mcginkleschmidt
ArboristSite Member
As a longtime owner of a John Deere 50V (rebranded Echo CS452VL) purchased around 1979, I am looking for advice from people with experience and knowledge of chainsaw operation to help diagnose my hard-starting problem. I’m just a homeowner but I learned to cut and to fell trees as an ol’ farm boy who used to cut pulpwood with a two-man crosscut saw on a family farm and haul it and load it by hand onto a railroad car for cash money.
In the last six years the saw has seen minimal use, primarily because starting it has become nearly impossible. Up until then my saw was always easy to start. For the hard starting problem I last took my saw in 2006 to a servicing dealer that sells Stihl chainsaws and was also a former Echo dealer. After keeping the saw for about six weeks, the dealer called and said my saw was ready for pickup and the price tag was $29.25. The printed invoice showed the service included checking out the coil and adjusting the carburetor.
After paying at the register, the attendant went out back to an outside building to retrieve my saw. I waited in front of the store for about thirty minutes and, finally after I thought the guy had forgotten me and left for the day, he finally brought my saw around to the front of the store where I was waiting. I started my saw to see if it started easier than before and after a couple of pulls the saw started and seemed to run fine.
I took my saw home and it sat unused for several months before I used it to cut a large oak tree that was growing too close to my house. When I went to start my saw, the same as before I took my saw in for service, it took about a half hour to get the saw to running. After many pulls of the rope, the saw would intermittently fire and at times it would fire up and run for about 5 to 20 seconds. During this time the engine would noticeably misfire many times but after repeated attempts to start the saw, each time the run time became longer and longer until the saw would begin to run normally. Once started, as long as the saw was kept running and hot, the saw would appear to run well.
Earlier that day I had attached a pulling rope near the treetop and had notched the tree and I had asked my son-in-law to come by on his way from work to pull the tree as I felled it. Well, my son-in-law forgot about me and my saw had cooled down for a couple or more hours. When I reminded him, my son-in-law came by and during the arduous chore of trying again to start a cold saw, he noticed an occasional spark jump outside the saw as I was pulling the starting rope. Once the saw was started I felled the tree, limbed it and cut the trunk into firewood size length. During the couple of hours it took to process the tree, the saw ran without a hitch. The saw was stopped only long enough to fill with fuel and bar lube and was not allowed to cool.
In looking back at the last time the saw was serviced, the attendant, who was not the service technician, who took so long to bring my saw around to the storefront, was probably out back faced with the same problem I brought my saw in for, trying to get it started. He probably ran it enough to warm it up so when I did a test start, it seemed OK at the time.
I’m thinking that my problem is probably an electrical one. The dealer who last serviced my saw didn’t charge much but, but on the other hand, they didn’t do much. More recently, the on/off switch at the top of the right handle that is used to kill the engine stopped working and now I have to pull the choke rod to kill the engine. It seems that if the switch cannot shut off the circuit then it may be that it cannot effectively keep open the circuit reliably.
Some years ago Echo was kind to provide me a photocopy of their CS452VL Service Manual and pages 22 & 23 that covers the ignition portion is attached below. I would appreciate any ideas or comments about what is the most likely problem with my saw. Although I’m not handy enough and don’t have any test equipment to service my saw perhaps I can use your suggestions to discuss the problem with a service dealer.
Even though this saw is over 30 years of age, it probably has a lot of life left if I could easily start it. Finding parts may also be a problem unless suitable aftermarket parts can be found, e.g., MAYBE HERE
Thanks and my apology for my long post. I’ve posted very little here but I enjoy the site and am a longtime lurker.
In the last six years the saw has seen minimal use, primarily because starting it has become nearly impossible. Up until then my saw was always easy to start. For the hard starting problem I last took my saw in 2006 to a servicing dealer that sells Stihl chainsaws and was also a former Echo dealer. After keeping the saw for about six weeks, the dealer called and said my saw was ready for pickup and the price tag was $29.25. The printed invoice showed the service included checking out the coil and adjusting the carburetor.
After paying at the register, the attendant went out back to an outside building to retrieve my saw. I waited in front of the store for about thirty minutes and, finally after I thought the guy had forgotten me and left for the day, he finally brought my saw around to the front of the store where I was waiting. I started my saw to see if it started easier than before and after a couple of pulls the saw started and seemed to run fine.
I took my saw home and it sat unused for several months before I used it to cut a large oak tree that was growing too close to my house. When I went to start my saw, the same as before I took my saw in for service, it took about a half hour to get the saw to running. After many pulls of the rope, the saw would intermittently fire and at times it would fire up and run for about 5 to 20 seconds. During this time the engine would noticeably misfire many times but after repeated attempts to start the saw, each time the run time became longer and longer until the saw would begin to run normally. Once started, as long as the saw was kept running and hot, the saw would appear to run well.
Earlier that day I had attached a pulling rope near the treetop and had notched the tree and I had asked my son-in-law to come by on his way from work to pull the tree as I felled it. Well, my son-in-law forgot about me and my saw had cooled down for a couple or more hours. When I reminded him, my son-in-law came by and during the arduous chore of trying again to start a cold saw, he noticed an occasional spark jump outside the saw as I was pulling the starting rope. Once the saw was started I felled the tree, limbed it and cut the trunk into firewood size length. During the couple of hours it took to process the tree, the saw ran without a hitch. The saw was stopped only long enough to fill with fuel and bar lube and was not allowed to cool.
In looking back at the last time the saw was serviced, the attendant, who was not the service technician, who took so long to bring my saw around to the storefront, was probably out back faced with the same problem I brought my saw in for, trying to get it started. He probably ran it enough to warm it up so when I did a test start, it seemed OK at the time.
I’m thinking that my problem is probably an electrical one. The dealer who last serviced my saw didn’t charge much but, but on the other hand, they didn’t do much. More recently, the on/off switch at the top of the right handle that is used to kill the engine stopped working and now I have to pull the choke rod to kill the engine. It seems that if the switch cannot shut off the circuit then it may be that it cannot effectively keep open the circuit reliably.
Some years ago Echo was kind to provide me a photocopy of their CS452VL Service Manual and pages 22 & 23 that covers the ignition portion is attached below. I would appreciate any ideas or comments about what is the most likely problem with my saw. Although I’m not handy enough and don’t have any test equipment to service my saw perhaps I can use your suggestions to discuss the problem with a service dealer.
Even though this saw is over 30 years of age, it probably has a lot of life left if I could easily start it. Finding parts may also be a problem unless suitable aftermarket parts can be found, e.g., MAYBE HERE
Thanks and my apology for my long post. I’ve posted very little here but I enjoy the site and am a longtime lurker.
