My hard to start but does start STIHL 211

[Treeman2021]

My dear little STIHL 211 has always been a really mean to start chainsaw, after maybe an hour of going through no choke to half choke then full choke, then i sit down about five minuets and give it a try again with nothing happening except me getting tired.

I am pretty sure i am flooding it as i can remove the plug clean it and sometimes it fires right up, but again many times it won't start like today i pulled the plug three times cleaning it and pulling the cord to clear any excess gas out.

Then after the last plug cleaning and clearing it fired up, any ideas what i am doing or not doing with my 211?

My 211 does not have a compression release and is really hard

 

[Treeman2021]

I am guessing with 44 views and no comment as to what my problem is with my 211, maybe no one in the forum has a STIHL 211.

 

[coffeebrk]

I have a 211
What happens when you follow the proper steps in your manual when starting?

 

[Treeman2021]

I have a 211
What happens when you follow the proper steps in your manual when starting?

I think your heading me to my problem with getting my 211 started, after re-reading the user manual for the proper starting, i find i was not doing it correct i have been setting he choke in the full for warm weather not in the half position my problem is using the full choke first and flooding the 211.

The manual says push to full choke then move it to half choke position also you need to pull the starter cord a few times to get fuel to the carb.

Thank you for pointing me to follow the manual for getting the 211 started.

The manual also covers a flooding problem as i had found myself removing the spark plug cleaning off fuel and then pulling the starter cord to clear the cylinder.

 

[Treeman2021]

UPDATE:
There is nothing wrong with my saws fuel no water it's good to go and i understand now what has to be done.
Since there is no small fuel bulb to prime my saw you "MUST" get the fuel to the carb, STIHL has you pull the cord to draw fuel to carb but pull it all day without having the saw on "FULL" choke and your not going to get any fuel , you "MUST" use "FULL" choke and pull the starting cord until you smell gas.
Then the saw will start. Forget the STIHL manual use full choke smell gas saw starts it's that simple.

There is nothing wrong with my saws fuel no water it's good to go and i understand now what has to be done.
Since there is no small fuel bulb to prime my saw you "MUST" get the fuel to the carb, STIHL has you pull the cord to draw fuel to carb but pull it all day without having the saw on "FULL" choke and your not going to get any fuel , you "MUST" use "FULL" choke and pull the starting cord until you smell gas.
Even when the saw has been running you shut it off i find if you do not again use full choke saw will again resist your attemps at starting.
I again even as saw is warm i use full choke saw starts, problem is it was still not getting gas without using the full choke.

 

[coffeebrk]

If you are using fresh mix then possibly a carb kit is needed

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

Even stihl dealer couldnt get a locals 211 right. When it showed up to me they even forgot to put the af back on at the stihl shop.

I told them bring it back after they had those check it back over. Came back was still hard to start.

I fixed the hard start easily. Trimmed the tab for full adjustments. Starts easy now.

 

[Treeman2021]

Even stihl dealer couldnt get a locals 211 right. When it showed up to me they even forgot to put the af back on at the stihl shop.

I told them bring it back after they had those check it back over. Came back was still hard to start.

I fixed the hard start easily. Trimmed the tab for full adjustments. Starts easy now.

My local STIHL dealer can't get people to do even basic lawnmower repair and many of the older workers who know the products are retiring or just passing away.
Tday if one can't fix things themselves your about just out of luck, and many just trash their older tools and buy new ones in hopes they will work and keep working a while longer.

 

[coffeebrk]

I'll have to check and see if I pulled the limit caps when I rebuilt the carb on my ms211

 

[ZeroJunk]

I am the Stihl mechanic. And, a large part of what I do is start chainsaws for morons.

 

[stihltech]

Why in the H--- would anybody pull on a saw that long. Time to fix it.
Yes there is a proper procedure for starting. The longer a saw sits between uses, the harder it will be to start.
I have said it way too many times here-fresh fuel and check the water content on that. Half a dozen saws in the last week with water, both types of gas. New and old fuel.
Are they pretty lean to begin with? Yes. Thank you EPA.
Richening definitely helps, until it sits around with stale fuel again.
Sorry and no, this is not a fuel thread.

 

[ZeroJunk]

Why in the H--- would anybody pull on a saw that long. Time to fix it.
Yes there is a proper procedure for starting. The longer a saw sits between uses, the harder it will be to start.
I have said it way too many times here-fresh fuel and check the water content on that. Half a dozen saws in the last week with water, both types of gas. New and old fuel.
Are they pretty lean to begin with? Yes. Thank you EPA.
Richening definitely helps, until it sits around with stale fuel again.
Sorry and no, this is not a fuel thread.

I have a 55 gallon barrel I dump fuel in and when that gets full they come get it and I start on another. I keep a 5 gallon can of VP Racing 94 Octane 50 to 1 on the outside bench. I usually work outside. No particular reason on the VP other than we sell it. Use one of those pumps like for kerosene heaters. If i am suspicious I pour the fuel in a mason jar. I usually pull the plug out before I do anything. Wet or dry usually tells you what you need to know.

