. It is possible the dealer can't be arsed to fix the accelerator pump and is fitting a carb instead - usual symptoms are a hesitation when giving it a fistful of throttle and an unstable idle.

I guess my first question is ....where did the fuel line come from and is it OEM Husqvarna? If not, was it a tight fit when you pulled it through? It is possible if the new fuel line was under-size, the fuel may be leaking around it. If that is all fine, the tank vent is a two part affair, one part is a push in plastic pipe that never seems to leak and then there is a push in vent that connects to a pipe that breathes in to the carb air box. The usual method is to take out the rear AV mount screws and AV limiter screws, wedge a piece of wood between the tank and lower air box and then either fit a new push in vent or use a little sealant such as super glue or seal-all around the union....make sure you use the sealant only around the joint so it doesn't block the vent.

Quick check, they are listed at companies house and have a registered address, that is where the good news ends. The registered address has numerous companies running out of the same address so it looks like a single office looking after the post for a multitude of dodgy businesses. The last time I saw this it was a guy in Bournemouth running a white goods service company who took my old man for £350 and am sorry to say, this guy is using exactly the same London address. TRANS GLOBAL TIMBERS LTD overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK FIND-AND-UPDATE.COMPANY-INFORMATION.SERVICE.GOV.UK TRANS GLOBAL TIMBERS LTD - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business...

What is the compression and how is it being measured? Does the running issue get worse as the machine warms up? If you have greater than 155psi cold then it is unlikely to be a piston/bore wear but worth checking when hot and sub 140 is getting passed it. Coils, the usual faults are: - 1) They fail completely 2) They fail once hot 3) They cause instant failure similar to pressing the kill button 4) The saw will only idle and not rev out - this happens on coils with a variable ignition advance and happens when the max speed advance circuit fails. 5) Misfires or lack of spark - due to bad HT connections. Coils can fail when the HT wire, connection or plug connection is broken and the coil has to jump the spark across a much larger gap. Carb issues are much more common than coil issues. The plug getting "oiled up"....Has the saws carb been set correctly for high revs? I believe 12,500 rpm is about right on these saws. If the saw is running rich, this could be the reason the saw is cutting out. As I said earlier, I would replace the fuel filter, check the fuel line - on this model, the fuel line is pushed through the wall of the fuel tank and the pipe can split on this join causing your issues. I use a Mityvac to test the line. Do a carb service and tach it and see if this has a positive effect. I don't see how this would oil up the plug but just listing some of the issues I have found over time.

I am guessing it is probably the older style Stihl trimmer attachment and would say that one or both screws that hold the blades in place have come loose. Check out the bearings and rods whilst in there - beware the little rollers on the con rods can fall out if you are not careful....they can be refitted though.

A simple tilt switch and a pound of Semtex would make sure they never did it again and would put most off trying it!

Well his isn't cleaning them twice a day. Judging by the state of him, the other three were using him as the battering ram!!

Was that one I sold you.....Christ, that was a long time ago if so. Glad it is still popping if it is. If the spring is OK, use a craft knife to clean the gunk on each side, clean with WD40 and refit USING SAFETY GLASSES. Generally feed the spring in from either side of the cover using your thumbs to hold the spring in place whilst rotating the cover.....it is possible. Sometimes the spring gets a bit gunked up and the pull start gets a bit lethargic.

Grim looking lot but the fella on the far right looks a bit like Jay McGuiness from The Wanted! Better chop their credentials off and stop them breeding IMO!

Get some pics up. The bar studs would be typically thread locked in place but if the thread is really bad you may be able to helicoil them but depends on how bad the cracks are.

Interesting one...burning out plugs.....are you saying they are melting? If so, has the spark plug hole been helicoiled? If the saw is lacking when flat out and I had the saw in front of me, I would get a feel for the compression and if that was good, I would strip, clean and service the carb, check and clean the fuel tank breather, clean the air filter with fluid and COMPRESSOR.....not a wash in warm water and that will probably do it. My thinking is that the saw is probably lacking fuel at high speed and that comes down to fuel filters, fuel lines, tank breather and carb condition. The other side is HT electrics but am thinking it is more likely fuel related. The gauze strainer in the carb is always a favourite issue on chainsaws.

Yes, it is a clam shell type engine and as Chris said...hard seals for when the engine is stripped down and the soft ones for when you just need to change the seals and don't want to split the lower and upper parts of the engine. You can push in the soft ones once the original ones are removed. You will not be able to do this with the hard ones.

Most building materials are mad expensive at the moment. Probably a perfect storm of inflation and shortages.

I didn't like to suggest a Heath Robinson repair on a primary safety device but the dowel does go through to the muffler side so a threaded rod...yada yada yada may work but you don't want the bugger to fail with the bar heading for your head at 60mph If you tackle the case replacement, you can say you are a man when the thing is running and working fine. 8 months ago, I would have sent you a crankcase for the postage but they are long gone.

That's bad, the only safe thing to do is to replace half the crankcase which is a relatively big job. The only positive is that you can probably pick up a cheap secondhand part.

