# stihl BR600's, you will get a kick out of this



## epicklein22 (Nov 16, 2007)

Ok guys, I bought 2 BR600 blowers for 50 bucks off Brickman's landscaping (largest landscaping business in the world). They have hour meters on them, one has 75 hours and the other has 35. These blowers have the 4-mix technology with the values. Well these things look like crap but I am hoping to build one good.

Well these things have been a pain so far, here is the story. So the one with 75 hours has little to no compression at all, but turns freely. So what do you think could be the problem with the compression, it only has 75 hours on it, so I would the rings be bad already. Could the values be out of timing? Are they adjustable?

Now the one with 35 hours, The piston was definetly hitting something so I decided to tear it down. After taking apart all of the stuff, which was a pain, I found that the exhaust value was busted off. Some of the pieces actually put a hole straight through the piston! I couldn't believe that this could happen at just 35 hours! Other things that I didn't like was the silicone gaskets( would be a pain to change) and the gear for the push rods was plastic.

Also, what is a good way to test for spark, I haven't been able to get a spark out either one. I tried just turning the motor over, but no spark. Do I have to have the wires connected to it to check for spark? Could the off switch be acting up?

So could anyone with 4-mix experience (lakeside ) help me out here. I have used a br600 before and they are just amazingly powerful, so I am hoping to get one to go. Thanks for the help.


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## Lakeside53 (Nov 16, 2007)

What did those guys do to those machines? 35 hours and they look like crap?

What are the serial numbers?

They are not silicone gaskets -it's dirko-ht and works great. To get it off best to use a medium grade 3M "scotchbite-like pad on a die grinder or drill.

Be careful checking "compression": - they have a decomp release built into the engine. Leakdown is the only definitive test. Check your valve rocker isn't broken and holding one of the valves down. Turn the engine to TDC and make sure there is a rod/rocker gap.

Don't worky about the nylon gear - breakage is very rare.

If the valve broke, and it's within any reasonable distance of the warranty (1 year commercial) or low hours, Stihl will you give you a new engine... Some of the early production did have problems and they gave out new engines without question. I'm suprised the original owners didn't make stihl fix them.

Ignition - 5 year warranty for the original owner, 2 years for anyone (emission component). Pull the shut-off wire from the coil and try again . you have to pull over fast to get a spark.

Do you have service manual?


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## epicklein22 (Nov 16, 2007)

Thansk for the information Lakeside. I will test the spark and value rocker after lunch.

I will also post pictures later.

Got these numbers off of the white fan housing where the tube connects, I believe these are the serial numbers. Correct me if I am wrong.

267411341

267411343

I don't have a service manual either.

Thanks again for the help and happy birthday .


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## Lakeside53 (Nov 16, 2007)

Hmmm.. the 341 is not registered and the 343 had a new short block approved under warrenty. Wonder why it was not fitted? Interesting...

These are from May of 2006.


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## epicklein22 (Nov 16, 2007)

Well I got one to go! Using Lakeside's advice, I took the engine cover off and was able to check for spark, which it had. Then I checked the valve rocker for play and checked the gap, which was fine. So I just decided that I would try to get it to run. It still felt like it had low compression but decided just to give it a shot. Sure enough with a little starting fluid, she was off and running. It sure did catch my dad and I off guard, it was knocking spray paint cans off of the wall as soon as it started! It ran alright so I did a few carb adjustments and decided to put it all together and try it out. Well after giving it a cleaning and picking the right plastics between the two blowers I had a good running machine. Once all complete, the compression had increased a lot. Upon pulling the string I could feel it get hard to pull and then easy and then that cycle repeated again. I realized thats how these 4-mix engines must feel considering the valves. I still don't know why the compression went up but I am not complaining.

Lakeside, this company must not take care of their equipment at all if it is from may 2006. They are supposively a billion dollar company and have national contracts with Stihl and Echo. The guy told me it was a year old but I didn't know if I wanted to believe him. I asked why they were so beat up for only being a year old, he just gave me a funny look . He was trying to sell me a bg85 when i was loading the br600's in my car. I got it running but couldn't keep it going. I refused his 20 dollar price and he said "Come on, your killing me". It was a strange experience. Wish I had that shortblock  to go along for that blown up one, but I am happy just to have one running. I would like to thank you again for your help and knowledge, you are a god when it comes to stihl equipment.

Here are some pictures:

4 mix insides, cams and gears




4 mix engine with the values




My finished Blower, It is very powerful. I was moving snowy leaves with ease. My dad and I rivited a piece of metal onto the back support. It was cracked pretty bad but everything else is just scratched and marked up.




Here is the piston after eating the valve pieces.




