Echo CS-490 DEAD after 11.5 months?

[Bobby Kirbos]

LUS,
If the cylinder is indeed scored, it sounds like the saw may have been running lean and not getting enough lubrication. Echo saws are set notoriously lean out of the box. Did you ever retune the saw or did you run it with the factory carb settings?

 

[Frank Rizzo]

Oh ! Canada

 

[Listen Up Sonny]

LUS,
If the cylinder is indeed scored, it sounds like the saw may have been running lean and not getting enough lubrication. Echo saws are set notoriously lean out of the box. Did you ever retune the saw or did you run it with the factory carb settings?

I have not done anything to it other than add fuel, bar oil, and sharpen the chain except put an Echo tune up kit on it once it started giving me problems.

How do you know this to be true about them not covering a warranty?

Well, Randy, they pretty much told me that the only cause was bad gas and they were very unlikely to cover it. They told me it would be $40 to find out for sure.

 

[Frank Rizzo]

I have not done anything to it other than add fuel, bar oil, and sharpen the chain except put an Echo tune up kit on it once it started giving me problems.

Well, Randy, they pretty much told me that the only cause was bad gas and they were very unlikely to cover it. They told me it would be $40 to find out for sure.

Another Rip-off-ski

 

[NeSurfcaster]

Air leak? Might be warrantied when they "diagnosis it", if they pressure/vacuum test it.

 

[holeycow]

But wait! Echo has a 5 year warranty.



There are many accounts of them not honouring a warranty. I have no direct experience with this.

I did what “everybody” else does and pulled the limiters and did a light muffler mod before my cs590 had even 15 minutes on it, thereby voiding the “warranty”.

Apparently, that’s what you do with Echo saws, as the Echo cheerleading squad purports.

Not to mention the strategy of defrauding the “warranty” as suggested by the “squad” in case the “warranty” is ever required.

Ridiculous.

However, I am liking my cs590.

Not that it is anything particularly special. Just good value.

 

[HarleyT]

Just take out your phone, start taking movies, and call everybody a racist.
That has worked for years!!!

 

[Big Red Oaks 4 me]

Did you notice the saw "screaming" at higher rpm's before it blew-up? Could be that the high-speed mixture screw was in too far, but that's just another possibility.

 

[Listen Up Sonny]

However, I am liking my cs590.

Not that it is anything particularly special. Just good value.

I was liking the 490, too. So much so I was going to buy a CS-680.

I don't need anything special, just something the runs.

 

[holeycow]

threatening to charge you 40 bucks to tell you it’s not covered is pretty sad. It will likely take only 10 minutes to accurately diagnose the problem. I guess they have no interest in selling you another saw.

 

[Listen Up Sonny]

threatening to charge you 40 bucks to tell you it’s not covered is pretty sad. It will likely take only 10 minutes to accurately diagnose the problem. I guess they have no interest in selling you another saw.

It's not as linear as that although the end effect is the same for me.

Basically, Echo Corp. is different than an Echo Dealer. An Echo dealer is a private business that is contracted to sell/service Echo. Echo Corp. requires that you process the warranty claim through a dealer. In other words, you need to pay a private business to do the warranty claim for you. The $40 fee is 1/2hr labor to that private business. If they find that it is a warrantied issue, Echo pays the dealer. If they find that is not a warrantied issue, I pay the dealer and am still stuck with a junk saw.

The dealer is good in my opinion. We have a good history. Basically, he said he can do everything he can to help but its up to Echo Corp, and he said the odds are slim.

 

[holeycow]

It is pretty simple actually; Echo nor their dealer has any interest in retaining a customer.

Edit; I guess the dealer did offer a discount on a new saw.

 

[ericm979]

I bet Home Despot does not check the carb adjustment before their saws go out the door.

 

[quotedraven]

Any echo dealer can’t charge to look at it under warranty. I had bar nuts that kept stripping out where they mount into the saw was repaired twice under warranty no charge. I would take to a real saw shop.

 

[user 122190]

Like HD has a master Echo mechanic in the back gold-plating all Echo saws before they a lovingly sent to their new forever home.

I bet Home Despot does not check the carb adjustment before their saws go out the door.

 

[SteveSr]

FWIW, What would adding fuel stabilizer do to the mix? I bet it doesn't burn/cool like gasoline therefor making the mix even leaner. So if you take a borderline lean saw setup for 50:1 and then run 40:1 and possibly with fuel stabilizer and it pushes it over the edge.

Another consideration is what was the ambient temperature the saw was most run at? Cold temperatures mean denser air and leaner tuning. If a saw is tuned ant 70 and then run at 20 degrees that will make a noticeable difference in tuning.

 

[homemade]

I’d fill the saw with echo pre mixed fuel and pull it over a few times to get it sucked up into the carb.

Now tell them to prove it was a bad gas problem.

And what makes the lower priced saws so hard to work on, is the cost if suitable replacement parts and shop labor rate. If a cylinder, piston, oil seals, gaskets, spark plug, and the two to three hours of labor get close to 2/3 the cost of a new saw, it will be deemed “totaled”. Even an echo, Stihl, dolmar, pick your flavor dealership with certified mechanics in back, most of the time can’t purchase aftermarket parts to keep cost down. It would go against the dealership contracts.

 

[holeycow]

Throwaway saws. Like most things these days.

 

[bowtechmadman]

What mix ratio are you running? Who tuned the saw? How sharp is the chain kept? Please forgive my ignorance but what does an Echo Tune Up kit consist of????

 

[CR888]

I'd get some advice from resident echo dealer members & perhaps get the saw on a trusted bench. My guess is that saw is not beyond repair or successful warranty claim.