Stihl 044 questions, new piston required.

[Maintenance supervisor]

I rebuilt one 044 10mm with a meteor piston and caber rings. It has given me 0 issues and the piston was fantastic in both casting and finish.
I've done a pretty thorough job of resurrecting oem parts ,but you have to go deep with some builds ,ie splitting the case on a well used saw.

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

I soaked this carboned up piston in regular automotive intake treatment and installed new caber rings.

 

[joe25DA]

I rebuilt one 044 10mm with a meteor piston and caber rings. It has given me 0 issues and the piston was fantastic in both casting and finish.
I've done a pretty thorough job of resurrecting oem parts ,but you have to go deep with some builds ,ie splitting the case on a well used saw.

+1 just used meteors on an 036 and 046. Very pleased.

 

[stihltech]

Stihl sells pistons separate at least here.

 

[freeasaburt]

I called my local Stihl dealer, maybe I could call another one but I doubt the answer will be different. Stihl has different policies when you compare one part of the world to another, a while ago I asked my dealer about 'USA-specific' parts (exhausts for example) apparently there's no way we can buy them here, at least not officially.

 

[stihltech]

We run into the same thing here. Non USA parts not available. The one that gets me is the lower bushing/bearing assembly on a curved shaft trimmer. Could sell lots of them.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2654574390...h1W7Rlz8uhvYmQFC2NYPwZ8sIJDgSlMhoCROYQAvD_BwE

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m56089165786/

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1846379246...Ro8mbEqrmtz1OePqBJZk5IKDc=|tkp:Bk9SR4DM75OUYg
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1548871897...NIYu2JskjwChU7EoVjJi4r+CI=|tkp:Bk9SR4DM75OUYg

 

[freeasaburt]

Thanks!
But I found a French webshop a few days ago that still had Meteor pistons, although only a few left in stock according to the website, so I bought 2. They were some €35 each and shipping was quite cheap as France is a neighbouring country .
I guess I'll sell the 12mm version of the piston (oem), although I could just keep it and see if a 'newer type' 044 or an MS440 with a worn out piston comes along .
I paid 85 euros for that one btw, from 'Bartsparts', plus some not-too-cheap shipping. Interesting to see how the 2 oem pistons you posted above also have an asking price of 85 dollars.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Thanks!
But I found a French webshop a few days ago that still had Meteor pistons, although only a few left in stock according to the website, so I bought 2. They were some €35 each and shipping was quite cheap as France is a neighbouring country .
I guess I'll sell the 12mm version of the piston (oem), although I could just keep it and see if a 'newer type' 044 or an MS440 with a worn out piston comes along .
I paid 85 euros for that one btw, from 'Bartsparts', plus some not-too-cheap shipping. Interesting to see how the 2 oem pistons you posted above also have an asking price of 85 dollars.

Good to hear.

I will be happy to hear of your progress. I am currently working on some really old Stihl 051 and 075 89 cc and 111cc saws.

 

[freeasaburt]

They were delivered, hopefully I find time to put one in soon, as I have lots of things going on at the moment... We'll see .
They came with caber rings, piston pins, and the retaining rings for the pins, but there was also an extra little bag with 2 exhaust gaskets, 2 (metal!?) base gaskets, and 2 needle bearings...
For people from Europe: if you need parts, checking out 'Declic motoculture' from France might be a good idea. (I only base this on this one experience I have with them and have no affiliation or sth like that.)

 

[freeasaburt]

About that metal base gasket - I already ordered an oem gasket before (the 0.5mm version), but would there be specific (dis)advantages to this metal version? I haven't measured them yet (forgot my calipers at a friend's place), might be a bit thinner.

 

[Evan]

When did cabare rigs start coming with meteor pistons?

If i was to run a saw stock today id choose a pop up piston, i checked and little red barn has 10mm pop up.

Ive ran quite a few meteor pistons never had a problem with any. Theyre boring now so id go hyway or little red barn for pop ups.

Check squish without gasket. Ive rarely run base gaskets on 44s.
My current one is the first ive ran a gasket on.

Whatever you do with it itl be a great runner. The 50mm 44s run great.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

About that metal base gasket - I already ordered an oem gasket before (the 0.5mm version), but would there be specific (dis)advantages to this metal version? I haven't measured them yet (forgot my calipers at a friend's place), might be a bit thinner.

No update on the progess with this saw?

 

[freeasaburt]

I had to postpone this project for a number of reasons, but finally found the time to look into it again a week or two ago.

