MS250 tough to start...anyone else have this experience?

[lambs]

I helped a friend's wife pick out an MS250 for her husband a couple years' ago. It made a nice Father's Day gift!

He loves the saw, and doesn't run it a lot, but it's been fine for him. I'd guess he has less than 20 hours on it.

I met with him a couple weeks ago to cut some wood, and he called the night before to say he couldn't get his saw to start....I thought no problem, I'll get it running tomorrow. Probably needed fresh gas, cleaned air filter, maybe a fresh plug. Nope.

Plug was wet (hmm), it had spark, and the air filter was almost pristine, but we cleaned it anyway. We pulled the plug, aired it out for a half hour, tried again with no luck. So I had to tell him to take it to the dealer and see what was going on. Last night my friend called to say there was nothing wrong with the saw, but the dealer told him he was starting it wrong and flooding it every time.

New starting procedure: full choke, pull starter cord no more than twice. On one of these pulls the saw is supposed to "spit", but my friend tells me the mechanic said this was not audible, you just feel it in the rope somehow. Then go to half choke and the saw will start. It does.

They also told him if the saw had been run anytime earlier in the same day, restart with half choke only.

Anyone else experience this with the MS250? And does anyone have any idea what the term "spit" means? I thought maybe we're supposed to look for tobacco juice on the ground or something....but he says it's something about the way the recoil feels on it. So I imagine it's got something to do with the intake stroke on the piston. Or the particular carb on that model.

So I've told my buddy to practice it a few times and be glad the saw starts that quickly, but if you guys have any wisdom about what's going on, I'd love to hear it. I think we need to give it a good run buried in some wood and check the plug color if it's running that rich. I've not cut with him before, so I've not heard the saw run. And I imagine the carb screw limiters might not allow much lean adjustment and perhaps they didn't want to tell him that.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[w8ye]

I have a late version 025 and it starts like all my other saws with a prominent fire with the choke on.

It is not a "Easy Start" and has no compression release. You have to approach it firmly or it will jerk the handle out of your fingers.

There's no problem in the power department.

I've changed the carb to the WT-215 ($20.99) and modded the muffler but that didn't change the way it started. The needles on the WT-215 are stihl at the factory setting as the saw ran correct without changing the carb.

 

[David (saltas)]

Standard stihl starting like the dealer said ( it is in the owners manual too)

Master control lever to choke, Pull until it coughs,spits (insert any local vernacular for the engine tried to start) (usualy only 2 pulls)

Move Master control lever to fast idle and pull again.

When it starts give the throttle a short quick pull and the Master control lever will move up to idle position.

Full choke two quick pulls and change to fast idle and pull once or twice is not "HARD TO START"

 

[deye223]

i have experienced what the dealer said a few times on the 2nd pull on choke. hard to explain just as you start the pull it feels like somthing helped the flywheel to turn most of the time i get a good cough but somtimes just that feeling ps saw is a ms260

 

[CentaurG2]

Welcome to the wonderful world of stihl. The “spit” or cough is a slight burble as the saw tries to start. It is sometimes not audible and you half to “feel” it. One pull too many and the saw floods out. I have an ms361 that loves to pull the same stunt. First start of the day is always good but any start thereafter is a crap shoot. Add in multiple users on a tree crew and you spend half you day trying to unflood that POS. The joke wears a bit thin when you are 75ft up in an aerial bucket and you get to contemplating about the ms361. You know, the saw that is so good it can cure leprosy and pull the moon out of orbit but can it fly?? Replaced it with a dolmar 5100 and have never looked back.

As a side note, you can unflood the saw at any time. Set the stupid simple switch one click down onto run. Using tape or a third hand, depress throttle to full and pull the starter rope vigorously. It may take 18 to 35 pulls but the saw will clear and fire up. Good luck.

 

[PEKS]

My Brother-in-Law bought a brand new MS250 last week.
Same issue, flooded the snot out of it.
Plug was soaked.
Let it sit a few hours, 30 some pulls and he was able to join me.
(I was cutting down his pines)

 

[maccall]

New starting procedure: full choke, pull starter cord no more than twice. On one of these pulls the saw is supposed to "spit", but my friend tells me the mechanic said this was not audible, you just feel it in the rope somehow. Then go to half choke and the saw will start. It does.

