Woody33
ArboristSite Lurker
Hi Everyone,
Its my first post on AS but I've been following the site for about a month now. I know a little about small engines and have spent lots of time with chainsaws (captain of the lumberjack team in college so I got to play with Stihl 026,044,066 etc.) and I've recently started my own collection of chainsaws with an 026 and an 044. Picked them both up on kijiji for a great price and to my surprise they were both in top condition putting out slightly over 150psi on the compression tester - the 026 was bought to drop 3 maples in a backyard and then never used again! Anyhow, through my continued readings on AS, I decided to port them both. I started with a MM but more and more reading led to the decision to moderately port the 044 and (attempt) a more aggressively port the 026. The 044 turned out awesome! I ported the intake and exhaust (without raising, lowering or widening the ports) trimmed the fat off the piston windows, and removed the excess material on the bottom of the transfer ports (again without raising, lowering or widening etc.). I also raised the squish by removing the stock gasket and replaced it with a beer can gasket. I slapped on a dual port muffler and am quite pleased with the results.
For the 026 I ported the intake and widened it to within 2mm of the piston skirts, did the same for the exhaust but never raised or lowered them. I removed the excess material on the bottom of the transfer ports and slightly widened them towards the uppers and angled them. I trimmed the fat from the piston windows and of course, I drilled out the stock muffler to add a MM as well to accept the extra flow. I never screwed around with the squish and left the stock base gasket in place. I also replaced the rings as well while I was in there.
I bought a can of the STIHL pre-mix 93 octane $10 a liter fuel and was hoping the saw would scream right out of the gate but it didn't. It would idle when the saw was cold but when I gave it throttle it would bog out and stall (I say "bog" and "stall" because I am inexperienced and don't know if this is in fact because it is running too rich). I tried to tune the carb (it has both H/L adjustment screws) and I could at one point really get the saw to scream (but I know its running real lean and that's not good) and it had no power in the cut. I spent a good hour just trying to set the idle, and then the H adjustment but it seems I can't find the optimal spot. I can set it to idle good, but I either need to slowly "pulse" or "blip" the throttle to get it revving high (in which it will eventually stall) or if I just go WOT it stalls flat out. I've tried turning down the L adjustment screw etc, and think I have tried damn near every combination of both the H and L adjustment screws and nothing will let the saw at WOT. This is where my inexperience kicks in and I'm at a loss. I have read more and see most people have 044 carbs in ported 026's which leads to one of my questions: do you think this port job is "aggressive" enough to require a larger carb like that from an 044? Could there be an air leak somewhere as the idle is quite inconsistent (sometimes it idles nicely but if I blip the throttle the idle starts increasing) and now the best way to describe the running condition of the saw is "messy". The best tune job I can do is to have the saw at WOT and not stalling but rev up to peak rpm and then die down and then rev back up to peak rpm and die down again over and over with an obvious lack of power in the cut. I'm just going form memory from last weekend when I had a chance to play with the saw again but before I start throwing money at a new carb etc. I thought some AS members could shed some light on my problem.
Thanks in advance guys!
P.S. - I mostly used the ported 026/stock 026 comparison post from Mastermind to do the work...thanks Mastermind!
Its my first post on AS but I've been following the site for about a month now. I know a little about small engines and have spent lots of time with chainsaws (captain of the lumberjack team in college so I got to play with Stihl 026,044,066 etc.) and I've recently started my own collection of chainsaws with an 026 and an 044. Picked them both up on kijiji for a great price and to my surprise they were both in top condition putting out slightly over 150psi on the compression tester - the 026 was bought to drop 3 maples in a backyard and then never used again! Anyhow, through my continued readings on AS, I decided to port them both. I started with a MM but more and more reading led to the decision to moderately port the 044 and (attempt) a more aggressively port the 026. The 044 turned out awesome! I ported the intake and exhaust (without raising, lowering or widening the ports) trimmed the fat off the piston windows, and removed the excess material on the bottom of the transfer ports (again without raising, lowering or widening etc.). I also raised the squish by removing the stock gasket and replaced it with a beer can gasket. I slapped on a dual port muffler and am quite pleased with the results.
For the 026 I ported the intake and widened it to within 2mm of the piston skirts, did the same for the exhaust but never raised or lowered them. I removed the excess material on the bottom of the transfer ports and slightly widened them towards the uppers and angled them. I trimmed the fat from the piston windows and of course, I drilled out the stock muffler to add a MM as well to accept the extra flow. I never screwed around with the squish and left the stock base gasket in place. I also replaced the rings as well while I was in there.
I bought a can of the STIHL pre-mix 93 octane $10 a liter fuel and was hoping the saw would scream right out of the gate but it didn't. It would idle when the saw was cold but when I gave it throttle it would bog out and stall (I say "bog" and "stall" because I am inexperienced and don't know if this is in fact because it is running too rich). I tried to tune the carb (it has both H/L adjustment screws) and I could at one point really get the saw to scream (but I know its running real lean and that's not good) and it had no power in the cut. I spent a good hour just trying to set the idle, and then the H adjustment but it seems I can't find the optimal spot. I can set it to idle good, but I either need to slowly "pulse" or "blip" the throttle to get it revving high (in which it will eventually stall) or if I just go WOT it stalls flat out. I've tried turning down the L adjustment screw etc, and think I have tried damn near every combination of both the H and L adjustment screws and nothing will let the saw at WOT. This is where my inexperience kicks in and I'm at a loss. I have read more and see most people have 044 carbs in ported 026's which leads to one of my questions: do you think this port job is "aggressive" enough to require a larger carb like that from an 044? Could there be an air leak somewhere as the idle is quite inconsistent (sometimes it idles nicely but if I blip the throttle the idle starts increasing) and now the best way to describe the running condition of the saw is "messy". The best tune job I can do is to have the saw at WOT and not stalling but rev up to peak rpm and then die down and then rev back up to peak rpm and die down again over and over with an obvious lack of power in the cut. I'm just going form memory from last weekend when I had a chance to play with the saw again but before I start throwing money at a new carb etc. I thought some AS members could shed some light on my problem.
Thanks in advance guys!
P.S. - I mostly used the ported 026/stock 026 comparison post from Mastermind to do the work...thanks Mastermind!
