Chinese parts on the way

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tickhound93

tickhound93

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Hey guys, new user and wanted to fill you in on some of the projects i have going, share my experiences and hopefully hear some of yours with the loved and hated chinese ebay parts.
I run a shop, i fix bikes, 4wheelers and saws. I will be the first to say this, i am NOT a saw guru, but i have schooling and experience behind me enough to where i fix customer saws, take used saws as trade ins, and in turn sell them.
In my area, stihl is about your best option for a saw, dealers are around, they have a good reputation, and there is little for competion from other brands. However, I am not a stihl dealer and cannot get oem parts ordered directly to me.
First off, customer machines get OEM parts only. I know they work and can stand behind them, however i own a fleet of stihl saws, and have decided to try aftermarket parts on my personal saws, to find out if they are junk, or are a feasible alternative to stihl OEM.
Saw number 1, an ms250 with a scored top end, given to me by a farmer. I ordered a huztl complete engine, cylinder, pan, crank, bearings, seals rings, piston pin, circlips pin bearing and of course the piston. Also cam with a nice LAZER plug, never even heard of them.
I assembled the saw, started it up, and went through break in. After an hour of use, it developed a lean condition, which i suspected because of the scored top end. i replaced impulse line and pick up line with OEM, to eliminate those as problems that caused the failure, problem persisted, i checked my intake manifold gaskets and intake rubber- all were fine. I suspected cheap crank seals. I pulled the clutch to check the seals, and i found a crank that had severe play. i tore down the engine, trying to find the root of the problem. I miced the am crank bearings, thinking they were smaller in diameter, and found that they were larger in diameter, but felt like new bearings. and all other measurements between am crank, pan and cylinder were identical to those of the oem. I then assebled the AM cylinder and pan with the OEM crank, and had no play. Next step is OEM bearings and seals on AM crank, pan and cylinder. I want to use this engine a s a guinea pig to test and stress AM parts, replacing AM parts should they fail with OEM to determine the true serviceability of each AM component.
Saw Number 2- 046 west coast i got for free, bad top end, larger clutch cover, dual spikes, 3/4 wrap handle, 36 inch far with 2 36 inch chains, one 404 and one 3/8. Being shipped to my door as we speak are a AM bb top end and dual port muffler kit. I will port this cylinder, adjust squish, and bump compression to 185 if i can. I will test it and post results after wood making season is over.
Hit me with questions, concerns, and experiences.
And keep in mind, these are MY personal saws, not customers, these builds are for my experience and others who want to know what these AM parts are all about.
 
In all fairness. There are a number of threads here already on "parts reviews" or the such-like of many of the sellers on Ebay.
Some of the parts work good, some do not -- some are good quality, some are far less desirable. That being said there are some members here who are selling their stuff, and others who are actively involved with web stores and directly importing from various suppliers. Perhaps one or more will chime in along the way in this thread. If not, perhaps someone more proficient than myself with the search feature could post a few links. Happy Sawing!
 
William Balaska said:
Moral of the story, Chinese saw parts are junk.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's actually what the moral of the OP's post was. He's testing parts on a per part basis instead of lumping all chinese parts together as junk. Most people agree that a lot of chinese made products are junk, but it's interesting to find out what is actually decent. Chinese manufacturing can be good, it's just that most of the products are made as cheaply as possible. There are intellectual property/copyright issues that are a different problem though.
 
Update on the MS250 Chinese engine. In my original post, I said that the crank was loose, causing the crank seals to fail and develop a lean condition. Today my oem stihl crank bearings and seal showed up. I planned to put the OEM bearings on the AM crank, install the OEM seals, and test it. When I was pulling the bearings off the AM crank, they simply slid right off. I thought maybe the inner bearing race ID was too small on the AM bearings, so I put the new OEM bearings on the crank, and was able to slide them on and off by hand. No good. deciding I would be fair to the Chinese motor, I took the oem crank and bearings out of the original motor and installed them in the AM cylinder, hoping to get a solid bottom end, and test the durability of the AM clinder. after assembling the entire saw and starting it, the same lean condition occurred. I removed the clutch and wiggled the crank-excessive play. THe bearing journals are too large for both AM and OEM bearings. So as far as this Chinese engine goes, it is complete junk and will not run. Hopefully you guys find this useful or interesting. I have contacted HUZTL explaining to them the problem, and hopefully they will send me a new engine to try. I am not so worried about the 36 dollar loss I will have if they wont warranty or exchange it, I am just trying to provide experience for others. As of right now I will acid clean the old cylinder- aluminum transfer but no scoring, try a different AM piston, and assemble using all OEM parts except for the piston, and see how that goes. If huztl sends me a new engine, I will put it in an 025 and see if it works. Hopefully huztl will stand by their engine, after all, this thread was started to review AM parts options as well as their manufacturers.
 
