Stihl 046 - Another "Wimpy" muffler design

[davefr]

I decided to pull my 046 muffler to see if it suffers from the same "wimpy" design as my 026. Just like the 026, there's only one tiny 3/8" outlet hole.

This one was easy to modify. I just pulled the muffler off and enlarged the outlet port with a Dremel and carbide bit. Unfortunately there's a deflector right outside the hole so I was only able to enlarge it to about 2X the outlet area. (any more and I was affraid the exhaust wouldn't get properly deflected forward).

It sure seemed to help it's performance.

 

[treeclimber165]

My boss has two 046's. I looked at the muffler on the older one about a week ago when I was doing other work on it. It has NO baffles inside and TWO outlets. One is just above the chain on the right side, and the other is on the front but deflected to the right side. It runs a lot stronger than the newer 046.
I just got the new (well, new for me) rear handle/tank assy for the newer 046 from Mike today and will be working on that saw this weekend. If the muffler is as FUBAR as you describe, I will use the older design as a guide for modifying the newer one.