Pretty Good Saw Until Now!

[max2cam]

Went out yesterday to cut a up a dead birch tree in the snow with my Echo 510 with very few miles on it. Started easily as usual and I began cutting. Like I said, the tree was lying in the snow -- nothing unusual about THAT in northern Wis. this time of year.

But after dropping the tree and starting to cut it up, the saw refused to idle down and in fact revving too high for comfort with the chain turning when it normally would be idling. I shut it off and restarted it but it was the same story. So I figured that snow and ice must have gotten under the housing and stopped the throttle linkage from closing.

So I brought it home and kept it inside overnight to thaw it out. But today it won't start. Not a pop out of it! Got gas in it. Normally it's an excellent starter.

Kind of weird.....I think that I'll go try it again.

=================

Old guns, Wis. Legends, and Harley-Davidson
http://www.atthecreation.com/

 

[JimL]

junk probably,

developed an airleak or something that caused it to run lean and burnt up the piston an cylinder.


Pull the muffler an have a look

 

[JimL]

the fact that he continued to use it tells me that its probably junk.

if he had shut it off then thats another story.
carb kits are like 6 bucks are echo carbs really that cheap?

 

[tony marks]

i think u cooked it bud.. but id take it to a dealer and just say it wont crank..
dont mention this talk.. just say i know it must be somethin simple as its a good saw an just quit..so would u adjust what evers wrong..then if hes got bad news
u know hes not been affected by lets callit the power of owner diagnosis..
my appologies to the dealers here but
just something ive learned to do..

 

[stihltech]

diagnosis

OK, you came to us, now it is time to get some facts. Does it still spin over like it used to when starting? Does it have compression? (Pick it up by the starter handle, will it pick the saw up with the rope staying put or coming out very slowly). Does it have spark? Does it have fuel?
Answer those questions, and then we will know which way to steer you.

 

[tony marks]

yep listen to tech there .. but u aint steering me ,,u cant run that fast..

 

[Dadatwins]

If you are going to rebuild carb I would change out filter in tank also and check fuel line for leak. If crude made it into jets in carb had to get through tank filter first. Split or broken fuel line would let to much air in and when saw cooled down gas in line would drain you would not be able to start again since split line will not pull gas.

 

[JimL]

Originally posted by RockyJSquirrel
No Jim. New carbs are not $6. I never claimed they were. I said that purchasing a new carb (cash and carry) would be about the same as paying a dealer to do a carb rebuild.

Geez, you are the third or fourth person today who has completely misinterpreted something I wrote, thinking I was saying something totally off the wall and implausible. Am I still speaking English here? Or did everybody forget how to read today?

Stihl carbs are around $50 for the cheap ones.

carb kit, 6-8 bux unless its a bing
$20 labor if the carb is off the saw.
Takes 10 minutes to do it.

thats around $30

 

[shooter]

Max - My advice is to pay attention to what Stihltech is advising & ignore the chatter on the side.

Mike

 

[bandmiller]

Before you get too far down the garden path,check where carb bolts on ,be sure it hasen't loosened up.

 

[Tony Snyder]

Rocky, There is nuttin wrong with your English. There is something wrong with a few peoples logic.
Then there are the Marks that drive every teacher of English grammer off the deep end. LOL

max2cam, If you can manage to take a pair of needle nose and get the fuel supply line loose from the nipple on the carb, it should flow a stream of fuel when the saw is tilted; a slow drip will not do. Of course, you should fill the tank first. If you do not get good fuel flow I would change out the fuel filter and rinse out the tank.

There is also the possibility that the fuel filter on the end of the fuel line just by chance got in a position up out of the fuel and was picking up mostly air. I have seen that happen with as much as a third of a tank of fuel left. It acts just like you described. Sometimes you have to empty the tank and use a flashlite to determine this. ( I don't recommend a match)

Is this the new 510, or the old 510 EVL (orange)

 

[max2cam]

This is a newer CS-510. It never lost compression. It just sped up like that and then wouldn't start the next day.

Well, I went out after supper last night and tried it again. It started instantly and idled okay too. At least for the minute I ran it. I'll take it out later and see what gives. Maybe it isn't a serious problem and it fixed itself.

I noticed this morning in the Echo owner's book that there is a winter kit. Part of it is a port you open in the air cleaner cover to let in warm air or something. The other part is a cover that goes over the fan cover. Of course I had not done either one of those things. None of my other saws have that stuff.

Maybe it iced up or something because I didn't uncover that port. Then possibly it was badly flooded and the sparkplug gas fouled. I don't know why else it didn't start before because it is a near perfect starter normally under all conditions.

Maybe these Jap-made saws don't like snow and cold weather without their winter kit installed.

Milsurps, Lore, Old Harleys
http://www.atthecreation.com/

 

[max2cam]

Well, this is one of those wonderful occasions when a piece of equipment fixed itself. Went down to the same birch tree and sawed it up. Then went down to the river and cut down a big dead jackpine and sawed it completely sawed it up. This CS-510 Echo ran perfectly.

Maybe the carb linkage iced up or jammed and then was gas fouled as I previously said. Whatever the problem was, it has vanished and hopefully will NOT return.

I also removed that port or window for winter use. Looks like it shunts warm air to the carb exterior.

Nasty big old jackpine with lots of branches and knots....

Milsurps, Lore, and Harleys
http://www.atthecreation.com/

 

[Dadatwins]

Glad to hear your saw was ok. Lot of people probably would have taken it to dealer or repair shop and maybe been taken for a good ride. Probably got iced up in fuel line. happy cutting

 

[Bill G]

I am not going to even try to speculate on what the problem was or may still be. I will say always remember to check the most obvious and simpliest firts. If I read his post correctly that is what Stihltech was saying. I had a guy say his 066 was "junk", "toasted", "parts only, etc. No it had a fouled plug. A couple minutes, a different plug, and three pulls "walla" his "junk", "toasted", "parts only" saw was running. Use the KISS principle. Now there are times when that will not work. Like the time we had a freshly rebuilt tractor get hot instantly. It was returned to the dealer. He called and said we must be stupid as the engine was running fine in his shop. As my father was talking to him on the phone the engine locked up.

Bill

 

[shoot501]

Bill G is right about the KISS system. Worked with an old navy chief one time that drilled that into my head, now if I can just keep focused,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[max2cam]

I know what you guys mean about the KISS principle. How many times have we all dug into something and replaced expensive parts only to find out later the problem was something simple and easy?

Just the fact that it was cold out and I was cutting in the snow made me guess that had something to do with it and something got iced up. But, of course, I have been wrong in the past and have paid for it.

Luckily, in a way, it is not an option to just take it in to a dealer as for one thing I am lazy and another the nearest dealer is 35 miles away and the one time I spoke with him over the phone I didn't obtain a very good impression.

Besides, these chainsaws are pretty simple and easy to work on and for most things I wouldn't take on it except as a last resort anyway.

Guns, Lore, H-D
http://www.atthecreation.com/