Stihl Fix

[Johnch]

I wanted to post the "Fix"

I am not good fixing small gas powered tools .... yea I do the basic stuff

So today I took my saw to a place that sells and fixes Stihl saws

A little while back they put a new fuel tank breather tube on
So today they sort of remembered me

I told the counter man ... the son of the owner , what the problem was
He looked me up in the computer and ask if they had done a check of the saw after replacing the breather tube ?

I said no and he muttered I will not repeat what he said ... but someone is going to get a talking to
Stating that it was included in the breather tube replacement price

So he checked the fuel filter and put new fuel in the saw and tried it

Stalled after a few seconds
He checked the carb and saw the carb had never been touched
He checked and ajusted the carb , not bad for a saw I bought in 1999

He told me a fuel hose was in need of being changed , but would be OK for now

But he just handed me the saw back and didn't charge me anything

John

[Petrol & Powder]

EXCELLENT !

I'd would continue to give those people my business.

[georgerkahn]

...and people have asked why each and every one of the thirteen saws, as well as saw-head on the Lewis winch -- are ALL Stihls!

[gbrown]

Same thing happened to me when I took the powerhead in. Guy said he should have checked it. Charged me for the part, but not the labor. Made me feel good. Just used it today. Runs like a top--round and round and round. Not a hiccup.

[osteodoc08]

Good fuel is paramount to these small motors running well. The carbs are not tolerant of ethanol and junk. Glad you got it all fixed up.

[ackleyman]

That tiny bit of work would have cost me $100, you have some great people helping you there!

[Petrol & Powder]

And just to follow up a bit, note that FUEL was the problem and not the electrical components.

When a small engine will start but only run briefly or only run with the choke engaged - it's almost always related to fuel issues and not spark.

Fuel systems have always been the Achilles heel of small engines and with the ethanol blended fuel common today, fuel problems are even more likely culprits.

The ethanol causes two major problems - 1. it destroys some plastic parts (even the newer ethanol tolerant ones)
and
2. it creates varnish faster than the non-ethanol blends.

Anytime a small engine will start but not run, think fuel problems first.

[Adam20]

In Michigan we can buy recreation gas,no ethanol in it. About $4.25 a gallon. Problems stopped for the most part in my small engines after I started using it. Use high quality oil for the 50:1 off brand caused fouling issues.

[Petrol & Powder]

Non-ethanol gasoline is available at the pump in most parts of the country, you just have to look for it. There are 3 stations near me that sell it and more if I want to drive a bit farther. It's a bit more expensive than the regular 90/10 gasoline/ethanol blend but worth every penny when dealing with small engines. It's no where close to $4.25/gallon at the pump.

[Conditor22]

Check with the company that supplies home heating oil. They usually have a site that sells all types of fuel. I get my leaded gas there. Much cheaper than the boat docks

[shooterg]

90 octane non-ethanol $2.89 yesterday here. Just mixed up 2 gallons for the Stihl Combi unit. Echo is good too, but Stihl is King !

[Hamish]

I'm still using an 036 that I bought in 1991, no signs of slowing down. One thing that I consider paramount nowadays is fuel additive. Do yourself a favor and use Opti2 2 stroke mix, even in the 4 stroke stuff.

I mowed for a living for about ten years, used it in everything. I could hang up the weed eaters, saws, everything at the end of the season, and then fire them up in the Spring, with the same gas in them from the previous year in the tank. Keeps gas fresh for at least 3 years that I've tried.

[Petrol & Powder]

Non-ethanol fuel and either run it completely dry before storing the equipment for a long time OR add fuel stabilizer to the tank, run it for a few minutes (to get the fuel stabilizer/gas mix into the carburetor) and then store it.

I prefer the non-ethanol fuel and fuel stabilizer method so that the fuel system parts stay "wet" during storage. However if you don't have fuel stabilizer when you are ready to store the equipment then running it completely dry is better than risking leaving it with untreated fuel for several months.