The saw is busted up more than I hoped for, and was definitely overheated at some point, but I'm still gonna restore it further. The amount of caked up nastiness (mixed with paint chips from the case...) I found under the clutch etc. is something I didn't expect at all, this is my first serious chainsaw project ever though (besides one of my 026's piston replacement job, but that saw wasn't in such a sorry condition).

Anyway, as said before I cleaned up the cylinder. Recently I have been taking apart, and cleaning, the rest of the saw, my air compressor and ultrasonic cleaner came in handy. Installed the Meteor piston, put on the cylinder, and plugged the carb and exhaust port with rubber, to do a pressure/vac test, using the impulse hose (as I did before on my 026).

Both were negative, although the needle creeped back quite slowly.

Removed the clutch and oiler, re-did the test and no pressure buildup at all anymore. Sprayed some soapy water on the seal, the water flew up, so that diagnosis is clear... So I guess the seal leaked less with the oiler installed? Didn't expect that, honestly, I was hoping my test setup leaked slightly somewhere (but wanted to remove the clutch and test anyway).

I'm ordering parts as we speak, also for a friend of mine's MS260. From a few places, including 'saegenspezi' from Germany, where I also found these tools for clutch side seal fitting:

https://shop.saegenspezi.de/assembl...340-MS341-MS360-MS361-MS441-MS460-MS650-MS660

https://shop.saegenspezi.de/Assembly-sleeve-for-oil-seals-fits-Stihl-chainsaws-088-MS-880-MS880
(description: "This item is suitable for mounting the clutch side seal rings on most Stihl chainsaws." - so i guess it's not just for the 088/880)

Any idea if these are good/necessary? I saw videos of people using a piece of a coke can too... No idea what's the best approach here, really.

Thanks for any advice ;-)

 

[president]

I had to postpone this project for a number of reasons, but finally found the time to look into it again a week or two ago.

The saw is busted up more than I hoped for, and was definitely overheated at some point, but I'm still gonna restore it further. The amount of caked up nastiness (mixed with paint chips from the case...) I found under the clutch etc. is something I didn't expect at all, this is my first serious chainsaw project ever though (besides one of my 026's piston replacement job, but that saw wasn't in such a sorry condition).

Anyway, as said before I cleaned up the cylinder. Recently I have been taking apart, and cleaning, the rest of the saw, my air compressor and ultrasonic cleaner came in handy. Installed the Meteor piston, put on the cylinder, and plugged the carb and exhaust port with rubber, to do a pressure/vac test, using the impulse hose (as I did before on my 026).

Both were negative, although the needle creeped back quite slowly.

Removed the clutch and oiler, re-did the test and no pressure buildup at all anymore. Sprayed some soapy water on the seal, the water flew up, so that diagnosis is clear... So I guess the seal leaked less with the oiler installed? Didn't expect that, honestly, I was hoping my test setup leaked slightly somewhere (but wanted to remove the clutch and test anyway).

I'm ordering parts as we speak, also for a friend of mine's MS260. From a few places, including 'saegenspezi' from Germany, where I also found these tools for clutch side seal fitting:

https://shop.saegenspezi.de/assembl...340-MS341-MS360-MS361-MS441-MS460-MS650-MS660

https://shop.saegenspezi.de/Assembly-sleeve-for-oil-seals-fits-Stihl-chainsaws-088-MS-880-MS880
(description: "This item is suitable for mounting the clutch side seal rings on most Stihl chainsaws." - so i guess it's not just for the 088/880)

Any idea if these are good/necessary? I saw videos of people using a piece of a coke can too... No idea what's the best approach here, really.

Thanks for any advice ;-)

you have to have the clutch torqued down ,or the spacer to seal
will leak! Try the test again and you will be surprised!

 

[Mad Professor]

you have to have the clutch torqued down ,or the spacer to seal
will leak! Try the test again and you will be surprised!

This ^^^^

A quirk in how 044 clutch side seal works.

 

[freeasaburt]

Didn't see that one coming...

Thanks for the advice!

I guess my (tiny) leak was caused by something else then, which is good news as changing seals would have been a(nother) first for me. If it turns out the be necessary anyway, or later, I'd still do it, learning to do stuff is fun (if you have the time).

 

[freeasaburt]

you have to have the clutch torqued down ,or the spacer to seal
will leak! Try the test again and you will be surprised!

I had another look at the IPL, and the worm gear I took off the saw, and understand now how part #1128 647 6600 works
Thanks again.