Either flooded or the owner just didn't quite get there. Sometimes on a big saw I will put my finger over the end of the hose and drip a little mix straight in the carb. Or, if it's flooded I'll take an air hose and blow down the plug hole and let it sit a while. If everything looks OK I'll put a spark tester in line.

That's the way I do most of it. But, lot of ways to skin a cat.

 

[lone wolf]

Why in the H--- would anybody pull on a saw that long. Time to fix it.
Yes there is a proper procedure for starting. The longer a saw sits between uses, the harder it will be to start.
I have said it way too many times here-fresh fuel and check the water content on that. Half a dozen saws in the last week with water, both types of gas. New and old fuel.
Are they pretty lean to begin with? Yes. Thank you EPA.
Richening definitely helps, until it sits around with stale fuel again.
Sorry and no, this is not a fuel thread.

To answer your first question because they don't know any better!

 

[Treeman2021]

To answer your first question because they don't know any better!

There is nothing wrong with my saws fuel no water it's good to go and i understand now what has to be done.
Since there is no small fuel bulb to prime my saw you "MUST" get the fuel to the carb, STIHL has you pull the cord to draw fuel to carb but pull it all day without having the saw on "FULL" choke and your not going to get any fuel , you "MUST" use "FULL" choke and pull the starting cord until you smell gas.
Then the saw will start. Forget the STIHL manual use full choke smell gas saw starts it's that simple.

Even when the saw has been running you shut it off i find if you do not again use full choke saw will again resist your attemps at starting.
I again even as saw is warm i use full choke saw starts, problem is it was still not getting gas without using the full choke.

 

[Treeman2021]

Even stihl dealer couldnt get a locals 211 right. When it showed up to me they even forgot to put the af back on at the stihl shop.

I told them bring it back after they had those check it back over. Came back was still hard to start.

I fixed the hard start easily. Trimmed the tab for full adjustments. Starts easy now.

There is nothing wrong with my saws fuel no water it's good to go and i understand now what has to be done.
Since there is no small fuel bulb to prime my saw you "MUST" get the fuel to the carb, STIHL has you pull the cord to draw fuel to carb but pull it all day without having the saw on "FULL" choke and your not going to get any fuel , you "MUST" use "FULL" choke and pull the starting cord until you smell gas.
Even when the saw has been running you shut it off i find if you do not again use full choke saw will again resist your attemps at starting.
I again even as saw is warm i use full choke saw starts, problem is it was still not getting gas without using the full choke.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

There is nothing wrong with my saws fuel no water it's good to go and i understand now what has to be done.
Since there is no small fuel bulb to prime my saw you "MUST" get the fuel to the carb, STIHL has you pull the cord to draw fuel to carb but pull it all day without having the saw on "FULL" choke and your not going to get any fuel , you "MUST" use "FULL" choke and pull the starting cord until you smell gas.

Why are you telling me about your fuel. ?

Told ya what I would be doing if here.

 

[Treeman2021]

Why are you telling me about your fuel. ?

Told ya what I would be doing if here.

I am just telling you that you really do not understand what the problem is and i again am trying to make you understand.
Hope this makes my post better understood.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

I am just telling you that you really do not understand what the problem is and i again am trying to make you understand.
Hope this makes my post better understood.

Ya have fun you enjoy now.

 

[ZeroJunk]

There is nothing wrong with my saws fuel no water it's good to go and i understand now what has to be done.
Since there is no small fuel bulb to prime my saw you "MUST" get the fuel to the carb, STIHL has you pull the cord to draw fuel to carb but pull it all day without having the saw on "FULL" choke and your not going to get any fuel , you "MUST" use "FULL" choke and pull the starting cord until you smell gas.
Then the saw will start. Forget the STIHL manual use full choke smell gas saw starts it's that simple.

Even when the saw has been running you shut it off i find if you do not again use full choke saw will again resist your attemps at starting.
I again even as saw is warm i use full choke saw starts, problem is it was still not getting gas without using the full choke.

I think what confuses me is they all work that way. Primer or not.
You pull the starter on full choke until you hear the saw fire. Pop. One time. Then you move it up one notch to high idle which takes it off choke. Then one to three pulls depending on the saw.

If you don't choke them then you pull til your arm gets tired and they may eventually start. Or, not.
If you continue to pull them after they fire with the choke on then they won't start until it thunders.

 

[stihltech]

The first words i hear when a saw comes in the shop that won't start."I run non ethanol fuel!. I proceed to dump the saw out into my glass quart jar. Over 50% of the time there will be a good amount of water in the jar. Yes I get very cynical when I hear that statement. Had three in the last two days.
Some of it was old. Some of it was one day old. Did it come from the pump or in the fuel can?
The other issue is tru fuel. Three in the last week that would not start until I put the shop fresh mix in them. Problem solved.
So when I hear my fuel is good- prove it.