Charles Ekin

Hello I am interested in meeting up with people who use and know how to maintain crosscut saws. I am a school teacher with a passion for forestry and the environment. I am particularly interested in using crosscut saws and other tools as exercise. Any contacts gratefully received. Many thanks Charlie

Thanks Sawtroll and Ray1 and great offer, Spud, thank you. I am in Fareham near Portsmouth. The machine is an FS400. The cylinder is off, the piston still attached. The piston is scoured as well. If pictures would help, I can always photograph it and send them to you. I have a reasonable understanding of the machine but my experience/level of expertise in the mechanics of it is nothing to write home about. Ideally, depending on the price, it would be great to hand the whole lot over and be done with it. Alternatively with the pot and piston (either honed - possible?) or replaced, I could have a go at it myself but without a torque wrench or specialist tools, it will be a faff. Let me know your thoughts and again, many thanks for the offer of help. Charlie

Spud Thanks for the details about restoring the cylinder. This is beyond my level of expertise. Do you know of anyone who might be able to do this work for me (paid of course!) Many thanks Charlie

Thanks Spud. When you say, "It is very rare where one gets scored that bad it cant be cleaned up with the usual methods", what methods would you use to restore a scoured cylinder? Thanks Charlie

Thanks for your replies. I bought the machine on e-bay. I could not bring the revs down by adjusting the high speed jet. (I later discovered the tamper proof plastic attachment on the screw put there because of Californian anti-pollution laws). Used it for too long probably on high revs, which may have happened before I bought it also. Power was low. Decided to take the cylinder off and have a look inside. Both piston and cylinder are scoured. Does anyone know if I can get the cylinder machined and therefore just go with the expense of an original Stihl piston, rather than both? Many thanks Charlie

Greetings I need to change the cylinder and piston on my Stihl FS400 strimmer. (There was no specific forum for strimmers, so I thought this was the best place out of the other options). Genuine part £160+vat, non-genuine part on e-bay or elsewhere around the £40 mark. Any ideas about what to look out for, tips, strong opinions, etc very welcome. All I've been told so far is that the same casting moulds that make the parts for Stihl will be used for other brands unless they are Chinese, and in which case, they make their own moulds which are more likely to be dodgy. Any thoughts? Thanks Charlie

Rich2484 The last round of repairs/replacements that I did involved getting new "o" rings. I noticed they were missing the last time I took the carb apart and cross-referenced it with the exploded view parts diagram I had. Didn't make a blind bit of difference. That was the last thing I could think of and when that failed, I turned to the forum. Spud Whenever I took the carb apart there was never any crap in that little gauze. Gardenkit Bloody hell, you know your stuff! That's really casting pearls before swine! Is the metering valve arm what they call the inlet control lever on the parts diagram? Again, many thanks to all. Charlie

I'VE GOT MY SAW BACK! Although I haven't managed to put my finger precisely on the culprit, the saw is now running perfectly after putting in the replacement carb supplied by Jamie. Thank you so much. Fortunately I didn't need to replace crankcase seals or bearings or anything else more serious. For those of you who like "whodunnits", the carb that was in it when I bought the saw was missing the high and low adjustment screw o rings and also the main gasket where it connects with the boot. Can't help feeling some botch recon or replacement job had been carried out. The replacement diaphragm and gasket set which I used was not Stihl but made by some Italian outfit supplied by L&S Engineers. Whatever, it didn't change anything about the behaviour of the saw by comparison to when I first got it. When I stripped the carb down everything else seemed clean and correct but who knows. What might shift inside a carb when you turn it on its side? All I can say is that this whole experience has restored my faith in human nature! You have all been so willing to spend time sharing your thoughts and experience with me and I'm really grateful. I look forward to returning the favour, probably not directly to you because you know so much and I know so little, but to someone else. Thanks Lads very much. Charlie

Jamie Your Carb arrived today. Thanks so much. It could have been one of two and it turned out to be the right one. Can't wait to try it out later on. It will help eliminate several posibilities. You're a star. Thank you very much. Oldnwrinkly The front AV buffers were slackened off and the rear ones removed when I pivotted the tank housing forward to get at the carb boot. They were all in good nick. The rear left near the ignition module which seems to cause the most problems, was fine. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check out the impulse line later on. Ricbob I'll throw the idea of the crank bearings into the mix but unfortunately I'm not clued up enough about the stuff right down in the bowels of the engine. By comparison to the 038 I had before from new and which worked a treat for 20 years, it doesn't seem to behave any differently when it's working! Thanks again to all. Charlie

Thanks Spud. The impulse line is also brand spanking and not kinked!

Thanks to all of you. I'll get back to you asap and when I've gone through the extensive check list you have provided me with. Many thanks again. Charlie

Thanks for replying, Al The fuel line is brand spanking new and a Stihl original part. It also has behaved no differently since replacing the old one. The problem persists even when the tank is full of fuel. As far as the attachment of carb to fuel line is concerned, it's a metal one like thislike this: Google Image Result for http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjcwWDEwMjQ%3D/%24(KGrHqFHJCsE70J)sksQBPDeHNszhw~~60_35.JPG Many thanks for your reply and also to Spud for the welcome. It's got to be said, Lads, you're a committed and generous lot! Charlie

Elfinwood Saws Inspired idea about the air filter flap. Although the mesh and body of the filter are new, I took the flap and the split pin and spring out of the old one. I'll give that another check over as well. Jamie1 Fantastic offer of the spare carb. It's a Bing I've got in there at the moment. That would be a great way of eliminating a few ideas. I'd be great to take you up on that. I'll send you my postal address. Spud Thanks for the details about the carb after it's cut out. As I've been offered a carb and I'm a bit pushed for time, I'll try that out first but if that doesn't work, I'll definitely be buying a new boot just for good measure. Thanks again to you all for your interest and help. I've been, well, blown away, really. Charlie

I bought the saw on e-bay after an 038 Farm Boss of mine got knicked. For as long as I have had the saw it has done this. I bought it about 6 months ago, used it once, thought, great because it worked well to cut normally, then didn't use the saw for a couple of months by which time I had no recourse.

Thanks Elfinwood Saws. It still cuts out even if the tank is full to the brim Great idea about trying a different carb but I haven't got one. All diaphragms and gaskets are new and all the parts I took out (I took it all apart except the throttle shutter and the valve jet and gave it a good compressed air blast) seem in good nick. Cheers Charlie