A little imagination goes a long way doesn't it. That is weed eater string holding it together.


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## Lakeside53 (Nov 16, 2007)

Run it ONLY on Stihl Ultra, premium gas, mix, 50:1, and it will last forever...

Fix that other motor -the piston and valve aren't expensive..

Tach it -at full power it should pull 7000-7200 rpm.


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## ScottWojo (Nov 16, 2007)

Me thinks there are certain south of the border illeagal immigrant ethnic types who were working for that place.

See? Bonus Nachos!


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## woodchuck361 (Nov 16, 2007)

great find!!! I love stuff like that. Take a nice piece of equipment that some one has neglected and bring it back to life. Well done


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## epicklein22 (Nov 16, 2007)

ScottWojo said:


> Me thinks there are certain south of the border illeagal immigrant ethnic types who were working for that place.
> 
> See? Bonus Nachos!



Ya, their workers were all hispanic people. I think that is why my end tube is a bit worn down because hispanics tend to be shorter than americans.

I only use synthetic oil now in my equipment, so I don't think that should be a problem. I have read that you are only supposed to use synthetic in the 4 mix equipment, so I will follow orders.

I will price check the piston and rings and valve when I go to the stihl dealer in the next few days. I will investigate the price of that sealant. I will probably rebuild it as the cylinder looks fine, a nice little winter project for me.


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## redprospector (Nov 16, 2007)

epicklein22 said:


> Ya, their workers were all hispanic people. I think that is why my end tube is a bit worn down because hispanics tend to be shorter than americans.



Hispanic people?
I looked at a globe and couldn't find it. Where is Hispania?  

Andy


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## Lakeside53 (Nov 16, 2007)

They once called it California


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## Andyshine77 (Nov 17, 2007)

Sorry to say but the lawn care people I know (and myself) have had nothing but problems with the br600 blowers. I had one for about three weeks before it dropped a valve. It was repaired under warranty, but less than a week later the back support cracked and fell off. My dealer took care of me and gave me a full refund. I now have a Shin ebz8510 and so far so good, it's heaver than the br600 but it seems to be built like a tank and it is just as powerful.

I'm not trying to bash Stihl here but they have problems with the br600. BTW I love my FS110.


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## Lakeside53 (Nov 17, 2007)

The backpack and valve problems were the first 6-8 months of production(2005?). Yep.. turned a bunch of big operators off them. We never had any material problems in our area, but other areas (like the mid-west) sure did . Cost Stihl a bunch for new backplates and engines... and a lot of dealers got paid decent money to replace all the valves in all blowers they'd sold. The exhaust valve is now stellite and the backpack has strengthening ribs to take operator "abuse" (they get hung from the handle in the back of the truck).

I've sold a lot of BR500, 550 and 600 to home owners (and my neighbors) and many commercial accounts - only one return of the early units (valve head came off), a broken backpack, and a couple of carboned valves from using real low mix ratios. Yes, it is more sensitive to poor mix than a 2 cycle, but on semi-synthetic or full synthetic at 50:1 they work great. 

The latest change was to the tubes (antistatic) the inclusion of a winter-summer flap in the back of the air box to stop a carb icing in places like the PNW! (I've had it happen to me).

Synthetic mix, adjust valves (5 minutes) after the first 150 or so hours, change the fuel filter yearly, check the air-filter if used in dusty conditons, and they run real nice. 

Oh yes.. I own one. Sold my real nice BR420 to buy one.


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## Andyshine77 (Nov 17, 2007)

Don't get me wrong it was a nice unit to use, I just didn't want to mess with it any more, and you know I run the good stuff in all my equipment. It's just to bad Stihl didn't test there product well enough, I think they rushed these blowers out the door to compete with Redmax and Shin before they were ready.


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## Lakeside53 (Nov 17, 2007)

Yep.. not a great move on their part. They say it was tested it for nearly a year (in "final" form) in Europe before bringing it to the States. But.. seems like the users don't use them like us.... It took Stihl USA to do a 500 hour continous run test to prove to the parent company that the stihl dino mix, the old "low smoke", and equivalent competitor oils wasn't going to hack it in the USA. Not a real world test, but..


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## dgfitz (Nov 19, 2007)

*Broke Ready 600*

Yea, the first batches of Br's around here really were junk, most of the
lawn guys quit buying them, caused a lot of hard feelings. The same is true of thier trimmers, lawn dudes hated them. The newer models have pretty well addressed the problems, except for the fuel mix, dealers are charging
a premium for the correct mix, which isn't helping the dealers reputations a lot. I ran a new Br600 last month in the heat and it did run well, very quite and gobs of power, but my friend said he will buy a two stroker next time.


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