John Rainford

Thanks once again for the information Spudulike. My mind is now at rest and my saw cutting logs again.

I just fixed a running issue with my Stihl ms/211, adjusting the metering lever down a little which sorted out a rich fuel situation. The saw then bogged on start up when taken off the choke and when pulling the trigger to increase the revs. I figured there was now not quite enough fuel being delivered so after some fine fettling ended up with the L screw turned out an extra half turn from it's factory setting position and the H screw out an extra quarter turn. This has solved the bogging issue on start up and on acceleration. Could someone please confirm my thoughts that this will not cause any problem for the cylinder, piston, piston rings, or put me right on this. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies. The information will be very useful when I need a replacement carb.

I have a MS 211/C from 2010 which had a running issue which was resolved with a new carb kit and a deep clean. I was looking for a replacement carb at one point, but couldn't find one anywhere. Mine is a Zama S119b. There seem to be plenty of other Zamas available for MS 211s which look the same as mine from the outside. I'm guessing that the internals may be different and therefore would not work on my saw. Can anyone confirm this, or might a carb with a different number still work on my machine ?

Thanks for the replies. I'll take a look at the suggested one and check the update rate specs.

I would like to get a tachometer for my Stihl MS 211 which I use for cutting logs for my wood stove. I have just had the carb in bits to fix an issue which is now sorted with a carb kit and a thorough clean. I would like to set the H, L and idle screws accurately in the hope of prolonging the life of the saw. It's 15 years old now and has developed sentimental value. My research so far suggests cheap is nasty, but it would be just for use with my saw and my brothers MS 211 so I don't want to spend to much. Anyone have any suggestions ?

Just thought I would post an update on my Stihl ms 211 issue. Used the clues to my issue from Spudulike with some more research. I don't have testing equipment so I was guessing. I pulled the carb and gave it a thorough clean with carb cleaner. Took the limiter screws out and the needle, lever, spring and diaphragms and noticed thar the metering lever was set aout 1mm to high. I reset it to the correct height using a new carb kit and did see some debris in the pool of carb cleaner in the container after cleaning. Limiter screws were set to factory settings. I'm guessing that the fuel residue coming from the exhaust and the excessive white smoke were signs that it was running to rich due to the wrong metering lever height. I started it up and ran it for 10 minutes yesterday and today and so far the non idling issue seems to have gone and there is far less fuel residue from the exhaust and far less white smoke. Next thing is to see how it performs in the cut. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for the reply. I will mix some new fuel/2 stroke at 50:1 and make sure it's spot on and check all the linkages on the carb. It does seem to be just an idling problem. If I rev it, it seems to pick up the revs okay. I did check the piston through the muffler port and it was a little oily, black oil, but no scoring.

Appologies for not responding to the replies to my posting. My 92 year old mum contracted the dreaded virus and ended up in hospital, which put a spanner in the works. Thanks for the replies. I put a new service kit in because it was due anyway. This didn't make any difference. I'm starting the saw with the bar and chain on. I did get it going and idling for a few minutes a couple of times and then the next time it was back to cutting out at idle almost immediately. It happens while holding the saw and if I put it on the work bench.While I did have it idling I rotated the saw on both sides to see if it made any difference to the revs, but no change on either side, or tipping the saw down. I did what spudulike suggested and while idling, turned the L screw (limitor cap fitted) all the way in, but there was no change in revs as would be expected, so I now have the L screw not functioning as well as the Idle screw. Air leak ?. I will take a look at the clutch springs today. I have put the carb screws back to factory settings for now........... #just looked at the clutch springs, they seem fine. Some additional info - Blowing a lot of white smoke and black oily deposits being omitted from the exhaust. It seems to be burning through fuel very quickly.

