bmp01

Stevie, No point trying to stop you is there? Small practcal point then. After you have done any work on the saw, reassemble but leave the chain off. Last thing you want is for the saw to be revving its nuts off, chain flailing round while you try and figure out why the ignition kill doesnt work. Come to think of it, how about taking the chain off first thing, before you do any work on it. Start the saw and get used to the feel of it, get used to the controls etc. bmp01

It's a good method of fault diagnosis - swapping in known good parts - and there ant that many parts in the ignition system so yes should have worked. Leaves you with limited number of reasons why it's not working - - remainIng unchanged parts at fault, flywheel, wiring etc - you've installed the known good parts incorrectly, possibility of a short? - Known good parts have gone bad in the transition or been broken during assy. - known good parts not compatible, alignment issue with / without spacer? I'm grasping at straws... You could try the reverse, put the old parts on the 211, one at a time, might help to narrow down the suspects. Is the 181 barrel a genuine one by way?

I dont understand this either. The only other component to change is the flywheel. But quite how that could go bad i have no idea.

Probably arcing internally somewhere when it achieves the required voltage, insulation breakdown. ... But it could be generating a voltage upto the point where it arcs internally and maybe that's what the tester is telling you. Of course if the voltage when insulation breaks down is not high enough to create an arc across the air gap of the plug then the plug never sparks. You could try closing the plug gap down to 10 thou, 0.25mm, it might arc. Arcing could also be from the plug lead or plug cap, especially if damaged and dirty. Plug lead will be integral to the coil on these no doubt though. bmp01

Damn ! I was really hoping there was going to be a magic answer to save me from my least favourite chainsaw job. .... really disappointed I've found a bucket of hot water with a splash of car wash stuff (traffic film remover) does a good job of softening the goo and breaks down the oil - plastic parts only, honest . Often need a bit of a brush as well, and an airline. Parafin works too, leaves it a bit oily though. bmp01

While you are doing what Spud says, with the metering chamber cover off, try your blow through test and lightly press the end of the metering arm at the same time (so you are manually opening the metering valve). That should allow you to blow through the pump side of the carb and through to the metering side. bmp01

I was quoting the third post primarily to point out that the saw you were looking at it isn't popular here, rightly or wrongly. ... In view of that 'fact', I suspect you are flogging a dead horse trying to get an opinion on the specific weak points of that model, with your intended type of use. About that Stihl 036, yeah of course it was a bargain and no point going looking for that exact saw. Neither is it worth looking on that auction site IMHO, the audience is too big for good deals and the asking prices are usually top dollar anyway. But Gumtree, local ads etc can often throw up a deal or two so long as you are flexible in what you are after. Are you in a position to make an informed second hand buy? I'd say so, you've used a saw for a start, you know how they should work, you'd recognise a maintained vs neglected saw. Buy locally, get the saw demonstrated and try it for yourself. I think there are a lot of good saws for sale that just don't get used for various reasons. bmp01 (also an engineer, also inflicted with CAD).

I don't know the answer to your questions. I think the third post probably gave the most applicable answer I am a little confused though, because you sound like you are now prepared to do some work to keep your proposed saw alive and kicking, so why not go for a branded secondhand saw with decent parts backup ? You can get a very nice saw for 200 and you are clearly up for a bit of homework .

neiln wants a 'turn key' saw, that's stored for long periods between minimal amounts of use. Classic carb killer. I'd hope long life fuel would protect more than just fuel hoses. He's not going to be using vast quantities of the stuff so yes it's expensive per litre but in the overall scheme of things it might save him some aggravation and a few repair bills. Just my thoughts.

A bit surprised it hasn't been mentioned earlier .... too obvious maybe ???

Your requirement for a saw - with such little use per year - will be viewed as a little "off track" for most on here but i bet fairly typical for the home owner. Stating the obvious, you're not going to wear any saw out in your proposed 10 years of use. Your most obvious problem is 'lack of use' and the implication on the fuel system. It's worth researching long life fuels eg Aspen if you want any saw to start after a year of non use. Even then you can imagine fuel evaporation leaving deposits in carb if you do this repeatedly. I suspect an older saw not running to the tight emission considerations of today will be more tolerant in this respect. My second concern would be degredation of low quality plastics and hoses etc - it has little to do with the design origin of the saw and more about the quality of the materials. The evidence available for you to see is in the type of 20 - 30 year old saws out there. I can't imagine too many of the current day saws lasting that long. Not sure that adds much to your quest. bmp01

