spudulike

Just read your post again - 18 months old - do the L screw 1/4 turn counterclockwise adjustment and tweak the idle up as it will drop and all should be good - I am assuming that your 18 months old saw is still in reasonable condition and not shagged!

It sounds a bit like it is running weak on the L setting but could be early signs of an airleak through crank seals or rubber boot. I would check the gauze filter in the carb, set it back to factory settings on the L setting and if the problem is still there, turn the L screw 1/4 turn counter clockwise and if it still doesn't work, either pressure check it or check the integrity of the carb boot as a holed one will cause exactly these symptoms. Poor idle can be the first signs of an airleak or just the infamous Zama MS200T carb:thumbdown: Send it over if you want it fixed:thumbup:

Not so sure it will be a coil problem, have you looked at the fuel tank breather? THe saw may be low on compression and as it heats up, the coimpression lowers and then stops it. I have heard that coils can go down with use but have only ever had dead ones. Have you checked the coil to flywheel distance - does it die at idle or at full tilt, does it rev to the top end before dying? Have you pulled the plug and checked the spark as soon as it dies?

Can't you put their pistons on back to front:confused1: On the other hand.....buy a Husky - I prefer them as well:thumbup:

I had a little Tanaka now sold to a colleague, nice little saw, well built and even had an oiler adjustment. Not particularly powerful but suited a novice wanting to cut a few logs. They may look a bit qwirky and Chinese but I used one for a few hours to test it and it was light and I thought it ideal - just picked up the top handle version but not used it yet!

For future reference, if you clean the carbon off the crown of the piston, the arrow points toward the exhaust port! Generally the ring ends either slide down either side of the inlet port or the piston ring ends don't come lower than the top of the inlet port.

You are lucky the ring ends didn't snag in the exhaust port.....very lucky!

Lucky you didn't get a big belt off the cap:001_huh: Probably the black wire has come off the spade connector behind the front AV mount or the earth wire has fractured or come loose - fairly easy fix - you can meter them to find out if the wire is broken. Most people pull the choke on to kill the engine if the stop switch fails:thumbup1:

Had that on a MS200 that I purchased as a non runner - cleaned it up and it ran perfectly after a strip, clean and rebuild. It is the free present from ebay saws - 3 mugs full of oil and fine chippings - nice........unless you buy from me:thumbup:

Well - did it get fixed:confused1:

If the piston is ok and compression is fine then check the fuel tank breather and the gauze filter in the carb, it may have a bit of muck in it - favourite is a semi blocked breather - try loosening the fuel tank filler cap and see if it cures the problem, if it does then it will be the breather. It could be low on compression - a warm engine lowers compression to the point it won't run. The coil could be on the turn or ot may just be running a tad weak on the L setting. If you get stuck - sent it over!

Been bad the last week or so, my old man has been cut off a few times, they reckon it is cable upgrades

Good God - 600cm = 20 feet in diameter - thats a huge Poplar - methinks you have a decimal point in the wrong place and mean 60cm or 2 feet:thumbup: Shame I am not a little nearer and have the kit to shift it!

Not used a metal detector for this but have used one for finding treasure!! I have an old C-Scope that has lots of knobs on it - very good but is also fairly old - thing of my dreams when I was a teenager with a £30 basic one:thumbup: Managed to find a few quid on the Norfolk coast a few months back and also found all the parts from a Poulan clutch that came apart when I fired it up without a side cover on it - I know....you shouldnt do that! You will need one where you can switch the discrimination off as usually you don't want to find scrap iron and a decent old or new model - mine was £45 on ebay but probably cost £200 back in the late 80s

Brothers got a 325 - nice bit of kit and is well made - he rates it and uses Husky, Stihl and Viking kit generally. Only problem he has had was with a carboned up exhaust baffle - I managed to split the exhaust and open up the holes and reseal - goes much better now - local dealer said it would last a season when he looked at it and it did two weeks - I said it would last a season when I did it and it has done 2 years to date:thumbup:

Just read the post again - FS400 dohh strimmer/brushcutter and not a saw - same applies though - good luck with it - just make sure you are careful with parts and how they come apart - it is always worth taking photos with a digital camera for those "bugger me, where did that come from " moments

Yes, before you reassemble and with the piston sticking out of the crankcases, just rotate the crank until the lobes are about to go back in to the crankcase and pop the tissue in front of it - I haven't done a 346 but if it is like the 357 then you may not be able to do this due to the crank assembly having circular crank lobe side plates. I think you are making too much out of the job, if you have some sort of mechanical apptitude it will be easy for you - put a little oil on the bore before assembly - do not use grease though.

