Someone please tell me I didn't burn a piston

[The Abominable Snowman]

I'm not sure what you're saying - is an OEM carb not available for the 088?

 

[Robin Wood]

Gents are the 070/090 carbs even available? I do not see them on my pars list.

i think you should post this in trading forum under chainsaw parts - want to buy, rather than hijacking this post
OEM carbs are still available

 

[HarleyT]

The carb for the ms880 is still available from Stihl 1124 120 0611

 

[idiotwithasaw]

Tell the dealer to do a vacuum and pressure test either before or after they replace the cylinder. Preferably before in case it was a decomp, impulse line or loose intake boot that caused it. If it was me I would tell them to go ahead and replace those parts too and also replace the seals. Better safe than sorry in this case.

 

[Robin Wood]

Tell the dealer to do a vacuum and pressure test either before or after they replace the cylinder. Preferably before in case it was a decomp, impulse line or loose intake boot that caused it. If it was me I would tell them to go ahead and replace those parts too and also replace the seals. Better safe than sorry in this case.

i'll 2nd that, he's right
considering you will use it for milling
which is very hard on the saw and with unknown history of these parts its a good decision to replace the parts while your at it
you will less likely to have breakdown in between i guess

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

Yeah, good advice. That was the reasoning behind going ahead with the carb replacement, too.

 

[Robin Wood]

Yeah, good advice. That was the reasoning behind going ahead with the carb replacement, too.

get back the carb and someone here mentioned earlier that he wants to buy it
so might as well get something outta it

 

[Marshy]

The cylinder is likely salvageable too.

 

[Rockjock]

i think you should post this in trading forum under chainsaw parts - want to buy, rather than hijacking this post
OEM carbs are still available

Relax jr. I misread I thought it was an 090. A simple " no no my friend it is for an 088 you must have misread the posting " would have been more than reasonable.

 

[blsnelling]

It's highly unlikely that your saw needs a new carb. It might need a new kit, but that's probably it.

Another thing that stood out to me was "30 seconds at WOT". There's no reason to ever hold a saw at WOT for that long out of the wood, and is certainly not a good idea.

I suspect that all your saw really needs is the cylinder cleaned and a new piston. It should NOT be put back into service without a vac/pressure test! It will also need to be tuned much richer than the dealer is going to tune it for milling. You're also going to want to run at least 32:1 in it for that purpose.

 

[HarleyT]

Relax jr. I misread I thought it was an 090. A simple " no no my friend it is for an 088 you must have misread the posting " would have been more than reasonable.

#1106 120 0650 is still available at the Ohio distributor.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

Another thing that stood out to me was "30 seconds at WOT". There's no reason to ever hold a saw at WOT for that long out of the wood, and is certainly not a good idea.

It will also need to be tuned much richer than the dealer is going to tune it for milling. You're also going to want to run at least 32:1 in it for that purpose.

What's the recommended procedure for tuning the high adjustment? Maybe it wasn't 30 seconds, but I feel like I need a good few seconds to find the upper/lower ranges and then get it in the spot I want. Should I just run it open for 2-3 seconds a few times instead?

The richer setting and more oil for milling seems intuitive, but can you elaborate? Is there a specific reason, other than the fact that it will be buried deeper in wood for more time?

 

[blsnelling]

A milling saw needs to be tuned much richer than a saw used for typical felling/bucking. Milling puts much more heat into the saw with long and extended cuts. You need for fuel going through the saw to keep it cool. Start with a tune so rich that it won't run clean in the cut. Slowly lean it out until it will just barely run clean at max load.

 

[spudulike]

Listen to Brad, I was going to post exactly the same response. It is very unlikely the carb is at fault, possible that it needs a new kit but if the saw idles and holds full revs then it is fine and it is rare a carb needs junking bar a few well documented types.

Very good advice on carb tuning for milling and I would also leave the H screw pretty fat on the top revs to keep the saw cool as milling uses much longer periods of WOT than most other cutting.

I would try to save the cylinder and fit a new OEM or Meteor piston, aftermarket cylinders are available but have only found them with the later bolt on muffler and not the earlier two horse shoe anvils and spring like yours has. Make sure the saw has a pressure and vacuum check before using and would also check the tank breather and fuel line/filter.

Lastly, these saws have the H screw setting as 1/2 turn on the air-box, This is WITH the limit caps ON and if they are OFF, then the setting will be circa ONE turn out. I have seen two MS880 taken out with poor carb settings.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

Just got word back from the dealer. Sounds like I need to abandon this particular saw...

-There was an air leak near the spark plug
-The piston/cylinder was badly scored, and it appeared that whatever foreign object got in also likely got into the crankcase (no object was actually recovered)
-The bearing was described as "tight, but making noise"

Proposed repairs:
-Piston / cylinder kit, approx $300
-Carb, $220 (I know...questionable if this is completely necessary)
At that point, I'd be looking at ~$700 (including labor, because this is beyond my comfort level). However, given the questionable condition of the crankcase and bearing, the p/c kit alone might not solve the problem. So to repair it for sure the first time would put me well above the $1k mark. I cant justify that. Nor can I justify doing half the repair and crossing my fingers that it works.

I'm thinking that my best chance to re-coup some of the loss is to put it up on fleabay as-is. Unless anyone here is interested for parts? (Or if you're brave and want to take a chance. After all, the best case is that it just needs a new p/c. But I'm not putting my money on that.) PM me if interested.

Stihl 088, 2011 model (0111 date sticker on handle)
Brand new 36" Rollomatic Super bar
Extra .404 chains, some full comp, some full skip, I think there are 5 extra chains

 

[cus_deluxe]

Im pretty confident that you should be able to find a buyer for your saw on here. Lots of handy guys that love a good project. Sorry for your loss

 

[cus_deluxe]

Also possible you may find someone that could work some magic for less than the dealer would charge.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

Yeah, I'm open to that too. I'm in western Massachusetts.

 

[HarleyT]

How much for the saw as is?

 

[Full Chisel]

So...how much do you trust said dealer? Did you see the damage for yourself or is this just going by their word?