026 Hard Starting Cold

[Tim Gardner]

Thank you Stihltech. I put a new fuel line on so it is good. After replacing the tank I put fuel in it and it fired up with 2 or 3 pulls even with dry lines and carb and it ran fine. Next day I fired it up and notched a pine. Before I could move around to do the back cut it started acting this way.

The bad part was having to finish the job with a Husky 51. Same displacement as the 026 but does not come close to the performance even with a 16” bar.

 

[Mange]

Did you air test it?

Mange

 

[monel_funkawitz]

It is something acting up in the carb.

If it is a crankcase leak, it is not going to run great one day and not the next. Worn crank seals make the engine want to race and go lean.

I'd tear the carb apart again and see if you missed anything. I've never had a 026 or a Stihl carb apart yet, but lots of other ones. I have a Homelite xl-12 from hell that would do the same thing with a new rebuild kit. First day it ran fine. The next day the little flap valves on the diaphram curled and it would not start without a shot of gas. Got that fixed, and got a intermitent spark. Turns out the condenser was lightly shorted and drawing down the voltage on the mag. Ripped off the condenser, and it finally runs again. It still needs some more work before it goes back on my chainsaw mill though.

 

[Tim Gardner]

Thank you again Stilhtech. You nailed it. Air leak on the flywheel side. I used the impulse line to blow air into the crankcase (not with a compressor) and could hear the leak. Brought the saw to the shop and they confirmed it. They replaced the seal and double checked the carb for me.