pleasant

Certainly not- but neither was your plug and fuel filter in the same condition as new ones, so I don't see the analogy. Plugs and filters have a service life- generally annually or x amount of hours depends which is sooner. Irrelevant of whether they are working at that point or not. Your fuel filter could plausibly be on the verge of clogging completely or your plug could be on the verge of breaking down. Surely if you've been charged £100 for a service you wouldn't want to bring the machine back after it let you down on a job two weeks later, only to be told it needs a new plug or filter? False economy IMO.

Including service parts as part of an annual preventative maintenance service is not "up-selling" parts, but replacing items that should be replaced at an annual or hourly basis whether they have failed or not. Hence the term preventative maintenance. All my hand-held machinery that is in for a menu preventative service has a new plug and fuel filter fitted irrelevant. Foam filters are only replaced if they are split, excessively contaminated or deteriorating. Paper filters are automatically replaced if contaminated. If someone brings a machine in for an annual service, then it is perceived it is running fine, and they want it serviced for another year to keep it that way. If it has an underlying problem, then initially it is treated as a repair, with the possibility of a full service once the problem has been diagnosed and rectified with the customers' consent. (certainly wouldn't change the carb diaphragms as a matter of course on a service though) I took my car to service last month. It was working fine- the oil, the oil filter, the plugs and the air filter, but they still changed them.

Here you go- part number for oversize bar stud for 039. 1127 664 2410 Just order from your Stihl dealer. Job done.

If the drive sprocket is rotating at running speed, then yes oil should trickle out irrelevant of whether the bar is fitted or not.

From memory Stihl do produce over sized bar studs for exactly this eventuality. Same size as original for the bar nuts, but larger diameter for screwing in to the body. Simple fix if you can get one.

I do understand, I made the observation in response to the irony of, and my annoyance with the OP's comments about dealers in general.

No, got nothing to do with incompetence at all. As the owner of a reasonably large dealership I employ 6 full-time mechanics. All fully skilled and are quite capable of repairing rather than replacing if the options there. However as the person whos name is above the door it is my responsibility to guarantee any repair we do as best as I can. By removing as many variables as possible I can be more confident with my guarantee. Should a repair to a component fail, then potentially it could cost me thousands and the buck stops with me. If a recently fitted new components fails then I can pass that buck further up the tree of supply. Furthermore- depending on your labour rate, then in most cases nowadays the additional labour to repair a component can easily outweigh the lower labour of simply and quickly fitting a new unit. Briggs and Stratton carbs are a prime example. When they cost £60 or £80+ to replace we could afford to spend an hour or two re-building them, now however they retail around the £18-£25 mark and can be changed in 15 minutes. With our labour rate of £38 per hour plus vat it doesn't take much to calculate it just isn't worth re-building them.

....it's not simply done because it's easier. It's done because of liability and a paper trail. If you fit a new components and it fails, the garage has a come back on the manufacturer/supplier whereby a repair or fabrication by the garage if it fails, falls on the shoulders of the garage. If people wen't in the habit of suing all and sundry, then you would see more engineering (or professional bodging)

....you mean the dealers- like the dealers that spend a fortune on sponsoring this website, and (with all due respect) spudulike that doesn't, but touts for business on here with no apparent reciprocal return. ...just a thought.

Naturally that would depend on the model and its intended usage.

Yes, of course they do.

It's still depreciating, still taxed and still will require an mot whether you use it for favours or not.

Low or no oil would indicate all round scoring like that.

Just by an OE one at more money and you wouldn't have had a problem. Pattern ones are cheap for a reason you know.

Unless you were trying to find out if it was pregant, then it doesn't surprise me an ultrasound didn't do anything. ....an ultrasonic clean on the other hand..........

some do, some don't on the 038. All later 038's use a sealed module whereby the lead is part of it and irreplaceable. All replacement 038 modules are also sealed. If it is one that you can replace the lead on its own, then it should unscrew anti-clockwise without using too much force- any more then it's probably a moulded lead.

:001_rolleyes:not a ported 357xp......surely???!!!!!????

Absolutely awful machine. Soooooo bad Electrolux even sold it with a Flymo badge on it for the sheds to sell. Very flimsy, cheaply made using poor quality components, lightweight trimming blades that aren't designed to be re-sharpened, unreliable and over AV damped. Need I go on?

Probably missing part number 1121 141 2900 which is a removeable internal cover. Take a look at the IPL Stihl 034 Ipl pdf free ebook download from bricomeca.free.fr

I agree with the earlier comment. How on earth can you take anything in part payment if you don't know its value?? ...unless the balance of the part payment was of such an insignificant amount, then even if you got a tenner for it the debt would be covered.

I agree. I only use the coffee stirrer trick when the variances in mm are obvious- and only on flat pistons naturally.

....hmmm no, but you can get served by some young, disinterested minx with an attitude.

Sometimes a manufacturer has a minimum carriage paid order, and if a few bolts are under this figure then in some cases it's not unheard of being charged £9 carriage and no discount on the parts. The customer can wait a week or so until I can make up an order to the carriage paid value, but if they want it quicker then i have no qualms informing them their bolts are going to cost £15 or more. I cetainly wouldn't send a few bolts to each and everyone of my dealers for nowt.

In the same way as carb restrictor caps and catalytic convertors do- so yes.

Yeah- I think that's what he said.