Appologies for not responding to the replies to my posting. My 92 year old mum contracted the dreaded virus and ended up in hospital, which put a spanner in the works. Thanks for the replies. I put a new service kit in because it was due anyway. This didn't make any difference. I'm starting the saw with the bar and chain on. I did get it going and idling for a few minutes a couple of times and then the next time it was back to cutting out at idle almost immediately. It happens while holding the saw and if I put it on the work bench.While I did have it idling I rotated the saw on both sides to see if it made any difference to the revs, but no change on either side, or tipping the saw down. I did what spudulike suggested and while idling, turned the L screw (limitor cap fitted) all the way in, but there was no change in revs as would be expected, so I now have the L screw not functioning as well as the Idle screw. Air leak ?. I will take a look at the clutch springs today. I have put the carb screws back to factory settings for now........... #just looked at the clutch springs, they seem fine. Some additional info - Blowing a lot of white smoke and black oily deposits being omitted from the exhaust. It seems to be burning through fuel very quickly.

Appologies for not responding to the replies to my posting. My 92 year old mum contracted the dreaded virus and ended up in hospital, which put a spanner in the works. Thanks for the replies. I put a new service kit in because it was due anyway. This didn't make any difference. I'm starting the saw with the bar and chain on. I did get it going and idling for a few minutes a couple of times and then the next time it was back to cutting out at idle almost immediately. It happens while holding the saw and if I put it on the work bench.While I did have it idling I rotated the saw on both sides to see if it made any difference to the revs, but no change on either side, or tipping the saw down. I did what spudulike suggested and while idling, turned the L screw (limitor cap fitted) all the way in, but there was no change in revs as would be expected, so I now have the L screw not functioning as well as the Idle screw. Air leak ?. I will take a look at the clutch springs today. I have put the carb screws back to factory settings for now.

Thanks for the reply. L screw still has the plastic limitor cap. I will try turning it in to see if it revs and then dies and post again.

I've learnt a bit about my saw from spudulike and others who have helped me solve a couple of issues over the years. I have succesfully stripped the saw right down to a minimum , replaced the crank seals and put it back together, as well as other easier things. I have a new issue at the moment which I need to solve and am having problems with it. The saw starts fine, idles for a minute or two and then cuts out. I did a bit of research on "Steves small engine saloon" on you tube and tried a few things, but no success yet. Cleaned the plug and the air filter Checked the h and l screws were correctly positioned Pulled the carb and used carb cleaner to blow through the internals, as well as inspecting the Diaphragm While it was idling, I turned the idle screw in, expecting the revs to increase and at some point the chain to start moving. However, I turned the idle screw all the way in and the revs failed to increase and the chain did not start moving. I am thinking of buying a new service kit and trying fresh fuel. It's time for a service anyway. Any help with diagnosis would be appreciated.

Thanks for the replies. I will keep an eye on it to make sure the filter remains seated properly and the fuel tank remains free of sawdust and check the situation after the next lot of logs get cut.

The saw had been running well and when not in use for a period of time I get it running for 5 minutes every couple of weeks. This week it wouldn't start, so I went through some procedures which I learnt from Spudulike and others last year. When I took the air filter off`, the housing seemed a little more dirty than is usual, but nothing dramatic. When I removed the housing to expose the carb, the carb side of the housing and the carb itself were covered in oily sawdust which has to have been there for a long while. So I figured the issue might be sawdust in the carb and/or a fuel line. Cleaned it all up on the outside of the carb and then set to work on the inside with spray carb cleaner. There were some obvious bits of sawdust sitting on the top diaphragm. Sprayed it all through thoroughly and put it back together. Put some fresh fuel in the tank, cranked it up and it turned over first time. So, for a few minutes I was very pleased with myself, but then I got to thinking about how the sawdust had managed to get beyond the air filter housing and cover the carb. The air filter seemed to be seated correctly and the air filter itself wasn't covered in sawdust. Has anyone got any ideas, so that I can stop it happening again.

Did as you suggested. Got rid of the stale fuel, replaced it with fresh fuel, pulled the plug and turned it upside down. Pulled it over hard a dozen times, put the plug back in. First pull was a lot easier than previously. Second pull and the engine caught a little. Third pull and it fired up nicely. I ran it for a few minutes to let the fresh fuel flow through. Thanks a lot Spud, once again you have sorted an issue for me.

Thanks Spud. I'll try what you suggested when I am at my brothers on Thursday and then post the results.

