Help on a takedown

[purdyite]

Ok, I give up--how to you take off the plastic cover holding the air filter from the carb on a Stihl MS 291? What size are the nuts--7 mm? 8 mm? I don't have a nut driver that will go down the little hole and fit the nuts. Does it take a special tool?

Thanks for any help on this!

 

[pioneerguy600]

M5

 

[nckcalifornia]

Mmm my ms362 is 8mm / 5/16ths but maybe you mean it’s hard to get a socket/nut driver into the recess in the plastic air intake where the nut lives, which was definitely my experience. They make hollow handle nut drivers that may be a smaller O.D. than a deep socket and still reach down beyond the end of the stud sticking up. If I recall my solution was a ¼” drive deep socket seemed to just barely squeak in there.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

As pointed out- they are a metric 5mm stud, so that equates to an 8mm nut and requires a thin wall (access hole is around 11mm from memory) socket.
Several ways around this.
Quality long reach (or deep socket- whatever they are called where you live) 1/4" drive sockets are often fairly thin walled.
Buy a cheap long reach 8mm socket, chuck it in a battery drill and use your bench grinder to turn the outer diameter down to just shy of 11mm as the drill rotates the socket.
Go to the local Stihl dealers and buy the long shafted 8mm nut driver flat T handle tool that they sell- funnily enough, it fits these fasteners without any alteration- go figure! M8 X 200mm part number- 5910 890 2420.

 

[Okie]

Here is a neat inch/mm deep 1/4 inch drive socket set by Stanley that I use quite often and what I use for your mm deep hole removal of a stihl carb.
This is a nice little set, the sockets are thin walled but strong, comes with a ratchet and a long extension. Note the Stanley part number when you go looking. They are not as readily available as once were. You will find yourself reaching for this set quite often. I placed a rubber band or hair tie around the set just to make sure that the folding lip that holds the sockets in place is secure after I remove a socket to keep them from getting dumped. You will get the idea when you buy the set.
Wal-Mart usually has them. The better ones have a little steel pin on top of the ratchet to release the sockets and is a stronger ratchet like in the picture at the link. Some have a plastic reverse on top of the ratchet and are not as strong a ratchet but still ok.
I'm a mechanic/electrician/electronics tech and piddler and have about 3 sets readily available in my tool boxes and on the peg board at work bench and in the shop One set in my hunting vec across the bed tool box.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Stanley-1-4-in-Drive-6-Point-Socket-Set-16-Piece-89-199/203860257

 

[Abbeville TSI]

Snap On.

 

[Okie]

Snap On.

Yep. Snap on has some really good thin walled 1/4 sets. Kinda pricy.

I've got a Snap On 1/4 inch drive set (no metric) in a steel case that has very small sockets to 9/16 in regular socket and same sizes in deep thin wall and several different size extensions, flex drives, etc. I keep this set hidden and only dig it out for serious stuff.
I bought it in a pawn shop several years ago, back when a $1 bill was actually a dollar.

 

[purdyite]

Thanks for your replies... I have several deep socket brands, even the stanley--a universal socket set--and still couldn't get it in there. Since confirming it's an 8mm nut, I'll grind one down and get it in there. Again, thanks for the insights!

 

[Abbeville TSI]

I bought a starter set of SnapOn tools when I hired on as an apprentice mechanic at the local Chrysler Plymouth Dodge agency in 1968. When the Dodge Colt came on the scene it was necessary have metric tools. I never griped about, I embraced the opportunity to buy the needed tools. After all, to a tool user it's like getting a new chainsaw, you NEED it!
While I had to get larger tool storage units (SnapOn of course) very few of the tools have needed replacing.