The saw dust around the cylinder probably rolled in to the mating surfaces causing the air leak - Personally every saw I take the head off gets pressure checked but isn't always needed if care is taken in reassembly. The job isn't that difficult - just dont force the cylinder down on to the piston otherwise the ring is in danger of snapping. Make sure no crap has got in to the crankcase. I roll up a small ball of tissue, push it down in to th ecrankcase and let the turning lobes of the crank to push it round the crankcase and out the other side thus cleaning the crankcase internals:thumbup:

A few things to check If the muffler is like the 335XPT one, pop off the spark arrestor where the exhaust comes out by undoing the phillips screw and taking out the gauze arrestor - if it is blocked, either lob it or clean it out! Not responding from idle to midrange is a sign that a saw is running weak on the "L" adjustment - try undoing it by 1/4 - 1/2 turn, the idle will need to be turned clockwise as richening the "L" adjuster will slow the idle. If this has no effect then put the settings back as they were. It is worth checking the tank breather although it is easier to run the saw with half a tank and a lose filler cap to see if it sorts the problem and then find the breather and clean it. Could be dirt in the gauze top carb filter in the pumping section, dirty fuel filter. Airleaks can be in the carb boot or crankshaft seals or between the carb and the carb boot. I have a 335 with similar faults but havent spent any time on it yet but the most likely cause is the carb settings or spark arrestor. I do sort out saws for people on this site if that is an option for you - a few have had me do this and are happy:thumbup:

If it is down on compression then changing all the seals bar the decomp and spark plug will have an almost zero effect, compression is determined by the seal of the piston and rings in the top part of the cylinder just past the exhaust port and the amount of squish between the top combustion chamber of the cylinder and the piston. In general, lack of compression is caused by a piston that has fried or in laymans terms, over heated, transferred aluminium on to the cylinder wall and then freed up again (seized). Generally - etching off the aluminium, a light hone and new piston is what is needed to sort out this type of failure. A broken ring will also cause this failure and will stop a single ring saw from running. If a saw has signs of seizure then I would always pressure check the saw to ensure the crankcase is airtight and ensure the carb is set up with an experienced ear or tach.

The main differences I have come accross are 1) the transfer port in the MS200 has a divider running down it and on the 020, the port is not split - the parts are interchangeable. 2) the 020 has screw caps, the 200 has flippy caps 3) the recoil cover on the MS200 is circular - 020 is more rectangular 4) The 020 clutch cover has a built in chainbrake and is a slightly different construction but is interchangeable. 5) The breathers are different - the 020 has a rubber valve and fibre insert and the 200 has a rubber tube and external valve design. 6) The MS200 carb differs from the 020 although they look interchangeable and the rubber insert can differ from model to model. Can't say I have noticed a great difference between build quality between the two

Not sure why you would wan't to change the base gasket unless it is for a thinner one to raise the compression. That being said, I don't personally use a ring compressor but cock the cylinder at an angle and then ease the closed end of the ring in and then push the open ends in to the cylinder with a small blunt screwdriver. just ease it on with a little oil in the bore and make sure the ring open ends are in line with the location pin. I could write a book an what else I do when doing the job but that is for another day:thumbup1:

Pole saw - great idea, the sharp end is a long way away - keep you away from Greek hospitals:thumbup:

You sound like you are not a very experienced saw user - top handled saws are extremely dangerous as you have a lot less operating leverage than on a typical rear handled saw. I generally use rear handled saws and find having both hands so close together on a saw un-natural, the temptation is to use one with one hand but can lead you to hold branches whilst cutting causing the possibility of cutting in to your free arm. You may find a Stihl MS181 or 171 a bit more managable - the MS200T is a great, robust and powerful saw but is lethal in the hands of the inexperienced! They are a fab climbers tool but if you do go down this route - know the dangers of using this saw and take the correct precautions.