I posted last year when I had a problem with my saw which spud and a couple of other members sorted for me. Now my brothers 2 year old saw has a problem. It has been stored for the last few months in a dry shed. Some of the time it was hanging on a hook with the blade pointing to the floor. He forgot to empty the fuel tank so the fuel has been in it for 4 months. I tried to pull it over, but no chance. The chord pulls a little and then gets stuck. I took the plug out and it pulls fine so I don't think there is an issue with the recoil. Took the muffler off to look at the piston. Looks good, no scoring. There was a lot of black carbon deposits on the muffler, much more than I would see on my saw. Could it be a stale fuel issue ? He did give me a chain to sharpen after he last used it and some of the teeth were very worn. Any ideas will be gratefully received.

Thanks for the reminder about rakers Stubby, Just spent an hour reading up and used an old chain to test. I realised that correct raker height is essential, when I did a test cut. The chain bit hard in to the wood very aggressively, pulling the test log back towards me. I filed the rakers to low. I'll get it right next time. I intend to read up about filing and then do some practice next weekend and see if I can get a sharp chain with the right angles. I hope then that my saw will be performing as it should do. I will post the results. Thanks to everyone who has been helping me, Spud, bmp01, Stubby, sawbit, chris and anyone I haven't mentioned. I have enjoyed my first venture in to the world of small engines. I started out as a complete novice and I am still a novice, but with a lot more knowledge than when I started. Six months ago I wouldn't have gone anywhere near a saw and stripped it down completely. I have done that now and rebuilt it without destroying it.

Just watched the chain sharpening video. It's very informative and looks like I have been filing to high, which could be in part due to using a 4.5 mm file instead of a 4 mm file.

I am using a file guide Stubby. It came in an oregon kit. It's a very basic one. Maybe I need to invest in a better guide and look at my filing technique again. I will look at the video link posted by bmp01 and see how I get on. Thanks for your input. I do have one question. Baring in mind that I have not touched the H screw since it came back from a service a few months ago, how did it end up turned out far to much. Could it have anything to do with the fact that the limiter cap is missing. When it came back from the service it functioned well for a while. I service my road bike which has H and L screws on the rear derailleur, they don't move on there own at all.

Thanks for the replies fellas, especially the H screw setting. You've saved my saw!!! . I followed the manual on the setting and it made no mention of one and a half turns with the limiter off. Okay, so I just went through all of the things mentioned above and these are the encouraging results. 1. Made sure the H screw is one and a half turns out. 2. Took the bar and chain off and started up. Let it idle for a minute and then squeezed on the throttle. The bar oil hole and groove are free of debris and the oil oozed out of the oil hole after a minute. 3. Put the bar and chain back on and did the bar oiling test on a brown paper bag, holding the saw tip a couple of inches away from the bag. After a minute, started to get a splatter effect of oil coming off the bar and on to the paper bag. I checked the chain immediately after this and the links had a film of oil on them. 4. Tensioned the chain using spuds technique, which produced a chain tension much looser than I had been previously using. Used a screwdriver to push the chain forward on the bar to see how quickly it would come to a stop: It still stopped almost immediately, but perhaps ran on for a second, and perhaps an inch, that's a second and an inch more than it was doing 5. Started the saw, let it idle for a minute and then reved it. I have a different engine sound than I previously had. It sounds much stronger and a little smoother. 6. Did a practice cut. There was more power in the cut, the chain did not stop in the cut as it had been doing. I was able to cut deeper in to the test log than previously, but it still took longer than I would have thought to get through a 7 inch log. ( Could this be a blunt chain which I am hoping will be cured by using the correct size file, when it arrives 4mm, as opposed to the 4.5 mm file I had been using. I think my filing technique is okay. I get that nice grating sound as the file sharpens the teeth. There are lots of tiny specs of chain dust which gather on the vice during cutting. Incidentley, the blue that bmp01 observed on the top of the tooth in the video was just a marker pen I was using when sharpening. When I had finished the single practice cut, and put the saw back on the bench with the shroud off, it was smoking quite a lot for a minute or two, it was obviously very hot. Should I check the L screw, or leave it where it is? Anyway, lots of progress, and maybe a sharp chain will complete the cure. I will post a video during the week when my son is round. Once again, thanks for your patience and expertise. I am learning a lot, but now realise I know about 1% of what a trained mechanic knows.

