jwalk2c
ArboristSite Lurker
Dear Folks,
I'll try to make this as short as possible but it’s a long story. About 5 years ago I bought a new
MS460. From day one saw has sounded much leaner than any other Sthil equipment I have.
It screams!!
And from day one about 10 minutes under load is all it will run, then it revs up like a saw does when running out of fuel and dies.
Of course when this first happened I took it back to dealer for warranty and they did their best to duplicate this in the shop but could not.
So the local Sthil Product Application Specialist was kind enough to come to my house where I could show him firsthand what I was experiencing.
The rep found a fuel supply line to carb that appeared to have been pinched from the factory. He repositioned line, we ran saw a few minutes and thought everything fine.
I did not use saw again until a couple months ago. (Long story short the firewood I cut over the next couple years I used my MS660 and MS260 and the MS460 sat on the shelve until about 2 months ago.
My firewood supply is about out so this year I am going to have to cut a bunch of wood.
I have heated with wood for the past 25 years, I never let myself get this low on wood but I had health issues and other projects that prevented me from cutting wood for the past 3 years or so.
So in March my next door neighbor gave me a tree to saw up for firewood and I took out the almost new MS460 which probably has 2 hours or so of run time on it.
And as my luck would have it the MS460 has the same problem or at least it displays the same symptoms. You guys got to know how frustrating it is to have a saw cut off every few minutes when you are cutting firewood. Especially a new shiny saw!
I emailed Sthil and they asked me to take saw back to dealer and I did.
Again the dealer could not duplicate the problem but they did adjust carburetor (I was under the impression that has a limited effect since there is a limit lock on the high and low speed needles on the these saws but I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt) and they said they ran saw for a long time and it was fine.
So I take saw back into woods and the first tree I cut down I got about 10 pieces of wood cut and saw revs up and dies. And to beat it all the carburetor adjustment they made leaned it out more because it really
Screams now. It sounds like a racing engine.
And the restarting procedure after it goes lean and quits is not always the same. Sometimes it cranks back up with one pull, sometimes I have to choke it, sometimes it takes 6 to 10 pulls to start back up only to run another minute or two till it quits again.
Please understand this is not a rant against the dealer or Sthil. They are doing all that is possible.
I like Sthil products, I think they make the best and that is all I will ever buy.( I got a 021AV that looks like it was drug behind a pickup truck like the one in the old Stihl TV commercial, you guys remember that commercial ? )And my 021 saw still has great compression even though it has wore out 2 carburetors and the casings have many cracks.
I am just interested in hearing your thoughts on what can be wrong with this saw. I had a MS440 that I bought new and it had a slightly similar problem, which turned out to be a bad fuel tank vent , dealer fixed it and said it had not caused the saw any damage since it was the type of a pressure problem (either positive or negative, I can’t remember which ) that did not harm engine.
My main concern is all the lean running this saw has endured. It does not smoke at all, and I know that the new engines don’t smoke like the old engines but all my new Sthil engines in saws, trimmers, leaf blowers, etc put out a tiny amount of smoke.
Sorry for being long winded,
Thank You
Johnny Walker
PS: I replaced fuel pickup as rep suggested but it did not change anything.
I'll try to make this as short as possible but it’s a long story. About 5 years ago I bought a new
MS460. From day one saw has sounded much leaner than any other Sthil equipment I have.
It screams!!
And from day one about 10 minutes under load is all it will run, then it revs up like a saw does when running out of fuel and dies.
Of course when this first happened I took it back to dealer for warranty and they did their best to duplicate this in the shop but could not.
So the local Sthil Product Application Specialist was kind enough to come to my house where I could show him firsthand what I was experiencing.
The rep found a fuel supply line to carb that appeared to have been pinched from the factory. He repositioned line, we ran saw a few minutes and thought everything fine.
I did not use saw again until a couple months ago. (Long story short the firewood I cut over the next couple years I used my MS660 and MS260 and the MS460 sat on the shelve until about 2 months ago.
My firewood supply is about out so this year I am going to have to cut a bunch of wood.
I have heated with wood for the past 25 years, I never let myself get this low on wood but I had health issues and other projects that prevented me from cutting wood for the past 3 years or so.
So in March my next door neighbor gave me a tree to saw up for firewood and I took out the almost new MS460 which probably has 2 hours or so of run time on it.
And as my luck would have it the MS460 has the same problem or at least it displays the same symptoms. You guys got to know how frustrating it is to have a saw cut off every few minutes when you are cutting firewood. Especially a new shiny saw!
I emailed Sthil and they asked me to take saw back to dealer and I did.
Again the dealer could not duplicate the problem but they did adjust carburetor (I was under the impression that has a limited effect since there is a limit lock on the high and low speed needles on the these saws but I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt) and they said they ran saw for a long time and it was fine.
So I take saw back into woods and the first tree I cut down I got about 10 pieces of wood cut and saw revs up and dies. And to beat it all the carburetor adjustment they made leaned it out more because it really
Screams now. It sounds like a racing engine.
And the restarting procedure after it goes lean and quits is not always the same. Sometimes it cranks back up with one pull, sometimes I have to choke it, sometimes it takes 6 to 10 pulls to start back up only to run another minute or two till it quits again.
Please understand this is not a rant against the dealer or Sthil. They are doing all that is possible.
I like Sthil products, I think they make the best and that is all I will ever buy.( I got a 021AV that looks like it was drug behind a pickup truck like the one in the old Stihl TV commercial, you guys remember that commercial ? )And my 021 saw still has great compression even though it has wore out 2 carburetors and the casings have many cracks.
I am just interested in hearing your thoughts on what can be wrong with this saw. I had a MS440 that I bought new and it had a slightly similar problem, which turned out to be a bad fuel tank vent , dealer fixed it and said it had not caused the saw any damage since it was the type of a pressure problem (either positive or negative, I can’t remember which ) that did not harm engine.
My main concern is all the lean running this saw has endured. It does not smoke at all, and I know that the new engines don’t smoke like the old engines but all my new Sthil engines in saws, trimmers, leaf blowers, etc put out a tiny amount of smoke.
Sorry for being long winded,
Thank You
Johnny Walker
PS: I replaced fuel pickup as rep suggested but it did not change anything.