One turn out on the H and L screw is the standard setting. I generally find that I need to pull the limiters on older 460s as they loosen up and start over revving but, in your case....a carb strip, clean and reassemble makes sense, most saws benefit from it. The air filter - clean it with oil based fluid and a compressor, worth replacing the fuel filter then put it all back together again and tach it. You could just run it though....choice is yours.....looks like the H setting was a bit of a red herring!

I don't believe so. I first came across him on Arborist Site, I don't think he was after world domination but a bloke down the pub, Mr Blofield,,,that is a different story. Do we discuss fish now?

That piston looks pretty good to me. The bottom is a bit polished but that does happen, the middle pic shows some original machining marks on the right hand side of the port so it again looks OK and the rings are free in their piston grooves. I would say it looks like something else is going down here. Mark Skylands suggestion is a good one as I have also found that the MS460 does tend to draw in fine sawdust and dump it behind the metering diaphragm so worth doing as he suggested. As far as replacing the carb....don't, just clean it out, check the diaphragms, possibly change them and then retune. From what I have seen, I would say the piston is probably OK so lets get the carb out, check it out and see if there are any issues. It is weird that the carb H screw is turned fully in....I am taking it that the limit cap is off? The only time I have seen this is when a saw has excessive bore wear so do the carb work and if that doesn't help, check the cylinder. Is your air filter 100% clean as a dirty one will significantly richen the mixture? You could try taking the air filter off, start the machine and see if you grab the throttle that you get a puff of fuel vapour out of the back of the carb. If you do, it is a sign of wear on the piston, bore or both around the inlet side causing a bit of free-porting which isn't good.

I thought Mastermind was a fella called Randy in the US who likes to strip and port chainsaws!

If you order a compression gauge, buy the Gunson HiGauge as it works, some are specifically OK for cars but small engines produce a much small volume of air so don't register the actual engine compression. Checking the bore - the visual check on the exhaust side as discussed earlier is fine. Just move the piston down to near the bottom of its stroke and visually check the bore through the spark plug hole. You can shine a small LED torch down the hole to help. No need to pull the saw over and risk burning the hairs off your arm like I did once! You can then raise the piston to cover the exhaust port and inspect the piston ring and skirt. It shouldn't have any deep vertical black lines on it. To SEE if the bore plating is worn through (only seen this a few times so is rare), you will need to remove the cylinder and inspect the bore on the inlet side. If the plating has worn through, it will be a lighter in colour as you will be seeing patches of aluminium rather than the Nikasil plating. You have a few methods to check a piston....Calipers to measure the diameter and compare to a new piston. You can measure the depth of the piston rings inner to outer surfaces front and both ends and compare to a new part. You can push the piston ring in to the bore so it sits square and measure the end gap...7 thou is good, anything over 20 thou is getting bad....sorry about using imperial!! A simple check is to take the piston, put it in the base of the cylinder and try to rock it forward and back. If you have done a few, you will be able to feel any excessive wear. The other technique is to put a ringless piston in the bore, cover the spark plug hole and then pump it up and down the bore. A badly worn piston won't create much of a feeling of compression when pushing the piston in to the cylinder. You can purchase aftermarket cylinder and piston kits - typically £70-95 for anything decent and the OEM part £195. When I said "roughen the bore" - this can be done with wet and dry paper or a small cylinder hone but if you do this, don't get the hone snagged in the lower transfers or exhaust port. Ball hones are available but are pricey. Long and short...check the piston and bore visually by removing the plug and muffler. Get a pic up on here of the piston front. If you can see the original machining lines, the piston is probably fine...pics replace a thousand words!! If the saw has seen many hundreds of hours use, it is probably the piston so take the cylinder off...more pics for second opinion and fit a new piston if the bore is good. If you do change the piston, fit it the correct way round and take A LOT OF CARE fitting the circlips....open ends towards the crankcase!

Your question "is this OK".....No, it isn't. Having had a few machines in and played around a bit, from experience, when a machine needs the H screw wound in further than it should to make high revs, it generally means that your piston is well past it, the saw is low on compression and the only way to get the engine to hit high revs is to lean the saw right down. The good news is that hopefully, the issue is with a worn piston and not the bore but you will need to strip the top end down, inspect the bore and plating and then the piston. You should be able to fit a Meteor or Hyway piston, roughen up the bore and fit, retune and it should be back to A1. If the bore plating is worn then it is more likely on the inlet side through fine sawdust getting past the air filter and that means a new top end. It is possible the piston has nipped up but again, a new piston and a bit of cylinder work should bring it back. The 460 is a pretty strong saw and have seen 046s in 20 years old and still very usable. The compression on these saws is generally 160-170 psi which is pretty high on a large saw. I would suspect that yours will be around 140 so test if you can.

Nah, 5 mins in the old air fryer...works wonders. BTW....DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME....it should read "TRY"!!!

I would fry new fuel filters and use a bit of carb/brake cleaner and air line on the air filters first. Most don't clean or understand how important a clean air filter is. The saws will loosen up a bit with use - 2 months use isn't really enough.