All modern Stihl is supposed to be started the same way: If cold then choke on, pull 'til it pops, choke off, pull 'til it starts. If warm then skip choke, pull 'til it starts, if it's grumpy then put it on fast idle first, then pull 'til it starts. But some models are reported to be more easily flooded that others, and for those the above description is what they want to get started. 361 is one of those that gets flooded easily, but I haven't heard of the 250 being one. Nevertheless, if that's what that specific saw wants to be happy, then just do it that way! My 250 has never flooded as I can remember, but it's an Easy2Start so things might be different.

 

[wyk]

In my experience, unless they are muffler-modded and richened up some, the 250's have a tendency to flood due to an almost inaudible 'cough' while being choked. Pull it no more than 3 times fully choked, then go to the high idle setting and pull until it starts. A muffler mod and a high adjustment pretty much opened all the way to the stops turns this saw into a very capable saw.

 

[stan23]

I follow the directions in the manual pages 35-36 to the letter. My dealer warned me it could flood if I did otherwise. Usually starts 3rd pull cold; 1st pull warm.

 

[s219]

The Stihls I have used recently all had a detectable "burble" when first starting with choke on -- if not audible, you can tell by vibration or shake. Usually it's after 2 pulls, but sometimes it takes 3-4 pulls, especially if the saw was stored with the fuel drained (no purge bulbs on these saws, so expect to take at least one pull for fuel to flow).

I have seen someone try to start a warmed up 250 with the choke on. We roped the saw up to a fellow working to clear a tree off a roof, and he did not realize the saw had been recently run, so he choked it and flooded it real quick. But I think almost any saw will flood if you try to start it warm with choke on.

As CentaurG2 noted, the real issue is a "lukewarm" saw, when you don't know how warm the saw is, so it's hard to tell whether to choke or not. Based on experience with my 261, I would only choke again if the saw has cooled down for 5-6 hours or more.

 

[lambs]

Standard stihl starting like the dealer said ( it is in the owners manual too)

Master control lever to choke, Pull until it coughs,spits (insert any local vernacular for the engine tried to start) (usualy only 2 pulls)

Move Master control lever to fast idle and pull again.

When it starts give the throttle a short quick pull and the Master control lever will move up to idle position.

Full choke two quick pulls and change to fast idle and pull once or twice is not "HARD TO START"

Unless doing so floods the saw.

I think what my friend is missing is the engine doesn't cough, spit, mis-fire, etc. All of mine make that sound. What he's been told is that it is not audible. So I'll see if he has any more issues with it. I think he tried to start it on full choke repeatedly because there was no sound of an attempt to fire. What he needs to do is pull it a couple times on full choke and then move on to half and work it from there. It sounds like a common issue with the 361 too.

Not having any problems with my 261 yet. But it definitely burbles to tell you it's time to come off the full choke. My 039 is the same way.

Anyways, thanks for all the comments guys. It sounds like what the dealer is calling a "spit" is just the same thing we all observe on a cold saw set for full choke. That was really what I was trying to sort out.

 

[dingeryote]

Absolutely normal for the 250. They are a prissy little snot that must have thier way, or they flood in a tantrum.

2-3 with the choke and no more. Ours drove me nuts when the wife brought it home, and untill I gave in to the "Ritual", rather than waiting to hear a cough, fart or wheeze.

If you run it when it's below freezing, and set it down for more than 20 Min. do NOT be tempted to use the full choke.
The saw is just waiting to fool you into doing that. Don't let it. Half choke and go, or it will flood to the gills in defiance.

Great Little saws that are overlooked, underrated, and berated by the unwashed.
Ya just gotta learn to work with thier snotty little spoiled attitude on some things.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[OH_Varmntr]

One thing I love about my Stihls is how consistant they are when starting, whether it be cold or hot. Except for my POS MS180C. Not very fond of that little guy.

All of my running Stihls are MM'd (- the 180) and blurble on the 2nd or 3rd pull on full choke. High idle and 1 pull they all start right up.

When they're hot or just warm, they fire right up most of the time without a full pull of the rope.

 

[76Paw]

My MS250 is the easiest saw to start that I have ever run. Pull 1 time on full choke or cold start, then switch to warm start and pull till starts (usually 1 more pull). After it has warmed up it cranks on idle with 1 pull.

My 026 by contrast requires at least 1/2 dozen pulls on cold start to get it to burp, then several more on warm start to get it to crank.

Just avoid over choking the MS saws and they really do start easy.