Another update. Saw is running again. Thanks to mastermind for posting a video how to clean aluminum transfer. I was able to salvage the OEM cylinder now the only thing in the saw that is not stihl is the piston. Huztl emailed me back and asked for pictures of the junk engine, and wanted Mr to send it back to hong Kong, which was a fairly rapid and reasonable reply, so they seem like they are easy to work with. Now waiting on parts for the 046 :)
 
046 is running once again, after what has been more than likely 8 years, i got the saw with a roached top end 4 years ago.
The setup:
046 magnum west coast style, larger clutch cover and oil pump, 3/4 wrap and dual spikes. I purchased an AM big bore top end to try out, assembled and checked squish, was at .065 with a .020 base gasket. I removed material from the bottom of the cylinder to achieve .020 squish with the base gasket. port timing has changed, but seems to run great. AM dual port kit, works pretty good. new crank bearings and seals, chinese intake rubber, am clutch and drum, and a few odds and ends im probably forgetting. I did the port work myself, widened and smoothed them out. Compression test with 5 min of run time is at 185. very snappy. going to put it head to head with the stock 046 arctic with a baileys top end, but i already know which will throw better chips. now to test longevity. weather is cooling down here in iowa so the saw will see some heavy use in the next month. We had about 20 big oaks on the ground 4 years ago, we have worked all the tops and limbs on all but 1 so now we are left with the trunks. to ported and bb saw will wear a 24 inch skip tooth with an 8 pin sprocket to start, have to see how that setup handles hard oak. the stock 046 sports a 28 inch with a skip tooth and a 7 pin to start. Ask questions about AM parts if you want, i may try to get a camera bought and take some videos, but they arent all that helpful in my opinion. happy sawing, and good luck to deer hunters! i am pumped. iowa archery season is only 17 days away.
 
Watching for updates as I'm curious about AM parts quality


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
StihlZ said:
Watching for updates as I'm curious about AM parts quality


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I can tell you right now, why wait? Chinese parts are hit and miss, inconsistent. Be careful if you order a clutch drum for a Stihl because the one I ordered was too shallow to work the oiler lever. I noticed it was shallower than the original by about an eighth inch or so and it didn't make contact. That was for a 290. I ended up buying one at the local shop..
 
Took the 046 ported bb out yesterday for the first time. Cuts like raped ape! Shocked the hell out of me. Ran one tank of double mix through it and went home. Out of curiosity I pulled the muffler cover to check stuff out. I should have left the cover on..cylinder scoring on the intake side. No idea how that is possible in one tank? I will pull cylinder tonight and have s look.
Its looking like aftermarket is not going to be an option for me as fas as engine parts go... Sigh
 
Sound like either the saw was run lean (which is why it felt so strong) or you have an air leak.

Did you make sure the saw was four stroking before it was in the cut? Also, I know builders recommend keeping a saw a little rich until it breaks in. May not run a s strong too rich, but it will break in better.
 
Definite 4;stroke I doubt it was much over 11k. I know how to tune a saw and a race bike. Piston is scuffed on intake side as well. Have cylinder off will check OOR tomorrow. It is possible after porting I didn't clean up the piston and cylinder enough, but I doubt it. Brake cleaner scrubbed it in a sink full of purple power and scalding water, passed the white rag testvafter cleaning. I know the carb was adjusted according to a fresh rebuild. Keepnin mind these are no name am parts anythingbis possible
 

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