Thanks for the replies. I spent an hour tonight going through the checks that spud suggested. 1. The throttle seems to be working well, with everything in the correct position. The butterfly opens to the full on full throttle so no adjustment needed there. 2. The choke is not partially on. The butterfly is parallel with the bore of the carb. 3. Don't think my air filter is the nylon mesh type, but I cleaned it thoroughly last week, and it does not appear to be blocked. 4. Carb H screw. This was interesting. The little plastic limiter cap was missing from the H screw. I know it was there prior to going for a service a few months ago, so, did the mechanic take it off for some reason ? I turned the screw in until it gently seated, which took 2.5 turns. Now the factory setting says three quarters of a turn out, so it was clearly set at the wrong setting. I have now set it back to the factory setting. I gave it a quick test in cutting and it does seem to cut better than before and there is less smoke being omitted from the muffler. I also looked at the issues that bmp01 brought up about the chain stopping very quickly. I spun the clutch with the brake off, and it spins freely. The brake seems to be acting as it should. When I put chains on the bar, I test the tightness by lifting the chain from the bar groove about 1 cm and then let it ping back on to the bar. I will take another video this weekend and upload it to see if you can see any difference from the first video.

I have uploaded the video, had to wait for my flu ridden son's computer skills, hence the delay. When I start to engage the throttle , the engine revs increase as my finger pulls on the throttle trigger, but the chain does not move until I have pulled the throttle trigger half way back. Many thanks to spudulike, bmp01 and sawdust for helping me with this. I did think of swapping my brothers clutch and carb , but I didn't want to mess about to much with his new saw. I'll do as spud says and test the carb and throttle linkage. That linkage to handle was a right pain when I reassembled the saw. It dropped out when I was dismantling the saw, so I didn't know how to reassemble it. I tried every possible thing I could think off, before realising that the linkage has to be forced under that little bit of plastic on the handle. No wonder they break, it's a terrible design. In the video commentary I use the word choke instead of throttle, so please be aware of this. This evening I spent an hour practising chain sharpening and studied the teeth before and after, using a magnifying glass. I noticed that the top of the tooth wasn't as sharp as I thought it would be, so started looking in to why this might be. At the risk of appearing foolish, I discovered that the files I have been using recently are 4.5 mm instead of the correct 4 mm size for my chains. I have no idea how this happened, but whatever the reason, it did. My calculations if accurate, mean that the files I have been using are 12.5% to big. Could this mean that the files are to big to get under the top part of the tooth to sharpen it ? Could this be why my chains are not cutting very well ? I am a bit concerned about the amount of white smoke being omitted from the exhaust. ill try some new fuel with an accurate 50 : 1 fuel/oil mix to see if that makes a difference. Maybe the chain if not sharp on the top part of the teeth, is forcing the engine to work harder and overheat. I will get some 4 mm files and resharpen my chain, paying careful attention to the top part of the tooth to see if it comes out sharper. I had noticed that the saw chips coming from the saw immediately after sharpening were still very small, you may be able to see this in the video. Anyway, take a look and see what you think, and once again thanks for your help and knowledge sharing. IMG_3091.mp4

I have taken a short video of my saw attempting to cut, but failing. I will upload it tomorrow, or rather my son will. Over the weekend my brother came over. He recently bought a Stihl MS 211, the same model as my saw, but 10 years younger. I asked him to bring it with him so that we could do a few basic checks. The first thing I did was to try his new bar and chain on my saw. It cut through a thin branch about 2 inches in diameter, but would not cut through the much bigger log I have been using for test cuts, which is about 9 inches in diameter. Next I tried swapping the air filter and muffler. I noticed that the engine sounded smoother running on idle, but it would still not cut . So i'm thinking that the issue I have is not to do with the chain, bar, muffler or air filter. I did notice that when I start pulling on the throttle, the chain does not start moving until I have engaged the throttle about half way, There is also a lot of white smoke emerging from the exhaust when I engage the throttle. If I just let the saw idle there is no smoke. There always seems to be oil on the muffler back plate and underneath the muffler when I remove it after running. I'll upload the video when my son is here on Tuesday.