John Rainford

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.

Not sure what happened to the photos, they uploaded okay and were there for a while and then disappeared. There is some grease inside the drum so I will remove all of that. I,ll check the oil pump. I will put the saw back together when I have some free time at the end of the week and see if I can upload a video. I did try the saw with a couple of different chains which I had sharpened and checked the raker depth. Chain sharpening does seem to be a bit of an art and although I don't seem to be able to sharpen to the level of a new chain, I can get them reasonably good. When I post the video I will show the chip size. Maybe this one will still be going on until 2021 spud.

Photos of my clutch and sprocket.

Oops, I misunderstood the 1,2,3, question. After reading your replies I took a close look at the clutch and sprocket as well as looking at a couple of videos of clutch and drum issues. The sprocket has two grooves on each arm, which have been cut in to it to a depth varying between 0.5mm and 1mm so I guess your theory of the chain slipping over the sprocket without engaging could well be correct spud. The springs on the clutch look good, they haven't eaten in to the metal as I have seen can sometimes happen. Not sure how to check the brake shoes, will look that one up. I will post some photo's of the clutch and sprocket later today. You never know you might have solved the issue for me.

Thanks for your info spud. Wise words from an expert as usual. The compression test is obviously a must and your line about inferior parts resonated as well. So I will take your advice and keep my original parts until the culprit is found. The JB Weld gasket sealer is a rubbery type substance which says that it is high temp, fuel and oil resistant, so maybe that was okay. In answer to your questions. 1. The chain starts to cut and will go in to the wood a couple of centimetres. At this point the chain tends to stop running, but the engine doesn't die, it still sounds as though its operating well. 2. The chain does not continue to run at high speed. Although the engine is running and sounds good, the chain stops moving in the cut. If I lift the saw away from the cut, the chain will start to run again. 3. The saw revs high in the cut, the chain slows down and then stops altogether, although the engine is still at high revs.

I'll take a look at the second butterfly and check that, thanks. Butterfly is operating fine. I took the cylinder out to inspect it and the piston. I checked that the piston had been inserted the correct way round, which it had. The ring pins were facing the carb side and were intact, as are the rings. I made sure the rings were the right way up, which they would be because i have never removed them from new. The rings move freely.There are a few very tiny hair line scores on the exhaust side of the piston and even smaller ones on the cylinder wall. On the top of the piston it has a dark brown patch covering about a third of the surface area. So I now have it more or less completely stripped down. I solved my flooding issue with a slight adjustment of the metering lever about .5 of a mm. The saw now pulls over and starts every time. One more problem to solve, why is there no power in the cut despite the saw reving well ? I checked the bar for chain movement in the groove, there is a little movement but nowhere near as much as I have seen on bad bars on you tube. There was a slight ridge on each side of the bar at the top of the groove, particularly in areas where pressure would be on the bar during cutting. I filed these down, but it didn't solve the problem. The J.B. Weld gasket sealer I used is fuel and oil resistant and high temp resistant to 500 degrees. My lack of experience does not allow me to determine if the piston and cylinder are damaged to the point of affecting compression , but I watched a good you tube video on piston damage on Steve's Small Engine Saloon and another by Donnyboy 73 and mine are nowhere near as bad as any of the ones on the videos. I can get a cheap piston and ignition coil on e bay for a total of £ 15 and I'll get some Dirko Red gasket sealer just incase the J.B.Weld wasn't correct as Spud pointed out. I know it could also be a carb issue. Not sure why, but you can't get aftermarket Zama CIQ S119B carbs, and I am not going to pay over £ 80 for a Stihl one. I'm treating this as a kind of hobby, so don't mind spending a lot of time and a little money on it. As usual, any thoughts will be gratefully received.

I'll take a look at the second butterfly and check that, thanks.

