champagnecharly

Thanks. I'll asume it to be dead as it was not sparking at all and switch is disconected. Thanks

Hi, Thanks I had hoped for some logic on it.. oh well. I'll take it its had it then as there was no spark... All was ok until all of a sudden the recoil starter cracked and flew off. (screw holding it came loose) it carried on running for a short while then stalled. I tried to get it started with a battery operated drill. Nothing.. I checked for a spark. Nothing. Changed the plug still nothing. Thats when I started testing coil.. it all seemed a little strange for all to fail around the same time. Thanks again for your post..

Hello, I'm hoping somebody can assist. I am testing a stihl fs80av coil with a multimeter and am unclear on the results. From HT-Poles i get 10.6Kohms from LT - Poles I have continuity with less than ohms resistance. HEre is a pic of the LT> poles with the test being performed across the red line.. http://dropbox.com/s/zt9ls3ixb5tb68c/IMG_6038.JPg Do these read as they should or is it a sign of faulty coil? What gets me is the logic on the LT side.. my logic is why would you have a kill switch to create connection to ground if the wire was already permanently grounded? Hope somebody can clear up my confusion. Thanks in advance..

Well just received a pressure gauge.. tied it up to inlet on carb (not got/made blanking plate yet) and all seems air tight with no loss either way. By connecting directly to carb. Can I presume it is not going to distort my results?

Finally received my parts. 10 days wait! Clutch springs are 4-5mm shorter!! This certainly wont have helped.

Hi Gardenkit, I hadn't seen you post until just now.. Thank you. and yes now i am confused not confused so much about what you say just which direction to take.... I have taken the clutch off and run without and she runs great even when just twitching at the throttle which is where it was prone to issues previously. I actually picked up a spares or repairs fs120 (yes am glutton for punishment) hoping my rotovator atachment would fit and then to dispose of the 400. seller claimed it was a carb issue so I thought it was an easy fix.. with this I was getting exactly the same engine issue as the 400.. however in this case the head hardly turned... So I removed the clutch.. and hey presto.. it works a treat.. So i came back to post my findings but only to have the element of load thrown in - thank you as v valid and important factor-.. .. So now I'm lost as to where to begin.. Back to the primer/vacuum bulb.. Yes air bubble didnt concern me. What is strange is that the vacuum disappears and it becomes much easier to press once stalled. am now going to try swapping the clutches after a good clean. the fs400 was v loose where as the 120 was almost stuck together. what i also noticed is that the shoes had worn the metal on the cover on the 120. well at least its a sunny day.. P.s> Rich.. so are you a Granddad now? Boy or girl? i hope all went well.

mm oops.. 150bar could do a whole lot of damage.. and yes i meant cylinder compression. ok 50psi on decomp. yet near impossible to start when decomp is pressed in. Went to prime the bulb.. Note the bulb is not fixed to carb directly but by to hoses.. am sure you knew that already.. anyway.. airbubble still same size as when I received your last post.

oh and how much will a pressure test through sparkplug tell me? As mentioned 130-150bar (not consistent) and 50-70 with decompression out. With regards a vac test what exactly do i need? ohh on a positive note.. it has a good spark!

Thanks guys.. No no history..As for age not too sure. and well it wasn't mean to be spares or repair. Supposedly fully working.. or so the seller's father in law had told him. One of them! I didn't find out until after the courier had collected it and I started her up! By then it was all a bit late. So air leak. or clutch.. mm chicken or egg.. I'm hungry so which ones chicken? IF the kawaski clutch can cause this issue.. would it not be wise just to take clutch off and then see? it would remove that factor would it not? even more so if an air leak can cause the clutch to play up i end up chasing my tail.. Ok so the chicken is the engine.. thats what i shall go for ( or so I thought now undecided again).. and also makes sense given the clutch hasto come back off... So if its an air leak. Could an air leak on the fuel line do such a thing? The fuel line seems brand new but wasnt changed by me and although it is fairly snug, i wonder if it is tight enough!? One thing that makes me wonder is after stall "sometimes" I check to see how the primer bulb is and there is not very much pressure there an di can hear it gurgle as if its sucking in/out air... mmm didnt realise how much there was to do to do a pressure and vac test.. maybe i'm not all that peckish after all.. Hold lets just recap and please excuse any repetition.. if it could be a clutch issue. by removing that would it not rule that out as a problem? I.e if it still occured with no clutch on it would show it was an airleak.. Just seen ray you posted the same thing.. Rich, Do you agree?

Hello again, SO after the issue with the clutch. that I havent yet got around to.. I have been having another issue which is stalling when reving her up.... not neceseraly full throttle but when revs increased. The times it happens (most of the time) it can be noticably heard and it sounds like a bag of nails. More specifically it sounds almost hollow like hungry rumbling belly if you see what i mean. It sounds like it is sucking air. Compression is fine 5 pulls and upto 130-150psi although when decompression switch is in it only goes to 50-70 (is that normal) I had changed the carb, gaskets, rings last year but hadn't got it back together until recently. Admittedly filter etc is not back but that makes little/no difference. Anyone any ideas what it could be? I'm wondering if perished seals could do this by allowing air through when vacuum pressure is up.. but would that not show a leak? Anybody any idea?

Hi, No its the standard cow horn with trigger & release. Regards

Thanks guys.. I'll try the springs and wd40 and see what comes of that.

the internals all look good. is it wise to just change the springs and give the rest a good scrub and soak in wd40? 50p each compared to £20..

Ok.. So by broken springs its not broken as in 2 or more parts but that they have lost their memory and dont return to where they should?

Sorry I dont understand what you mean by: "a clutch part may out a little by looking at the space between them on the carb. " Space between carb & clutch? drum "looks" ok

Good plan. That certainly rules out one factor. Have done the same and it still spins. I also have the carb adjustment scew all the way in so idle is at its lowest.. but still no luck.

Thanks.. Would that be noticable?. I took the clutch off and had a gander but all looked intact. A minor amount of surface rust but fine.. I start wondering if its my throttle cable that's misadjusted.. When you say low speed I wonder if it is actually low enough.. What RPM should it be and what is best tool to test the same?

Hi, Thanks.. That screw (the only screw) on the carb is exactly what i was referring to when I said the L/H.. at least that's what I think you mean and it has no difference. Regards

Hello, I have a stihl fs400. I can not adust the L/H on carb so that the head stops rotating.. What could it be? Adjusting L/H does have a minor effect but no by any means enough to get it even close to stopping. Hope somebody can advise. Thanks