Stihl 044 help.

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Pictures below. Compression was only 140 psi, but I don’t think the rings have set yet.

Piston looks clean to me yet.

View attachment 1050975View attachment 1050976View attachment 1050977View attachment 1050978

Tear down further to look at seals?
That should be enough compression and the piston and rings look good so I would rule that out. An air leak usually causes a high idle and can still run at high speed when the H jet is adding enough fuel . You say that it passed pressure and vac test so no need to tear it down as long as its tight. Fuel delivery is what I would work on next.
 
Got a question, what is all that wet liquid on the exhaust flange in the compression pics?. Did you use oil to get the compression reading?
It is still 2 stroke oil from the rebuild. I was pretty liberal when I put it back together. And then it sat for a month or two before I got back to it, so I out another small shot of oil down the spark plug hole to make sure it had oil before I started it. It has maybe 15 minutes of run time on it so it hasn’t burnt off yet. I have not added any oil to it recently.
 
The high jet nozzle is not closing in the carburetors. You need a new carburetor. It may be replaceable depending on carb make and model.
I’ve had 2 different carbs on it. One I rebuilt, and one rebuilt by someone else. Same results. Possible that the same thing is wrong with both carbs.
 
Well that should hold idle but it still could be the carb. You never used a new one or a known runner yet did you?
No - I don’t have another 044 or similar saw that I could borrow one from.

I think I will tear down, pressure and vac test again. Possibly change the intake boot and if it’s still acting up, then go into 1 or both carbs (again).
 
No - I don’t have another 044 or similar saw that I could borrow one from.

I think I will tear down, pressure and vac test again. Possibly change the intake boot and if it’s still acting up, then go into 1 or both carbs (again).
When you rev it up, does it hold the tune where the screws are set at? Usually an air leak will manifest itself when you hold the trigger down for a couple seconds and the RPMs will come up to the screw settings for a half second and then takeoff screaming
 
When you rev it up, does it hold the tune where the screws are set at? Usually an air leak will manifest itself when you hold the trigger down for a couple seconds and the RPMs will come up to the screw settings for a half second and then takeoff screaming
To me, it doesn’t take off screaming but I may not be holding it with the throttle pulled quite long enough. Mostly blipping the throttle to mid-range rpm’s to see if it will stay running to try to tune it.

I have this posted on another forum as well (farming related forum but also good mechanics there). They are suggesting ignition problems. My only test is to check for spark, which it has cold. Could the coil be dropping out at low rpm? I used a business card to space the module off the flywheel.
 
Here is a complete parts list for the Stihl 044. Maybe start with the tank vent. IPL shows three different options
Three different carburetors. As others have mentioned it could be a damaged seal upon installation. Stihl has special
tools and installation sleeve to install seals for both flywheel and pto side. I always use OEM seals. Is the cylinder base
And engine block clean and smooth? Did you use a gasket or gasket delete? No gasket you need Dirko or motoseal
Any cylinder leak is a vacuum leak, a lean fuel condition and weak impulse to carburetor. Good luck!
 

Attachments

  • Stihl_044_IPL_.pdf
    3.1 MB
To me, it doesn’t take off screaming but I may not be holding it with the throttle pulled quite long enough. Mostly blipping the throttle to mid-range rpm’s to see if it will stay running to try to tune it.

I have this posted on another forum as well (farming related forum but also good mechanics there). They are suggesting ignition problems. My only test is to check for spark, which it has cold. Could the coil be dropping out at low rpm? I used a business card to space the module off the flywheel.
The flywheel key could be sheared which would let it run mid range but possibly not idle. Not saying the coil is good, but it is not common that they fail.

I would look at your impulse system, fuel line, and make sure that you have the gaskets in the proper order in the carburetor and make certain it is clean
 
I will share this with the rest, I just had an older 028 that the saw would start but run real rough, it would rev up and shut off suddenly, not like running out of fuel, sudden shut off to me is loss of spark, tested yes it lost spark, wouldn`t restart until it had set an hour or more. Changed the coil out for a 400 1300 and now it runs perfect again, Rarely see a Stihl coil/module go but it does happen. One went on an 066 and my 362 lost one, on them it was a total no start no spark deal but sometimes the module will fire for a short run and then give up.Usually they will not fire again until they cool down , sometimes they will restart after a cool down other times they are totally dead.
 
No - I don’t have another 044 or similar saw that I could borrow one from.

I think I will tear down, pressure and vac test again. Possibly change the intake boot and if it’s still acting up, then go into 1 or both carbs (again).

If it passes pres/vac no sense in replacing intake boot. Check carb for pop off pressure at fuel filter end of fuel line, that will check fuel line too.
 
OP how about a video of this in action?
What setting are the H a L turned out to?
What do you mean it wont idle not even when you turn the mechanical idle up?
I can try to get a video, a little hard with just a camera and needing 2 hands to start and keep the saw running.

High and low are both right around 1 turn out right now. Tried low down to 1/2 turn, up to 1 1/2 turns out. Haven't had it running long enough to adjust the high jet so its at 1.

Since I rebuilt the carb, I wasn't sure I had the idle set correct. so I turned it up some. When I say it won't idle, that means it will die unless I'm blipping the throttle.
 
I can try to get a video, a little hard with just a camera and needing 2 hands to start and keep the saw running.

High and low are both right around 1 turn out right now. Tried low down to 1/2 turn, up to 1 1/2 turns out. Haven't had it running long enough to adjust the high jet so its at 1.

Since I rebuilt the carb, I wasn't sure I had the idle set correct. so I turned it up some. When I say it won't idle, that means it will die unless I'm blipping the throttle.
Leave both H and L at 1 turn out. Now there is a third screw down at the bottem this is the mechanical idle to raise the idle turn that in clockwise a bit and see what you get.
 
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