Carb cleaning spray is a good start. But as others say you need to remove screws, spray through there too. You basically want to make sure the spray is coming of all the corresponding passageways and jets. The slow speed jets in the carb are typically the ones that get blocked (the ones around the butterfly throttle). Regarding the screw positions - just record where the screws are to start with, then you can always put them back where you found them. To do this, get a good look at the screwhead or the screw driver. Turn the screw in (clockwise) until it stops, counting number and fraction of turns. Repeat for other screw. Now you can return them back to where they were after taking them out for cleaning and after having a play with carb tuning. Take the time to learn to tune a carb, it's not difficult. bmp01

Sure it is, but no promises it'll help... Loosen the 2 coil screws, the holes in the coil are slotted, so now the coil can be moved closer / further from the flywheel. Gap should be set to approx 10 thou at the magnet, that will be where the coil gets sucked onto the flywheel. A business card is the typical tool of choice.... probably make no difference but worth trying for the effort it takes.

Presume you've checked the coil air gap. ...

Anything to do with the PITA smaller spark plug do you think? Resistance measures different (from new) compared to the old faithful plugs, can't remember which way, just different. bmp01

MS180 coil part no. 1130 400 1302 MS181 coil part no. 1139 400 1307 according to L and S engineering That will explain why the freebie box of bits MS171 came to me with 2 coils in the box then. bmp01

Hi Andrew, Thanks for detailed reply. As much I'd like new bits for the PS410 i can't cope with the thought of doubling what i spent on the thing in the first place I'll fix up the filter and look out for a secondhand cover i think. Thanks again, bmp01

Hello there, I'm after a couple of parts for a PS410 I picked up recently. Am i in the right place, can you help ? Price, availability and overall p&p? Air filter 028 173 041 or 141 Cover assy over air filter, 028 118 320 Cover fasteners M5 x 60 908 205 605 M5 x 16 908 005 165 Thanks for reading. bmp01

And if you take the oil cap off, release the vacuum it'll be fine again. ...for a while. Do both saws behave like that?

2 newish saws suffering same problem. Brought back to being healthy after a thorough clean. Sounds like "user induced problem" to me Could be the breather but that's a big coincidence, or is the breather also getting cleaned as part of the general clean up? Are you finding much junk in the oil tank when you clean them? Sounds like you might be filling with clean oil and when out in the field the saws get something different, from an old dirty oil can maybe. ... bmp01

Hello Mr, The 136 landed this afternoon. As described, that oil tank is proper fubarred. But i don't want that bit so quite happy at end. Thank you. bmp1

Huh ! Mine too. Thought it was the filler cap but I'll check this .... bmp01

I think it will be good too. Update when it's done please. DT's, that brings back some memories. I had a secondhand125 air cooled that came with an aftermarket exhaust. On / off power band, noise, blue smoke, piston slap - come to mind. Happy days. There a rule about exhaust port width vs cylinder diameter. I wonder whIch side of the line your DT was bmp01

That's a whole big can of worms you're about to open. ... By the same logic you'd need to change inlet and transfers too, except with the inlet that would be adding material. And in raising the exhaust you are effectively undoing the compression ratio increase. I think if you are contemplating that level of change, rather than blindly following the manufacturers spec you would be better to aim for a known tuning spec, which will be driven by opening and closing timing (angle in crankshaft degrees). Folded into that you need to look at port and passageway areas....... My going in point (with out research) would be to leave timing as it falls with the lowered cylinder, 0.5 mm isn't going to equate to very many degrees. Go wider on the exhaust port would be the next consideration. Exhaust is pretty torturous on these though. Also, consider modifying piston with chamfer to change timing - gives option of a 'u' turn as you can subsequently put std piston in. bmp01

Ok, let me explain it again. .... don't use the hammer to flatten those lumps. Get-it? Well, it looks shiny. Interested to see how it goes now. Regarding the starting thing, it is worth labouring the point as it's a safety thing. Its not the force needed to start the thing - I'm sure you will cope with that. It IS about how much the saw reacts to the the pull cord force. In this respect a lighter saw and especially a top handle one is worse than a heavy one, we all know that. But adding in the higher compression on a small saw really makes things surprisingly jumpy. bmp01