GardenKit

Diesel engine!

I am with the collapsing inlet hoses on this one Richard. I reckon they are sucking in at revs and staying sucked in until the revs drop off sufficiently to let them pop back out. I have seen this often, especially if the air filter is a bit restricted. Very easy to check.

Might be a bit disconcerting when that new groundie minces over and says "pass the pink chainsaw" when he sees the builders on the site opposite:biggrin:

Haha, believe it or not, I have never had a Stihl calender Dan. Now, there is an idea for a bit of Aspen promo material! And sorry I told you to go for it! ( you know what I mean)

I will miss his Avatar:biggrin:

That is very touching, we are looking forward to that day Mike. Our thoughts are with you, Pen and Fred. In the meantime I hope you get some help with that processor for the weekend. Come on guys, one of you must be free?

Yes, I know there is a lot of absolute rubbish coming out of China, but it is a question of supply and demand. There is a demand for cheap kit in the Western world so the Chinese supply it. But most of us form our opinions based on seeing statements like I have made above and then say "all chinese product is junk" I was just as guilty until recently. One of my major brands is japanese, and earlier this year they launched a new model to replace the best seller that had been in production for the last 10yrs and needed updating to conform to emission regs. I ordered a pallet full and when they arrived I saw 'made in PRC' on the boxes. I saw 'red' and tried to phone the supplier to send them back as I had no intention of selling the rubbish, but their phone was busy. I calm down very quickly, so decided to open a box. I took the item (brushcutter) out and stripped it down for inspection and to be honest, I could not fault it. It was superior in many ways to the previous models. I have sold dozens since and they are perfect. They are a case of 'Japanese engineered, assembled in China'. It keeps the cost down. So I now keep an open mind on Chinese product and base my opinion on what I see rather than what others tell me.

Probably very little Steve, but these days they account for only part of chinese production, so my point is that we should not generalise. Just because it says PRC on the box does not mean that its rubbish.

This may be so, but production from any such factory will have 'made in PRC' on the box, so will be included, by misinformed, narrow minded people, in the generalisation of 'chinese tat'

I know these are empty words LGW, but if I was close, and If I had the kit, I would be there. As it is I cannot be of much help, but can at least bump the thread again. We do not know you, but think of you and your wife, and of course little Fred, every day.

We typically generalise too much on threads like this. I also have an intense dislike of a lot of the kit coming out of China. They can, and do produce utter rubbish, but it is not all their fault. It is the fault of the Western buyers who only want to buy the cheapest stuff to sell to their fellow countrymen. The chinese merely supply what they have been asked for. If the buyer specifies a higher quality (and pays a higher price) he will get a much better product (Mitox for instance) If Western companies set up their own facilities in China, with their own management and quality control, they can produce equipment just as good as other countries, but at less cost. Most of us (including myself) do not appreciate the scale and diversity in China.

I was just wondering if the little pipes on the primer had been put on the wrong way round. If so, and if the return pipe to the tank is too long and can act as a pickup pipe then the primer wil act as a fuel pump (which it is not) and pump fuel under pressure to the metering chamber. This could cause your problem. (I guess it is currently a non runner) In normal action the primer creates a vacuum in the metering chamber which pulls the fuel up the rubber pipe, through the carb and back to the tank via the primer. In this scenario there is no pressure within the carb to cause a leak. Just a thought.

Has this problem just occurred, or is it after the carb and fuel pipes have been off and refitted?

I heard that!!!

I guess one packed up, so you moved to the other which then packed up too? The first thought, by the 'sound dry' description is that the piston is scraping up and down the bore. If so the machines have seized (or partly seized) It is very easy to take the exhaust off and have a look at the piston through the exhaust port. How coud this have happened (if it has)? A seize will normally be due to either too little oil in the fuel mix, or too much air in the air/fuel ratio. Have the saws recently been tuned? If so I fear they may have both been tuned a little too lean.

It is so easy to go straight for the normal causes such as carb and exhaust. Most of the time it is right to do this, but you just have to keep an open (and inquisitive) mind. This one was just not right for a blocked exhaust, just very slightly different symptoms.

i had this Huskie 325 b'cutter on the bench today. The owner reported that when he tried to throttle it up it would just keep cutting out. If he coaxed it he could occasionally get it up to revs Ok, so this is a common story methinks, just pop the carb in the US chip basket and then rebuild with new diaphragms and tune, Simples! Except it was no better. It would tick over fine, but just attempt to rev a little and die. So, off with the carb and check it over again. No, that was a waste of time, it was fine. But still the same problem. Then a little flash of inspiration. Took the throttle handle apart and found that at some point the stop wires had been wrongly positioned and the throttle cable was rubbing across them. In one position, just above tickover the throttle cable had chaffed through the insulation of the wire, and was shorting out the ignition just at one point. Sorted:biggrin:

Everyone to their own I suppose, but I'm with you on this one TCD.

You have probably hit the nail on the head there:001_rolleyes:

What theory says is one thing, and what happens is another. Its blindingly obvious that the oil does not combust as easily as fuel. If it did we would not see the clouds of smoke that we see from an over generous mix, or the oily mess around the exhaust, or the coked exhausts, or the deposits on the piston crowns. There is NO substitute for running the reccomended oil at the ratio that oil is designed to be run at. In the case of horti/arb kit running on main brand oils conforming to JASO-FB, FC or FD this is 50:1, end of. Why try to beat the system using fancy racing oils that are not formulated for our machines?

Thats what I thought, but I really do not understand this. The vent is a one way valve, it lets air INTO the tank to relieve vacuum. It does NOT vent pressurised air OUT of the tank, or allow the airbox induction vacuum to draw fumes through it. So it seems the ONLY purpose of the pipe to the airbox is to remove leaked petrol when the vent FAILS The early models leaked to atmosphere, Stihl then modified them with a pipe connection. Would it not have been better to develop a valve that does not fail?

To prove if it the vent at fault you could pull the pipe off where it fits into the airbox. If the fuel leaks over the tank rather than onto the airfilter then its defo the vent. If the air filter still floods then its coming through the carb.

Yes, I am a bit ashamed of they really. I did not know how dirty they were until I saw them on the PC screen. First job in the morning........

No, the little sod sits in the top of the tank under the carb, it has a bit of hose which connects it to the airbox, hence the soaking of the filter. Easiest to drop the tank to change it.

The Stihl clutch drum e-clip flew, as they sometimes do. I did not hear it land this time, so thought I had lost it. I took my reading glasses off so I could look around for it on the floor, could not find it so went to put my glasses on to look for a new one in the drawer...and found the original:biggrin: What are the chances?