Thanks for the replies. Yes I am an amateur and learning about 2 stroke engines as i go along. Amazing how many different things can go wrong with such a small engine. I think I will need to take it to a specialist , but I have some time and am going through all the parts carefully to make sure I didn't make an error when I stripped it down previously. So far I have checked the gap on the spark plug, the plug is wet and black, indicative I think of running rich. I have checked the gap between the flywheel magnet and the ignition coil. I have stripped the carb and checked the diaphragms are in the correct places and the right way round. The metering needle is at the correct height according to Zama diagrams and instructions. Used carb cleaner on the carb and checked the strainer wasn't blocked. I have washed and dried the air filter, sharpened the chain, checked the oil flow to the bar, cleaned the carbon deposits from the muffler and exhaust port. I Checked the fuel lines and filter for holes and signs of ware, same with the intake boot. I will remove the cylinder and check the seating of the baring seals, bearings are good. I will check the piston and inside of the cylinder, although from what I can see through the exhaust port they seem fine. I used JB Weld gasket sealer which is good for high temps and fuel resistant. If I don't find any issues after all this I will give up and take it to an expert who will probably diagnose the problem(s) in a few minutes.

This is a follow up to my post a few weeks ago which was about an ongoing flooding issue on start up. sometimes it would start and sometimes it would flood. I'm wondering if this new problem might give a clue to the issue. Once started it revs well, but when cutting, although it sounds fine, there is very little power and it takes four times as long as it used to when cutting a small log, and has no chance of cutting anything more than 10 cm in diameter. My brother used it to cut some small logs for the fire and used a tank of fuel in less than 15 minutes. I'm guessing compression issue, or maybe an air leak, but I am no expert. I would like to fix it myself and have stripped it down completely in the past so feel confident I could do so if I knew what the issue was. I was hoping not to have to pay out for compression and pressure/vacuum tests, but perhaps that is the only way forward.

Thanks Spud, I have been thinking that the compression may be low for a while now. I guess a compression test might be my next move. Do you or anyone else have any views on these cheap cylinders and piston kits from China. I just can't imagine that a cylinder and piston for less than £30 is of the quality needed for a chainsaw.

I posted here on another issue a few weeks ago and had some very useful replies so I thought I would do so again. I have a flooding issue on start up. My usual starting procedure is to put it in cold start, give it one or two pulls until I hear it trying to crank over, then move it to warm start and it usually starts on two or three pulls. However, after the carb screws were adjusted by a small engine mechanic, if it doesn't give me the cranking over sound after one or two pulls on cold start, it floods the engine and I can't start it at all. I took the plug out, it was very wet with fuel, and pulled the muffler which revealed a lot of fuel in the combustion chamber. Let it dry out over night and it started fine the next day. It is however, an ongoing issue, sometimes it will start and sometimes it floods. I'm wondering if the carb screw adjustment which was carried out resulted in to much fuel being sent from the carb to the combustion chamber, or perhaps there is another issue with the carb. I put a new carb kit in a couple of months ago, so I know the diaphragms are working. Could the metering needle be the issue? Any thoughts would be gratefully received.

It cuts straight and the chain is sharp. I don't have the easy start' on my saw so you can hold it at waist height and test the compression by holding the starter rope and letting it drop. It drops a little way, then holds for a few seconds, then drops a little again and then holds for a few seconds and then drops to the ground.

It cuts straight and the chain is sharp.

Cutting through some logs that were around 12 inches thickness the saw started getting stuck in the cut, ie there was not enough power to allow the chain to cut as it would normally do and it stopped moving. Small logs with less diameter were not a problem. I have a motorcycle repair shop opposite where I live so I asked them if they would do a quick compression test for me. It came back at 70. With what I have learnt from this web site I know that this is far to low for optimum power. So now I need to find out what is causing the problem. I have previously torn the saw write down for another issue which was resolved and the piston, crank arm and cylinder internals look good to me. The piston rings move freely and look fine and I made sure everything was replaced the right way round. Do I need to shell out for a pressure/vacuum test to get to the route cause or are there other things I could check first which don't need specialist tools. Any help would be appreciated.