Aftermarket cylinder and piston for MS201TC

[Cogito]

Has anyone got an opinion on aftermarket brands. I need a cylinder and piston kit for an MS201TC. Have seen Meteor and Tacsum online plus some ‘genuine’ Stihl ones that are too cheap to be real.

 

[cgeb]

Meteor or Hyway for aftermarket.

 

[Cogito]

Cheers, the Meteor seem readily available at a reasonable price.

 

[Ketchup]

Meteor or Hyway piston/rings are fine, jugs are sub standard. You can usually find an OEM used 201t jug at fair price on Ebay.

 

[Cogito]

I’m a bit hesitant to use different piston and cylinder. I’m certainly no expert but it makes sense to me to use matched parts. I don’t know how fine the tolerances are but I often hear numbers in thousands of an inch (10um in the same world). If those photos work you should be able to see the minor damage to the cylinder and the piston that caused it.

 

[Cogito]

(sane world)

 

[Mad Professor]

How did the piston skirt get broke off?

 

[Cogito]

I’d rather not say. The saw was purchased cheap from a guy who thought he new more about saws than he did. Stupid thing is that I noticed the lack of curclip securing the piston pin?? But then forgot about it when I put it back together. I’m sure you can complete the rest of the story.

 

[67L36Driver]

‘White box’ piston, rings & cylinder kit has a problem with the piston and cylinder transfer port ‘spigot’ clearing the crank counterweights.

Bottom of piston:

Both sides. [emoji2959]



Modified transfer port ‘spigot’.

A short time with a course sanding drum in the Dremel takes care of the problem.

Loose main bearings will cause damage like the OP posted.

 

[Ketchup]

I’m a bit hesitant to use different piston and cylinder. I’m certainly no expert but it makes sense to me to use matched parts. I don’t know how fine the tolerances are but I often hear numbers in thousands of an inch (10um in the same world). If those photos work you should be able to see the minor damage to the cylinder and the piston that caused it.

I have put Meteor pistons in many OEM 201t without issue. Another thought is that the latest Version 201tc-m has a popup dome piston and matched combustion chamber that makes more power. It would be a spendy upgrade, but a good one.

‘White box’ piston, rings & cylinder kit has a problem with the piston and cylinder transfer port ‘spigot’ clearing the crank counterweights.

Bottom of piston:

Both sides. [emoji2959]



Modified transfer port ‘spigot’.

A short time with a course sanding drum in the Dremel takes care of the problem.

Loose main bearings will cause damage like the OP posted.

After the piston carnage the OP showed I wouldn’t trust the bearings.

 

[Ketchup]

@Cogito, is that Cylinder scored or just damaged at the transfer lower? If the plating and ports aren’t damaged I would clean it up and run it.
Also:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/STIIHL-MS2...p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

 

[Cogito]

The cylinder is clean inside. There’s just the minor damage to the transfer port. To my amateur eye there doesn’t appear to be any damage in the crankcase. I don’t think I have the tools or the know how to split it open.

 

[67L36Driver]

The main bearings are drawn cup rollers. The crankcase will separate with little effort. Unlike press fit ball bearings.

[emoji106]

 

[Ketchup]

Yeah, splitting one of these is about as easy as it gets. You do have to press out the old bearings and press in new but that can be done with a long bolt and a couple washers.

It’s possible you don’t need to. Take off the coil and gently spin the flywheel through several revolutions. I hold the con rod with my other hand. Feel for any catches or rough spots in the rotation of the crank. Do it several times. These roller bearings are surprisingly durable. If everything feels fluid and smooth, you can run it.



Edit: Zooming in on your photos it looks like your transfer uppers got pretty boogered. You might want a new jug. Sorry to get you hopes up. The one I linked on ebay is affordable, though you may have to sand it.

 

[Cogito]

Sorry, I'm not fluent in the lingo. I think the transfer upper is what I've called the transfer port (with 'spigot' added by 67L36Driver) and jug is the cylinder? I'm planning on replacing that and the piston. Just tossing up whether to split the crank case. If I do it would make sense to me to replace all the bearings and seals and I assume I would need a new gasket. I guess I would prefer to avoid that extra cost but it would be frustrating to put it all back together only to find issues with the crank.

 

[Ketchup]

You’ve got it. Sorry about the lingo. The transfers feed fuel/air mix from the case to the cylinder. The “spigot” is the lower opening to the transfers that fits down into the case. Yours has a big gouge out of it from piston debris. The transfer “uppers” are the ports on the sides of the cylinder bore (two small squarish ports per side, 4 total). Yours appear to be damaged. They will not flow properly and will gouge the piston and rings. So yeah replace piston, rings and cylinder.
Cheap option: Used Oem cylinder, Meteor piston kit. $100-$150
Expensive option: Stihl 201tc-m V2(3?) cylinder kit. $280?
Bad option: Hyway or Meteor Cylinder kit. $150+
Terrible idea: Unbranded or Huztl/Farmertec Cylinder Kit. $50-$100

As for the bearings, it’s like I said above.
Check the crank slowly and carefully, if it moves fluidly all the way around it should be fine. Grinding or sticky spots are bad. Radial movement is also bad (lateral play is normal, they all slide side to side in the case a few mm). If you decide to do new bearings Stihl sells a gasket kit with seals in it that is a lot cheaper than ordering individual parts.

 

[Cogito]

Cheers. I’ve been having trouble getting clear photos of the cylinder wall. To me, it looks and feels very clean. No scratches or scoring or anything protruding from the ports. There is definitely carbon build up in the exhaust and crank case ports as there was on the top of the piston. There were scratches on the piston but no corresponding scratches on the rings or cylinder wall. That suggested to me that the cylinder and rings had been replaced. I have no idea why you wouldn’t replace the piston at the same time. It was my **** up that caused the catastrophic failure. I’m in Australia and I think I was quoted $700 for an OEM kit.

 

[67L36Driver]

If it were me, I’d replace that piston for sure. Meteor would be good.

 

[Cogito]

I think I’ve found a second hand OEM piston and cylinder that look to be in good condition. $300 AUD but that includes a crank case with crank, carby, drive sprocket, top handle, side cover and exhaust.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Hi Cogito, from the images, I can’t see any problem with that cylinder? Ketchup can you share the image where you see the damage?

Cogito, where in Perth are you? Drop me a pm.